Hi all,
I was browsing the topic "sleeping twins" hoping to gain an insight into how long your twins sleep rather than their sleeping arrangements. My wife and I have twin boys now 6 1/2 months old (they were born almost 6 weeks early). We started them on solids about 2-3 weeks ago and we've seen a huge improvement in how well they go down after their evening feed; which generally occurs between 6pm & 7pm. They usually wake for a feed around 11pm when my wife breast feeds them. Our greatest hope is that they sleep through to 6am or 7am; however one or both of them always wakes around 2-3 and it's such a battle to re-settle them. It frustrates us so much when we hear stories from people who tell us "oh our babies slept through the night from 6 weeks...."Is there anyone else out there going through the same thing? All we want is a decent night's sleep!!!

Welcome & congrats on your twins. Our girls didn't start sleeping through until they were 1-1 1/2!!! Fingers xed yours start sleeping through asap.



Cheers

Justine
Nick
[img]http://www.geocities.com/jussy227/bht.txt[/img]

Hi

I don't have twins myself but I have a 7 month old son who has only just started sleeping through so I read your post & felt your pain. His sleeping pattern was very similar to what you have described & he's now (usually) sleeping from 7pm to anywhere from 5-7am. There was a couple of things I did that seemed to make a difference.
On the advise of the MCHN Nurse, I give him a carb based meal last thing. Usually just rice cereal & formula at about 6pm. It seems to keep him going much longer & he dropped the 3am feed for the first time the first night I did this.
I put him in a fleece sleeping bag & then tuck him in under a sheet & single blanket. This stopped him wriggling up out of his blankets & getting cold.
If he wakes up at 5am, he gets a bottle & then straight back into bed. This morning I did this & he lay there gurgling for about 45 mins then slept till 8.30 - First sleep in I've had in 7 months.
If he's tired in the late afternoon I put him down for a nap even if its 5 pm. Then I wake him up at 6, give him dinner bath, bottle & back to bed for 7pm. This has worked better for us than going through the bed time routine earlier or not giving him a nap after 4pm as I was doing.

Anyway, this is what worked for us. Good luck

Jen

My girls started sleeping through when they were about 6 1/2mths. (they were 11wks early) We also had the prob although not too often of having one wake the other, I think we seperated them and they went into their own cots, but still occasionally we did have that very annoying having to settle. Sorry can't be much help but know you aren't alone and hopefully they will give you some peace and quiet very soon.

I probably can't help much as my two were 4 weeks early and slept through at 3 months with a little help from us. We noticed that (they are bottle fed) at their 6am feed they were drinking less and less - as if they were trying to cut out that feed. So I started feeding them less and less at there 2am feed - it took about 1 1/2 weeks and I ended up giving them 50ml each and then suddenly they slept through from 10pm dreamfeed till 5am. Now they sleep through from 10pm dreamfeed until about 7am - they are now five months old.

Hi Twindaddy,

I posted the same question when the girls were little.

I too know how you feel, you become obsessed with sleep and wonder if they ever will sleep through. You think that you will have to survive on broken sleep forever. I even got to the point where I was out and about, and every baby I would see, I would wonder how well they slept!!

Well, guess what, it doesn't go on forever! Alicia and Sophie slept through from 5 months and from 8 months respectively. I finally got Sophie sleeping through after I consulted a sleep doctor. (let me know if you want the details. - he also has a book out).

What I learned among other things, is that a learned skill for babies is to get themselves to sleep on their own. That includes waking in the middle of the night (as we do) and getting themselves back to sleep. They said that from 6 months, they have the capability to sleep through without needing to be fed. - except for a 10pmish "rollover feed". That is what we did, we had a sleepy feed at 10pm, then if they woke in the night, rather than feeding, we encouraged them to go back to sleep, by sticking a dummy in, or letting them cry for a bit. After a while, they worked out that it wasn't worth waking up properly if they didn't get anything. It takes a few nights, but is worth the effort. If I did this with Sophie, it didn't wake Alicia, but I know some others have problems with them waking each other. Maybe you could try seperating them until they are sleeping properly.

It might be that when they are waking in the night that it is just out of habit, and they are hard to settle because they are overtired and cranking about being woken up - like we are!

I also agree with the making sure they are nice and warm thing. We were still wrapping them at 8 months too. The sleep doctor also recommended that we ditch that too, becuase if the woke up because they were unwrapped, it was another thing you had to get up for!

I am absolutely NO expert, but just passing on the information. I hope that you get some sleep soon.

