Twins still don't sleep through night

jezebel57 · October 2014

Am I alone here? They will be 9 months and have never slept more than four hours (typically been getting up every 2-3). We reduced nighttime feeds to one bottle and are weaning them by going from 4 to 2 ounces. They still want to nurse for comfort and to get them to go back to sleep I will often nurse them and let them fall asleep on me. I am not sure I can do cio, especially in the middle of the night- I feel too bad. They wake each other up and I am going back to work next week and freaking out. Typical night looks like this: bed at 7:30, wake around 10, back to sleep and wake around 11:30, wake around 1, wake around 4:30, wake around 6 for the day.

any advice?

laceyw12 · October 2014

I totally know what you are going through. Our son had the same sleep schedule for months and we were exhausted and didn't know what to do. I finally gave in and tried the CIO. We really didn't want too but had tried everything else. It worked. I was so surprised. Our son is stubborn and I really thought he would go for hours. It took about 20 mins in the beginning which felt like eternity but got better to the point of him sleeping from 7:30-3:30 feed and then back to bed. He's not completely sleeping thru but I'm not getting up every 2 hours like before. I didn't want to do the CIO I believe more because I didn't want to go through that or him either but all in all he's happier and in turn so are we. Btw I breast feed him to sleep also.

jodifredericksen · October 2014

I'm in the same boat with my DD. She's up every 2 hours or so and since I can't bear to do CIO (my heart would break into a million pieces), esp as a FT working mama, I feel like this will never end. I can't remember what 4,5 hours of consecutive sleep feels like. My thoughts are with you! I'll be following this!

CNYBride05 · October 2014

My twins are 14 mos and still up every 2ish hrs. Sorry

jezebel57 · October 2014

It helps that I am not alone!

TREDgirl · October 2014

For us adjusting their daytime feeding schedule was the key. That allowed them to get enough food during the daytime awake hours so they wouldn't wake up during the night. Consistency is key to any new schedule.

CIO is not awful if you do what works for you and in stages maybe. The first night try 5 minutes then go in. The next night 10 minutes. And so on. You need to give them the time and opportunity to figure things out on their own.

If offered most people (adults included) would gladly accept their favorite beverage of choice if offered to them in the MOTN. Unless they have a medical reason they shouldn't NEED to eat in the MOTN.

Good luck!

cvmyx · October 2014

My twins are 1 yar next week and 1 sleeps through the night and the other generally wakes one coe a MOTN feed. The one who sleeps through the night generally fights going to sleep and I do a modified form of CIO for bedtime. I generally stay in the room for 30 minutes and sometimes will hold him if he's particularly fussy and/or I sense he's teething. Then after half an hour I put him in his his crib regardless of if he's sleeping or not. If he is, great. If not, I kiss him and whisper have a good night, then leave and keep upstairs dark and quiet. He's generally alseep in within 10 minutes.

I was hesitant to use CIO and sometimes it pulls on my heartstrings but it does get better, the crying lessens and you get more sleep. Hopefully, you'll figure out what works for you and your twins. I went back to work when they were 3 months and while there were some rough times, we survived and you will too. Hopefully, you can take turns with the MOTN feedings until they start sleeping longer.

All the best.

jsimq · October 2014

Your post caught my eye because I am totally in the same boat. My twins are 11 mos and they both have been waking up multiple times every night for a bottle (I prop it and go back to bed). Add in a few times to go back in and get them comfy after they finish the bottle, and I'm easily up a dozen times in a night. It is positively exhausting. I totally don't have a problem with cio, and definitely have done it at times, but usually when there's only one baby in the room, or if they're both being stinkers at the same time. Because if you've got one sleeping baby and one that just needs to cio, the crying one is likely to wake the sleeping one, and who knows how much more of a disaster that would create? I thought once they started eating more solid foods (which they finally are, kind of), they would start sleeping better, but it hasn't made a bit of difference. The last 2 or 3 nights, though, have been a little different because my son has had kind of a nighttime stuffy nose which makes it hard for him to have a bottle, so he wakes and wants to eat, but can't, so he fusses for a bit and then just goes back to sleep. I'm not glad he's stuffed up, but am hoping this will make him get used to not eating all night long and am very cautiously hoping this is the start of better nights of sleep. Then there's the other twin to get sleeping..... Sorry for rambling, but sometimes it feels good to rattle to someone who is going through the same thing. I hope yours start sleeping better soon. These are my #2 & 3 children, and it is a completely different experience than raising 1 baby at a time. I am so not a drama mama, but having twins in and of itself is drama. :-/ All the best to your family:)

