Wake Up Times and Schedule for 13 weekers!

My friend is using the sleep book "Babywise" and always wakes and feeds her baby at a set time in the a.m., whether he's just eaten or not. I was wondering if anyone has tried that and thinks it's worthwhile to have a "wake-up" time in the morning for my 13 weekers or to just let them wake up when they wake up. Has anyone tried this or do you just do this? My babies eat every 3-4 hours but we don't have a *set* wake-up time since they get up who knows when in the middle of the night. Any thoughts?

Also, I'm really not trying to get my babies on a schedule just yet, but should I? They were born at 35 weeks so I just let them eat and do their own thing which usu involves being awake for about an hour from when they woke up, which is where they should be, I think.

Anyhow, most curious about the wake up time! THANKS!

 

Since your babies are only 8 weeks in corrected age I would definitely not do "wake-up" time. They are just so small still and in my opinion, just need to eat and sleep whenever they want. I think you are doing a great job by not having set times for them.

I think it's best to start at 3 months for "wake-up" times. That's because sleep has nothing to do with training but with natural circadian rhythm.

Here is an explanation:

Hope this helps ;-)

 

I dont ever wake up my boys, even my 2 yr old never and still doesnt have a wake up time. They wake up when they want to, and when they are hungry. That being said, they are pretty consistent with when they get up. Both STTN, and both get up around 7.

 

I agree w/ pp's. Not only do I think it's too early for their sakes, I doubt it would even work at their age. I think it takes some time to get any kind of routine down. I would follow their lead...a lot of times that works itself into a routine with very little intervention from you. I think bedtime is the most important preset to work around. If you can get them to bed at 6:30-7:00, the rest of the cycle will start to flow (but probably not yet...sorry). From what I've researched and experienced for myself, they really do have very similar internal clocks...we just have to learn to read their cues and respond accordingly.

The first few months were one big guessing game for us, but we just went with the flow like you and our routine is fabulous, now. It sounds like you're doing a great job! Good luck!! :clapping: :youcandoit:

Eve

 

I'm the opposite of all the pps. I started wake up time by 2 weeks old with all of my kiddos and it most definitely worked. We had a consistent wake up time and fed every three hours for the rest of the day. That allowed a consistent bedtime also. All of my babies slept through the night (meaning 11 to 12 hours) by 12 weeks and all continue to be great sleepers. If you would like the consistency in your day, you can absolutely start a schedule now and have it work. That said, naps were never consistent until closer to 4 mos. Feeding times were always the same but they slept whenever/wherever in between.

 

I also started trying to implement a schedule right from the minute we brought them home. Mine got their first bottle every morning at 6 am and then ate every 3 hours, 24 hours a day. I found that by keeping them on the 3 hour schedule during the day that they automatically woke every 3 hours during the night as well. I did not wake them during the night. Then around 12 weeks old they started sleeping through the midnight feeding. By 6 months old they were going 12 hours every night. For the first 6 months I always woke them at 6 am to eat. Once we got them to go 12 hours at night they slept 5:30 pm - 5:30 am.

I know schedules don't work for everyone but it saved my sanity. I did 90 minutes awake/90 minutes sleeping all day long when my babies were under 4 months old. At 4 months we moved to a 3 naps a day schedule.

 

We had to have a routine to keep me from going crazy with 2 newborns and a 2.5 year old. I thank God for that routine now because it has made my twins GREAT sleepers. They were on a 2-3hr feed time from birth (36w1d) and now go 3hrs during the day but are sleeping 8-12hrs at night (they are 12 weeks). Of course the Ped. gave us the ok to stop waking them up at night since they have doubled their birth weights (5lbs 3oz & 5lbs 4oz) already. Slowly of the last month they have been cutting down on night feedings and drinking more during the day. Having a routine doesn't just set good habits for the babies it helps you get more sleep.

 

I woke my boys up every 3hours during the day and night (at night only the first 8 weeks). But once I put them to bed for the night I had every intention to let them sleep as long as they wanted, however, they woke up by themselves every 3 hours...lol.
The boys are 5 months old now, one sleeps 6.30-6.30 or 7.30 and the other sleeps 6.30-4-5ish. He needed a night bottle around 2 up until 3 days ago, but that's no longer the case.

 

One of my best friends swears by the babywise methods. Her children were sleeping 5-6 hour streches by 6 weeks and became great sleepers doing 10 hour stretches by 10 weeks. I've just ordered the book and will consider trying those meathods once I've read it. I have heard their is a bit of criticism regarding the babywise meathods b/c of children not getting enough food and putting on enough weight. I would just check any possible schedule with your doc...

Have you ever read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy child" by Marc Weissbluth? Its a great book and really helps you understand the scientific nature of sleep and wakefullness in babies. He also has a book totally dedicated for twins, which I have also just ordered. I have already found his first book amazingly helpful. I would totally recommend reading it. I have many friends that swear by it, esp when sleep problems arise.

Here is what is going on with our girls:

Our girls are 5w3d. They were born at 36w4d. The first week, I feed them every 3 hours and they received all breast milk, with the execption of the 2/3 am feeding, we did formula.

Since then, I have stopped waking them to feed and have found they wake every 3-4 hours to eat on their own. One of our girls is lactose intollerant, so I have started to dry up and the girls are getting nearly 100% formula for about the last week. They sleep longer when they eat formula, but only about about 30 mins longer at a stretch.

Our girls each gained 3 lbs in 4 weeks, which is about 1 lbs more than average. I feel confident that we don't need to be waking them to feed and we can just let them tell us on their own. Obviously, I would never let them go an usually long period without eating. We've managed to keep a decent schedule using a semi-demand feeding style and are getting 1 to 2 - 4 hour stretchs at night. They eat and usually go right back to sleep within 15 - 30 mins after their feed. We always try to feed one after the other if they don't both wake hungry at the same time.

I think this is a great thing because they are starting to establish night sleeping habits. Their day time sleep habits are more 'nap like' and they usually only sleep about 2 to 2.5 hours at a time with 1 to 2 hours of wakefullness where at night they sleep 3-4 hours at a strech with usually only 30-45 mins of wakefulness (including feed time).

Just my own experience and only 5 weeks at that .

I would check with your dr. on implimenting a wake up time. I don't see any harm in trying it though, it wouldn't hurt your children if you give this a try for a week or two to see if it helps. As long as you are not starving your child and feeding them when they let you know they are hungry, then def. okay to try.

My belief is that if any SAFE solution helps your twins sleep better and thus giving mom and dad more sleep and making them better parents, then its okay. Schedules are very helpful for children and parents, both usually thrive when schedules work well.


Good luck.