Multiples

come in if your LOs did not STTN until after 4 months...

So I'm just wondering how you kept your sanity? ;)

I have been telling myself "it'll be better when they're XX weeks/months old" for weeks & weeks now & they are 15 weeks and still eating at 930/130/430/730.... once in a while we get a stretch of 5 hrs between feedings but that is few & far between & certainly not like 2 nights in a row or anything or both kids at the same time!!!

Tonight I thought I'd try just changing diaper at 330 when DD started moving around, eyes open, making noises, and rock a little & see if she'd fall back asleep but all I got was big ol eyes and eventually crying.... Argh. (we even tried not changing them for a few nights in an effort to wake them less but their diapers were soaking through...)

I guess I'm just sick of hearing from everyone whose kids STTN at 6/8/10 weeks and whatever and want to hear from the people who understand how frustrating this is! btw I do swaddle, I have read many books about sleep & try to apply various principles, I have tried eat-activity-sleep since they were born &we do have a bedtime routine & have switched to any earlier bedtime which has helped a little w/ going to bed but not staying asleep... ;).

THANKS!  

Re: come in if your LOs did not STTN until after 4 months...

  • Hi - ok, you don't want to hear from me b/c mine are sleeping through the night and are 4 months old. However, just one thing I will share is that my girl recently started waking up at 1 and then I deswaddled her and this has stopped. I have no idea if this is contributing to the problem, but they may be outgrowing the need for swaddling and it could be waking them up.

    Best of luck - I so hope you get some longer stretches soon. Will you be staying home or going back to work? Honestly I would throw out the sleep books and just go based on your instinct with each child, but that is just my opinion on sleep books!

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  • I had one that slept through the night at 2.5 months, but my other one didn't do it until 11.5 months. 

    My one suggestion to you is to pick up a copy of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  While it didn't get Charlotte to STTN, it certainly helped her go longer stretches and have less wakings.  One thing I'd definitely recommend is putting them to bed earlier than 9:30.  Even though it's counterintuitive, an early bedtime helps them sleep longer and better.  I'd try a 7-7:30 bedtime, if you can.  Also, around 4 months the girls fell into a schedule and that helped a lot. 

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  • I clearly did not read your post throughly.  I'd still keep trying with the earlier bedtime, though.  And at 6 months, most experts say it's fine to start CIO, if that's something you feel comfortable with.  It ended up being the only thing that worked for Charlotte (although we put it off for quite some time).
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  • Thanks...!

    The deswaddling is an interesting idea- DS flails so much (and kicks his legs alllll night long) that I don't think I could do it with him yet but maybe with her? I wish I could put him on his belly,, he naps great like that but he can't roll yet so I'm not comfortable.

    PP- What is it about HSHHT that you liked/worked?I ask this question to everyone who says a particular method 'worked' for them b/c I have read several books & all seem to say the same 2 things- put them down awake but drowsy (works only once in awhile for mine) and to do the eat-activity-sleep durign the day, which I've been doing for months. Other than that, I cannot figure out what the methods are & how they differ from book to book, although I could be missing something totally....

    Thx! 

  • how much are they eating during the day? they may need more food during the day to compensate for the middle of the night.

    and the best advice anyone gave me was to not look at those big ol' eyes AT ALL during those night feedings. it's hard, but we would leave the lights dim, not make eye contact, basically just make it as low-stimulus as possible so they wouldn't have as much incentive to wake up and see mommy and daddy.

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  • I know it's super frustrating.  DS didn't STTN until he was 14.5-15m old.  I know you're dealing with twins, but I can say that even with just 1 it was hard, I'm hoping that the twins don't take after him (I apparently didn't STTN until I was 1 year).  The only thing that got him to STTN was CIO which we were VERY opposed to, but when he started getting up even more frequently after 1 year, it came down to saving our insanity.  GL, hope you start getting more sleep soon.
  • Ours didn't start STTN until after 4 months ... it was about 4m1w. ;) Their nighttime sleep was actually terrible until about 3.5 months when our fabulous Sweater clued me in that it sounded like reflux problems. (They were on Zantac and that seemed to help during the day.) They would sleep OK the first half of the night and then be really fussy the second half. We finally got reflux wedges and sleep positioners and also started double swaddling them, and they started sleeping SO much better.

    Good luck with your LOs!

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  • Ours didn't STTN (real, not just 5 hours stretches) until 6 months.  We do bedtime at 7:30 and they used to get up at 11:00 to eat and one night they stated sleeping until 2:00 and eventually it stretched on its own until it was really all night.

    Have you tried nightime diapers to help with the soaking at night?  This might help you skip a diaper change and give them less stimulation.  I also agree with trying unswaddled as well.

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  • At about 4 1/2 months the trio started doing 6-8 hour stretches, at about 5 mo it went to 12 hours through the night and they have been doing that ever since. It was tough until about 4 mo when they started just getting up once in the night. Hang in there Momma!
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  • My two didn't sleep thru the night until the day the turned 6 months.  They have never woken up since... hang in there!!  It will happen!!
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