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Getting no sleep. And intro

karah4816karah4816 member
edited August 2014 in Attachment Parenting
Hi everyone. First to introduce myself. I'm a photographer and mom to two awesome 8 month old twins we refuse to sleep anymore. I'm not super AP, I mostly just do what feels right to me and that happens to line up with AP practices in a lot of ways. Anywho, I've only bedshared on rare occasions since my twins were born. They slept in bassinets in my room until they could roll over and then in cribs in their own room. But for the last month (since they started getting teeth and some major seperation anxiety) they are not sleeping well at all at night. Naps are still great but bedtime takes forever and they won't stay in their cribs at all. Between the two of them I'm nt sleeping at all. I'm wondering if bedsharing might help but here's my dilemma, we only have a queen sized bed and both my babies and my husband are big movers in their sleep. Because he moves around a lot and is a super deep sleeper I'm not sure id be comfortable putting a baby between my husband and I. But, if both babies are on the same side of me then side nursing is out for the baby farthest away. Basically, I'm just looking for some advice about ways to get through this. I'm just so tired I feel like I can barely function. Obviously I'm against CIO which is why I'm asking here instead of my BMB or the multiples board (although I love both of them)

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Re: Getting no sleep. And intro

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  • karah4816karah4816 member
    ClaryPax said:

    Can you explain a little more what is happening at night, so we can help?  Are they up for hours but not crying?  Are they nursing to sleep and need that to get back to sleep?  Do you rock them at night?  Are the waking out of hunger?  Are they waking every 40 minutes or every hour?  How many times are the up at night and for how long?  Does giving them a pain killer help with the teeth?

    It does sound like bed sharing might not work with that configuration.  Maybe you can do a floor mattress for you and the kids in a guest room or their room, but they may still wake if you bed share, so that is why I was asking the other questions. 

    They are nursing to sleep. If I don't nurse them and try to just rock them instead they freak out and there's a bunch of screaming. Which is strange because I usually rock them to sleep for naps and bedtime. At the beginning of the night they are waking up a ton. for example, last night I was in their room 6 times in 4 hours for one or both of them. Later it seems to be about every hour to hour and a half. Also, they seem to be on opposite hours :(

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  • karah4816karah4816 member
    Emerald27 said:

    Here's an idea!! Can you remove one side off of one of the cribs and push it against your bed, extending the sleeping surface safely, and then switch the positions of the twins during the night as they need you and need to nurse? Like this:

    Image and video hosting by TinyPic

    That way, you can bedshare as they need/as you like, or scoot them into their own space in the crib. :)

    Hmm. That's an idea. I'll have to see if we can rearrange some things in the room to fit a crib in there

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  • PumpkinAndThePeanutPumpkinAndThePeanut member
    edited August 2014
    We have twins and started bedsharing when they were 4 months old, as they started waking every hour or two (each!) all night long. But my husband and I are both pretty still sleepers, so we have one between us and one on my other side, with bed rail and the tall back of a crib pushed up against the bed to prevent her from falling/climbing off. My babies like to nurse to sleep and be touching me even in their sleep, so for us having them sleep in their own space in a sidecar crib really didn't work. I hope it works for you though. Or as PP said, maybe creating a floor bed for you and the babies while your husband sleeps in another bed, etc. would be a good idea until they start sleeping better.

    Sorry I'm not much help... But I can commiserate! :(
    Image and video hosting by TinyPic
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  • jjarek623jjarek623 member
    My daughter just turned 1 yesterday and we bedshare. I think it was around 8 or 9 months that I began to lose my mind, telling my husband that I couldn't deal with how often she was waking throughout the night! He works night shift so it's just me at night.
    It could be a sleep regression? I never did figure out why our daughter got to be so wakeful around 8/9 months but it DID get better. I promise!! It's so tough!I 
    I know you said you were a photographer so I'm assuming you don't work the typical 9-5... can you possibly nap while they nap during the day? I always felt guilty for napping but in order to be a good mom/wife/photographer, etc., you need sleep!
    I don't think that there's one specific answer that will help but I think everyone's advice so far is good.... dream feeding, sidecar a crib, etc.
    I hope it gets better soon! Hang in there, Mama!
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