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Preemies
Help!! Need advice sleeping through night...
My preemie twins are 6 months (4months adjusted) They are still not sleeping through. They wake up at least once a night for bottle sometimes 2 times. Last night they had bottle at 12 and 4. I am trying to feed them more during the day but they will only take so much. Yesterday we did ceral twice and it still did not help. They are on Neosure and take maybe 24- 30 oz per day. I do the bath thing before bed, they are swaddled, etc. Helpppppp!!!!!!!!!!!
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Re: Help!! Need advice sleeping through night...
If they are getting 30 ounces they shouldn't need more overnight and are probably waking out of habit. But 24 oz isn't enough so they are probably waking when they are hungry. How much do you give them when they wake? You could try tapering down the amount. Of course you can also try to let them CIO (as long as your pedi thinks they are ready).
If they take in close to 30 oz in the day they are fine. I would try to get them to consistently take that amount and then start weaning them off the night feedings.
Good luck!
Thx I guess they are not getting enough during the day time hours. i just don't know how to get them to take more at one feeding?? Any suggestions??
Try taking a break and letting them play for 10 mins and then pick up the feeding again. This really worked for my boys. Also, as pp mentioned, you could try adding a feeding. However, with twins, that is not as simple as it sounds (I know!) so I would try the break things first. How often do they eat?
Something else to think about, does the bath stimulate them? It does for our LO, so we don't do baths before bed.
Do they ever sleep 5-6 hour stretches? If they do, that is considered SSTN. It sounds like they do that. I know it isn't what you would like, but from a medical perspective.
We'll miss you sweet Debbie Girl (4.21.12) and sweet Cindy Girl (8.9.12)
Neither of my kids (both preemies) are big eaters (both ate about 20 oz/day when they started STTN) and they both STTN at 7 weeks adjusted. Both slept 12 hours by 2 1/2 months adjusted. Now Elliott just stepped up his game and is taking 27 oz a day, but it does not affect his sleeping at all. introducing Solids also did not affect Andrew's sleep and Elliott is not on solids yet. I know every kid is different, but I truly believe the success lies in doing the following:
-always always lay your kids in bed awake. Drowsy but awake.
-make sure they are truly hungry when you are feeding them, not out of habit (it could be a habit by now, if so, then that would require breaking, and I would talk to your pedi about how to do that and when)
-consistent. be totally consistent about your routine. It sounds like you are doing that already. We lay Elliott down at the same time every night. He always gets his last bottle in his room. We always put him in bed awake.
-Andrew did not, but Ellliott squirms/screams in his sleep randomly for just a second. Be sure that they truly need you before you run in to their room. Even has a newborn Elliott would stir for literally a minute but keep sleeping. He stirs as his sleep cycle changes.
-They will have more awakenings if they are overtired so be sure they are getting enough sleep and not getting overstimulated.
-I highly recommend Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. I never had to do any kind of sleep training or CIO with Andrew and he has slept every night 12 hours since he was 2 months old (he is 2 years old) with the exception of a month when he had his first sinus infection at a year old. I hope to avoid any CIO/training with Elliott by establishing healthy habits now!
I have finicky eaters. I found that if I tried to get them to take more or more often it just got worst. THey both ate the most if I was really in tune to their internal clocks. Elliott eats really well if I really wait until he tells me he wants to eat (ie: really muching on hands sometimes crying). Sometimes it's at 2 hours,sometimes 4 hours, occasionally more. I realize this is a lot harder to go on demand with twins!!!
He also will seem "done" frequently but I just have to keep burping really, really well (Andrew was the same way) due to some reflux and then he'll keep eating again!
What lemen said, exactly. DS has always been a good sleeper and he sleeps well when he must be hungry (on days when he hardly eats) and days when he eats TONS. He just likes to sleep and always has. Other kids do not. We have a friend who's son was FT and eating ~40oz of formula plus tons of solids and didn't sleep 10+ hours straight until he was well over a year.
If your child is sleeping a 5-6 hour stretch, they are technically STTN. I found Ferber's book useful in understanding sleep patterns and ideas for very gently cutting out the overnight feeding (eventually). We never did any sort of CIO.
Elliott has quite a set of lungs on him, and he shares a wall with Andrew, so we have a fan in Andrew's room (white noise) so he won't wake up Andrew.
I have a routine, but neither of my kids would do well on a strict schedule. They definitely wouldn't eat as well, I don't think. I know with twins though a schedule is easier!