Cheers


Kate
Alicia and Sophie 2/12/02

[color=Teal]Our boys started sleeping through the night (from 7pm-7am) from around the 9 week mark, but they were bottle fed from 2 weeks of age, and I think that sometimes that has something to do with it...... and also a bit of luck! ;p

I am probably no help at the momenteither *LOL* But i do have two older girls Ebony 15 & Savannah 11. I remember them both sleeping throught the night at quite an early stage. Ebony was from approx 7pm to 5am & Savannah was roughly the same. Now i am just praying that the twins will settle soon and go longer with out feeds, i am not minding the 3hrly feeds at the moment, but a 5 hour sleep would be good at the moment.

All the best and hope that you get some well deserved sleep soon

OPPPPPPSSSS Sorry double post

This message was edited by Jennifer72 on Monday, 30 May 2005 @ 3:15 PM

Thanks for all your suggestions guys; we are employing most of these techniques. Kate your situation sounds most like ours. I think we're getting there gradually. Anyway, the beaming smiles we get of a morning compensates for the broken sleep.

well didn't you ask the $64000 question. I really dont know where sleeping like a baby came from as I am yet to truly meet good sleepers. I breast fed till 12 months. Amber started sleeping through from 8+ months(she has a dummy and think that helped) Olivia started sleeping through at 23months(yes thats right) so I can totally empathise with you and your wife. Occasionally she would throw in a good night but on average I was up 3 or 4 times a night.

We have done controlled crying many a time and eventually discovered after weaning that she is allergic to milk etc and now have only just worked out what was causing her night wakes(allergic to pumpkin).

I really wish that I had of thought about tummy troubles in her first year as I think we would have been all getting alot of sleep sooner.

Good luck. One night they'll suprise you and sleep through. Dont get hooked up on when it's going to happen just know that eventually it will.

Cheers Rebecca
p.s we put the girls in seperate rooms from around 3 months of age and think it really helped Amber as she wasn't being disturbed throught the night by Olivia.

Probably no help for miracle answers here as my 1 year old breastfed twins still rarely sleep through the whole night. We refuse to get hung up about it though as I dont mind getting up to feed or resettle. I have never been a great sleeper myself and usually get up a couple of times a night to check on the kids anyway. Our killer is when all four wake up at some stage or do the musical beds.
Good Luck

Dolph

Mum to
DS Bailey 5
DS Jesse 3
DD/DS Summer & Taylor 1

Step-Mum to Elodie & Brooke

Hi there! I am one of those people you hate....LOL sorry! When we discovered that Brooklen was lactose intolerant she had to go on S25 Lactose free formula and we noticed a huge change in her sleeping patterns immediately. She slept longer after the last feed and Hayden who is breast fed would still wake at 3 am, so now they both get a LF formula bottle at 9pm and they sleep through till 6-7-8am. I know that your wife is still BF them and I am no tresillian expert here but I did all the routine things when I was feeding them, no stimulation, dim lights, do what needs doing and quickly back to bed...it worked. Perhaps if you and your wife are willing to try and compensate the final night feed for a formula bottle and see how it goes....even Express milk into a bottle and then she will know that they have a really full belly.

This is just what has worked for us and these are my first children, so it all came as a suprise to me. I am getting the sleep that I need and Dh is getting to work with his eyes attached rather than hanging out LOL...give it a try.

Please let us know how you get on.....we are here for you - Oh and WELCOME!!!! LOL

Haylie & Phillip
DSD ~ Ebony
Hayden Phillip ~ 21.3.2005
Brooklen Lily ~ 21.3.2005

how's it going twindaddy? so glad to hear you are enjoying your babies despite the sleepless nights!!
I know you have alerady had quite a few replies, but thought I would throw in my 2 cents FWIW....

I hope things are starting to work for you - I wish there was an easy answer!!
One question - are your topping & tailing your bubs in the same cot or are they in their own cots? If you are topping & tailing it is often around this age when they start moving all over the place & disturbing the other's sleep. Just a thought.

With my first boys, Jackson was a thumb sucker & settled well, whereas Riley didn't sleep through until 12 months & this was mainly an issue with losing his dummy all the time. If I had my time again with him I would have gotten rid of the dummy sooner rather than later!
With my babies now, Ella is a fantastic sleeper but Liam is a shocker. At about 6 months of age I spent a week in a sleep school & at 7 months of age I started a modified version of controlled "comforting" which took about a week or so to "work" and for a while he was sleeping 7pm - 5am but he is back to waking all hours so I've had to try to determine why & start doing it all over again! I even started thinking I might try him on a dummy to see if that helps - desperate times call for desperate measures (not gonna do it though.....YET!)