cvmyx · October 2014

More power to you jsimq. I know what you mean about the drama. My twins are my first and it doesn't encourage me to have any more. It's good to have other twin mamas to relate to.

tcavanaugh · October 2014

Hang in there mama. We have 10 mo old twin boys and we did a few things that really helped us:

1. Get into a routine and stick to it as much as possible so they get the sleep time triggers down: My husband and I treat it like an assembly line. I feed the boys "solids" at 5:15. Then I bathe the first at 6:15, and hand him off to daddy be bottle fed at 6:30pm. I bathe then feed the other at 6:30 and 6:45pm. We feed them in a very dimly lit or dark room with soft music playing. We don't talk or do anything that will stimulate them. If one is particularly fussy or doesn't want to go down, we'll take him into another room until he is calm and drowsy. The other will just be put in his crib to go to sleep.

2. At 6 mo we used Dr Ferber's "Check and Console" method. In a nut shell, he says to keep them up until they are very tired (rubbing their eyes, and yawning). If you put them down too early they will fight it. Make sure they are VERY drowsy, but not asleep when you put them down. Then put them in their crib and head out. If they cry, wait 3 min., then go in and check on them. Do not take them out of the crib. Make sure they don't need a diaper change (you can usually smell our boys from a mile away

), pat their head or back, tell them you love them, then go out again. Don't stay in there for longer than 1-2 minutes. The idea is to let them know they are safe, and that you are there, but they need to fall asleep on their own without being rocked or held. If they continue to cry, go in again after 5 min. Again, don't stay for more than 1-2 minutes. And if they are still crying, wait to go in after another 7 min. Then each interval after that should be the same 7 min. until they stop crying. Night two is 5,7,10 intervals. Night 3 is 7,10, 12. Night 4 is 10, 12, 15, and so on.

It is tricky with twins because our boys did, and still do, wake each other. I have to say though, that after this modified CIO method, they tend to sleep through each others cries. I will warn you. The first night was very difficult. M cried for an hour and a half, and woke J, who then cried for an hour himself. I did the C&C method for both simultaneously but had to right down the minutes for each to help keep me on track while I was in the middle of the process. It took 3 nights with the crying becoming less and less each night. It took about a week and a half before they were both consistently sleeping through the night. They go down about 7pm and sleep until 5am (sometimes as late as 6:15).

That being said, we STILL go in at least 1x a night for each to readjust them because they got stuck in a corner and are crying, or we need to help them find their woobie or blanket. But it's a 30 sec. thing.

3. Get them off the pacifier and onto a woobie! Part of the self soothing is finding comfort in something mom and dad don't have to come in to replace every 45 minutes. We were constantly having to pop the bink back in their mouths. Now J uses his thumb and a woobie. M just the woobie.

They still need C&C reminders every once in a while (after they are sick, or after we travel), but they usually get back on track within a few days.

Of course now they are teething and it's started all over again

Good luck to you. And think of it this way, a well rested mommy is a happier mommy, and a happier mommy is a better mommy. If you choose to try C&C, I wish you the best of luck, and sweet dreams.

jennei93 · October 2014

I have been receiving emails from this site called The Baby Sleep Site. Reviews look amazing..but it does come with a cost. I have been contemplating buying it. Small price for your health and sanity! lol. Its tough with one I cant imagine two! That's pretty amazing! Check out the site. They have freebee articles as well..i need to start putting the words to action! Good luck mama!

Sincerely,
mother of a 10 month old who isn't sleep trained and still has nighttime feeds..lol

seawater · November 2014

You are definitely not alone! Ours are the same exact way. Just wanted to say hang in there. And sorry I'm no help.

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