MOMs with experience please help. (Sleep discussion)

jkayb123 · February 2015

My almost 5 mo old twins are wearing me down! They sleep a 5 hour stretch after I put them to bed around 7, then eat then sleep for 3 hours, then are up every hour -30 min until about 7 when we all get up. When I feed them they get expressed breast milk in a bottle in their rock n play. I think they have gotten used to always having a bottle in bed, but I can't nurse them both and often times DH is at work during evening hours when I'm putting them to bed. So the problem isn't necessarily falling to sleep, but staying asleep I guess. Any suggestions of how to handle this? I feel like the sleep training methods are for singletons, I mean who wants to let one cry and wake the other one up and then have a chaotic mess going on!

AandStilltrying · February 2015

No clue but I'm right there with you. My 6 week old boys are driving me nuts. When one sleeps the other is awake and one baby is fussy all the time. This lack of sleep thing is not nice!!!

Anyway I feel for ya! Hope somethin works soon for you.

WillyBean · February 2015

I don't post often, because I never have time, but I read this and HAD to write something. I am soooo interested to see what others say because I completely agree with you - everything I have read about sleeping babies and how to "train" them always just for one! What's up with that?!

We have b/g twins and they are 4.5 months old so we are almost in the same boat. They kind of are doing the same dance as yours, too: 8 hours stretch (sometimes longer, sometimes less) then another 4 hours stretch, then up for the day. I can't complain too much because once they eat they go right back to bed, but my daughter has definitely been giving us grief between rolling over and getting stuck or losing her binky. My husband and I always rush in there because we don't want our son to wake, too (he will think it's time to eat no matter what time it is!) Ugh! I feel like we are inadvertently training her to NEED her binky while he is doing great. So frustrating sometimes.

The one thing that has helped me, because I have to feed them alone also, is the freehand bib. I don't know if you have heard of it, or if that's your thing, but I prop the kiddos in their swings and use the bibs to feed them at the same time. Total lifesaver!! I sit right by them the entire time. Maybe that could help you? Another thing that has helped us is the Zipadee Zip sleep sacks. They both seem to really like those.

Good luck!

jkayb123 · February 2015

Just ran across the freehand bib! They look like they could help a lot, I've been using a blanket but that's a constant struggle now that they are reaching and trying to hold bottle. I have a zipadee sleep sack but haven't tried for a while, maybe I'll revisit that. Thanks!!

pillowass · February 2015

We started sleep training around that time. We put them down at 7, and let them CIO if they woke up before midnight. We did one night feeding if they woke up after midnight (each of us took 1 baby - OUBU did not work for us), and again let them CIO until 6am. It was a rough week getting started but it definitely put us on the road to dramatically improved sleep and eventually STTN. We kept them in the same room and found that they can sleep through each others crying - that said, others have had luck separating their twins so I guess it depends on the individuals. Good luck!

rachelkongsore@hotmail.com · February 2015

I agree CIO is hard with babies in the same room! We actually separated our twins at four months because they were always waking one another up. I would also suggest a dream feed between 9-10pm, so you still put them down at 7 but then you sneak in and top them off with a bottle without waking them 2-3 hrs later. Also make sure you are doing a bedtime routine so they can distinguish between nighttime and daytime sleep which is shorter. All that being said I really struggled with sleep with my first set of twins and they didn't Sttn until 16 months!!!!! Hoping this second set catch on sooner......

CameraBug131 · February 2015

There is a health habits happy baby book for twins. I used the one for singletons and twins together for my 5 mo old babies and it seemed to help.

kgs0505 · February 2015

Do you run in the room as soon as someone starts fussing? Stop! Or they will never sleep through the night and suddenly they will be 2yo and still not sleeping through (or so you think...).

You stated every twin + parents fear, which is of one twin fussing/crying and waking the other. It will NOT happen. Once I learned that, I had much more peaceful nights. Let them fuss it out for 10 minutes or so and see what happens. Will the other wake and fuss? Probably not. Will they wake and fuss if you go into the room to deal with the other one? Almost always. That was happening to me. And I have heard from a lot of parents of twins that they made the same mistake.

I found that unless they are hysterically crying, the other doesn't generally wake up. So I let it go unless I get that hysterical crying or they won;t calm themselves down after 10-15 minutes. It will be a very long 10 minutes, but give it a try (over a weekend or some other night where no one has to work the next day) and see what happens. I think you'll be surprised. The babies are used to hearing each other, and crying won't bother them. Think about how they sleep in your living room while the tv is on, or the dishwasher is running, or you are talking, or one is crying....

jkayb123 · February 2015

Thank you for the advice, I'm going to try soon!

KDR1979 · February 2015

My twins are almost 3 and they still wake us up at night (just because they want mommy and daddy). DD had a sleep study last summer and did have "periodic limb movements" (kinda like restless legs). Her iron/ferritin was low and she is sleeping a lot better on daily iron.

We separated our twins when they were 8 months old b/c DD was waking DS up all the time. Once they were separated, he slept all night unless he was sick or teething.

Good luck!

FaeryStarGazer · February 2015

FWIW, we did CIO without trouble at all and my girls were in the same room. And ditto everyone KSG has said.

MOMs with experience please help. (Sleep discussion)

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