Do I need to switch up or add something?

Hello,

I'm new to Twinstuff! I like it better than my other forums I joined. I like reading everyone's advise. Now, I have a question.
My 17 month old boys are still waking at 6am. They go to bed at 7pm, if I put them down later they are just angry and still wake at 6am. I work 2nd shift and don't really settle in to bed myself until midnight or even 1 a.m. if I'm still wired (medical field). Anyways, I'm wondering if I'm missing something.
They get a sippy of milk in the morning, breakfast soon after. Then lunch at 11 (if no a.m. nap) or lunch at noon with a.m. nap. They seem hungry for dinner between 5 - 5:30. We play, have a bath, another sippy of milk, brush teeth, reading and then "nite, nites". They are good little eaters most days. Oh ya, another issue.....WHEN DOES THE THROWING OF FOOD STOP!!!! I've even taken Ethan ( he's the worst) out of the chair and into timeout. He thinks it's a game! I put my hair out all the time.
I know it will pass but I can't help but wonder if I'm not adding something to their day, like more food, we do snack as well and have only water with snacks.
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
We are going back and forth with the 2 - 1 nap transition. It's going well and I just follow their cues to decide if it's a one nap day or a 2 nap day.
Mostly right now it's a two nap day. Geez, last month was one nap days. Go figure! Maybe growing and need more ZZZZ's.
Thanks,
Shell

 

:wavey: Shell and welcome to TWinstuff!! :Clap:

Food throwing: :gah: That was not fun, at all. <_< I found that if I took the food away when they started throwing it on the floor, the got the hint after a few days and stopped throwing it. I'm not saying they never threw anymore food, but it was alot less. :good:

Waking in the morning: My ds was doing that for a while and I'd go in and tell him that it's still night time, go back to sleep and wake up when the sun came out. That worked pretty well. Again, it took a few days but he got what I meant. Sometimes he'd just stay in bed and play but I still got to sleep.

Good luck! We look forward to getting to know you!!

 

:welcome: to TS Shell! Glad you found us and like us!
I agree with Liz about food throwing, once they started throwing food, mealtime was over. Like Liz, it did not stop the behavior completely but I see it a lot less!
Is your DS waking up and crying that early or he is playful? I would say if he is playful to let him be and continue getting your sleep. If he is crying, I second Liz's suggestion. Good luck!

 

Thanks for your quick reply! No, they are mostly whining and crying at the same time. Nevery playful...

 

My thoughts are if they go to bed at 7pm, by 6am they have had 11 hours of sleep and they are ready to be awake.
But then when they get up for the day at 6am they need those 2 naps and by 7pm they are exhausted. Its kind of a viscious cycle. I think you have to break the cycle.

I would either do a later bedtime (maybe 8pm) for a few nights and do one nap a day around noon, OR I would still let go to bed at 7pm but not let them up until 7am and limit the nap to 1 a day...
Im not sure if Im making sense.

Ours go to bed at 7pm and get up between 7-8am. For the last week or so we've been taking one nap. So we do breakfast at wake up, lunch around 11:30 and naps around 12-12:30. By the time 7pm comes they are exhausted.

 

I would LOVE to know the answer. Mine have gotten up at five am since they turned one. Before that, it was 6p-6:30a.

They go to bed at 6:45pm and like you, we've tried the later bedtime but it just backfires on us. They STILL wake up at five am (or four am!) and are FURIOUS the whole day.

I do not have the answer but would TRULY do just about anything to know what it is.

Getting up at five am for the day is not fun and it will be MUCH worse in the Minnesota winter when it stays PITCH BLACK until 8 am!

Hopefully someone can help those of us w/ early risers. I would be THRILLED if mine slept until six!

 

This sounds like my boys. Up at the crack of dawn, and well, before dawn in the winter.

They usually sleep 10 hours at night, and they still take 2 two hour naps. But at least they have STTN for like 10 of the last 12 days.

 

Sounds good. Your twins are about the same age as mine, I think yours are a little older.
Ok, so, if they wake at 7am I should go straight in to breakfast now with their milk?
I've been giving them milk sippy and waiting for a bit til breakfast, but I think they are wanting breakfast right away.
We have done the same as your schedule with naps at noon, however, they wake up only one hour later. So, they get only one nap that lasts for one hour. Makes the rest of the day long,long,long....I heard it takes time for them to figure out that they can sleep longer.
We like the 7pm bedtime, they are exhausted and they don't fight it. Plus it gives me andhubby some alone time, when I'm not working that is.
What time do your twins eat dinner? And do you give a snack after nap? I do.
Sorry for all this message. Thanks and I hope this makes sense. I'm not the best writer and it's hard to get what I want to say down in an email. I guess that's why I hate to text!
Thanks,
Shelley

 

Ok so on a TYPICAL day:

They get up between 7-8am. They are starving so eat breakfast right away.
Sometimes I give a morning snack....just depends
Then we have lunch around 11:30. I let their lunch settle, I change their diapers and then they take a nap. Usually 1.5-2 hours.
When they wake up from nap we have snack and then they eat dinner around 5-5:30.
After dinner we go immediately to baths, then we get out and play for a bit.
I feed a bedtime snack around 630 (yogurt, pudding, jello, graham cracker) just a little something extra. We brush teeth and I put them in their cribs with a sippy of water.
I sit in their room and read them a book (while they are in cribs) and then tell them night-night.

There are days like yesterday where they coudlnt stay up any longer so they napped from 11am-1pm and then had lunch when they woke up. But since they were up at 1pm they went to bed at 6:45.

Try a couple different schedules. I know for us if its a 1 nap day they need it as close to the middle of the day as possible. If Its a 2 nap day, I cut one short or I let them stay up later (no later than 8pm).
Mine have to be up at LEAST 4 hours before they will go down for bed at night.

Hope you find something that works for you. Ours has been all trial & error & reading their sleepy/hunger signs.

 

Hey, my girls were born March 17th 2008!

We are down to 1 nap and it has REALLY helped them to stop waking so early. They were waking at 6 am. Now it is usually 7:30. Today it was 8:30 and I was in heaven!! I also put them down at 7:30/8 pm. So here is the schedule:

7:30 ish wake/ breakfast
11:00 am Lunch
12:00 NAP
2:30 or 3: wake from nap
3:30ish: snack
6:00 Dinner
7:30/8 Bed

 

Your schedule and ours are very similiar My kids were born Feb 20th 2008!

 

Hey,
Ok, so they woke today at 6:30am and I didn't go in until 7am. We got them out, gave a milk sippy right away and that kept them happy until I fixed breakfast right away. They ate lunch at 11am and then I put them down at noon. It's now 12:50 and they are still asleep! I hope they don't wake too soon today.
I will do your schedule for the rest of the week and see how it goes. I will give a snack at 6:30pm along with a sippy of milk, that will be good.
This is great! I think things will come together for us now.
Shel

 

Well, our kids are the same age, within a day! Cool!