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Multiples
sleep schedule conundrum
OK ladies, I've been trying to figure out a good solution for a while and so far I'm not happy with any of the things we've tried. I would love some creative ideas or advice on how to make our schedule work!!
I'll try to say this as succinctly as I can...
S has been sleeping 6:30-6:30 for several months now. About a month ago she started waking up at 5am but I let her talk in her crib and she usually would fall back asleep after about 30min of quiet chatter (she puts herself to sleep no problem too).
L has been holding onto her 2/3am feeding for a while but she has recently started moving that later and later and has lately been sleeping until 4:30/5am. She has always been more of a high-maintenance sleeper and had trouble with the transition out of the swaddle (she was rolling so we had to), so I have had to hold her, let her suck on her paci, and pull it out and put her in her crib when she is practically asleep.
So for a while it was working out fine- I would feed L at 3, she would fall right back asleep, S would wake up and chatter at 5, go back to sleep, and both be up for the day at 6-6:30. Now L wakes up at 5 and wants to eat, which is the same time S has been briefly waking.
They were napping really well before too- usually 1hr at 9am, and 2hrs at 1pm.
Here's what I have tried and how it went:
1. Feed L and put her back in her crib= S gets mad and won't go back to sleep because I go in the nursery to put L down.
2. Get both up for the day at 5= S is actually fine getting up at that time and then taking a nap at 8:30-10:00, but L gets SUPER cranky at 7:30ish and it's really hard to hold out until a decent morning nap time.
3. Feed L and let her stay asleep in my arms until S goes back to sleep, then put L in her crib= both get up around 6:30 and S happily goes down for nap at 9am, but L is absolutely not ready at all for a nap until 11am! I have tried everything to get her to take a nap earlier but she absolutely refuses and the one time I did get her asleep she woke up after 20min ready to go again.
4. Get them both up for the day at 5, put them down for their morning nap early (7:45-8), take afternoon nap early, add the third nap back and move bedtime later= they both absolutely refuse to take a third nap but get super cranky and ready for bed at 5:45ish.
5. Keep them up later so their bedtime is 7 instead of 6:30= they wake up earlier in the morning and are pretty cranky in the evening too.
Trying to coordinate their sleeping patterns has been a consistent problem around here. S just likes more sleep than L overall, and now that L is sleeping so much better at night she just doesn't want (or need, seemlingly) nearly as much sleep during the day. When I do get her to sleep longer during the day, she wakes up a ton at night and is not as happy in general. I'm assuming that this is just one of those collision phases that will eventually even out again to a more workable compromise between the two but I need something to make it work in the meantime!
Thoughts???? TIA 
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Re: sleep schedule conundrum
I'm always doing one up, both up. Even for the 3am feeding. I know Alex could prob sleep thru, but I don't let her. Don't know if that's more work for you or not.
Or maybe separate them temporarily with a pnp in another room...?
ID Twin girls 04/2012
Baby #3 Due Jan. 2017
I'd continue with option #4. If I'm understanding correctly, they are then eating/napping at the same time with no issues. You can gradually push back they're bedtime as they tolerate more awake time.
GL and hopefully things start to go more smoothly soon!