SO as you can see I am no expert but at the end of the day getting a baby to sleep through the night is really a matter of trial & error. Some people do have angel babies, but not many.... otherwise sleep schools wouldn't exist !!

You will probably find that when your bubs start getting a bit of protein in their diet their sleep will improve - keeps them fuller for longer - but hunger isn't necessarily the real reason that they are waking. Like Kate said, sleeping through is a learned habit for babies so you will probably have to engage a few tactics such as feed play sleep during the day, darkened rooms, night time routines etc with perhaps a "comfortable" version of controlled comfort to get your bubs to sleep through. & it will take time - don't expect any real changes for at least the first week & probably at least a few weeks before you get any consistency. I'm sure you have got enough info by now anyway, but HTH's even a little.

Good luck & let us know how you are getting on !!

cheers

Jane
Jackson&Riley 16/11/01 [img]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y111/Twinsx2/image4.jpg[/img]Ella&Liam 26/08/04

Hi Jane,
I think we're gradually getting there. They're going down beautifully after their "dinner time" feed. We have them in separate cots. They wake from their afternoon nap about 3:30-4:00pm and we feed them between 6:00 & 6:30pm. We then bath them after this and focus on being quiet with them. My wife tops them up with a breast feed and they often sleep right through to midnight; at which time they're breast fed again. They often wake around 2 or 3am and it's this time we find that they're most difficult to settle. After eventually going back to sleep, they wake around 6am. I suppose it could be worse; I'd just like them to sleep through for my wife's sake.
cheers,
David

Well my girls slept through the night at different ages, Kasie who was breastfed slept through from 4 months and Taylor who was bottle fed slept through from 8 months but since reaching the 12 month mark she has been waking at least twice a night..... well we have taken her dummy off her too, but that was almost 2 months ago. My daughter who is 15 now slept through from 6 weeks old and still loves to sleep in and my son who is 10 started sleeping through at 12 months, so every baby is different, it is just harder when there is two bundles.
I found 3 am to be a very unsettling time for my girls when they were a few weeks old.

Mumto Carly 4-3-1990,Bryce 3-8-1994,Emma Our angel 24-12-2002,Taylor and Kasie 9-1-2004

David, just wondering if you (or should I say your wife ) has tried doing a dream feed?

If the babies are actually waking at midnight for a feed, it means all their senses etc are heightened & it is disturbing that natural sleep pattern that occurs overnight. To counteract this, you do a "dreamfeed" - which means you get them out of bed whilst they are still half asleep, feed them in that state, don't change nappies or anything & put them straight back to bed again. With their bellies full & no or limited stimulation, you will find they will begin to sleep longer after midnight & resettle a lot easier.

The dream feed was my saviour for Liam at that age - he was doing just what your babies are atm & I was waiting for him to wake at around 11pm before feeding. It was actually my MCHN who suggested the dream feed (some people call it rollover feed) - I started feeding him at around 10.30pm, before he would normally wake& by night 2 he was sleeping through til 3am at least but resettling really quickly after a little whinge & a couple of minutes of patting on the bum. After a couple of nights he was sleeping til 4am & then 5am & after about 2 weeks I started reducing the amount I was offering & then he actually just started refusing the dreamfeed & that was that!

Of course my babies are bottlefed so the formula might make a difference, but the principle is still the same.

& as I mentioned, he has started waking through the night again, but that is a whole other kettle of fish

so give the dreamfeed a go (if you haven't already!! )

Jane
Jackson&Riley 16/11/01 Ella&Liam 26/08/04

It's almost 2 months since I posted this topic and it seems as if happy days (and more importantly nights) are ahead! My wife and I have just had 3 nights in a row where our twin boys have slept 12 hours - 6:30pm to 6:30am. I can't express how ecstatic we are. We've got our fingers crossed that the trend continues. What a difference this will make to our lives if the boys can keep this up!

Yay for your boys!! The difference in your life is incredible once you start getting some sleep isn't it? Hope the trend continues for you.

Nicolie
DDs Paige & Hannah (23/09/03)

[color=Teal]That is absolutely fabulous news!!

There is nothing quite like getting a good night's sleep. I feel as though I can pretty much take on anything as long as I get a decent sleep at night. ;p

Well done!

Vanessa