Night and Days mixed up!

Alright my girls are 2 weeks and 4 days old, and I am getting no sleep! AH!! They sleep alllllllll day long (sometimes are awake for a short time in the mid morning. Then they are awke around 5 or 6 n the afternoon for a while and then after their 9 or 10 pm feeding they want to stay awake til 2 or 3 AM and then they sleep again. Any suggestion on how to start getting them switchedback to a regular schedule of night and day! I didnt think that it was going to be this difficult! THey wake up to eat during the day and thats about it and even when we are feeding them I feel like they are half asleep!! Any and allll sugestions pleaseee!!! And them sleeping all day is ok right,? how much should little ones be sleeping??

 

My two had their days and nights mixed up when they were first born. What we did was keep the curtains open so that the living room was really bright during the day, kept the TV on all day and did our normal daily activities, talked in normal voices...then at night time, the curtains would be closed, we dimmed the lights, turned off the TV or put it on low, spoke in quieter voices...they also slept in their PNP's during the day and cribs at night. We also would do a nighttime routine of putting them in their PJ's, putting their lotion on and have lullabies on in their room when they were supposed to be sleeping. I would say by the time mine hit 3-4 weeks they had their days and nights straightened out. In these early weeks it is normal for babies to sleep quite a bit.

 

you had your babies sleeping through the night at 3-4 weeks??? my god we'd have done anything to have that! we tried the sleep training but time seemed to be our only solution. our twins just turned 3 months day before yesterday and they've just started mostly sleeping through the night as of a few weeks ago. bathtime and feeding right before what we designated as "bedtime" did not work for them. they decided when bedtime was (usually anywhere from midnight to 5am). my husband and i had to watch them in shifts or we'd have never gotten any sleep. he took evenings and let me sleep from 7 to midnight and i took middle of the night (since he had to work each day and i am on maternity leave).

my biggest piece of advice for the original poster in the meantime until they finally make the switch is to see if it's in your budget to have a nanny come over in the morning hours so that you can get some sleep after having been up all night. that helped me tremendously because i would have gone crazy otherwise. between those 4 hours of sleep, the sleep i could get while both babies were sleeping during the day, and the sleep i got while my husband took over in the evenings definitely took the edge off. and i only had her come over 3 days a week, not everyday, but it was enough to make me feel sane again.

 

That's what I would suggest as well. :hug: It does get better! Also keep it as dim as possible for night feedings. I always changed them and fed them with a small lamp on or the closet light on, eventually we bought a small nightlight type thing to feed/change them by.

Cathymom I think she meant that the kids just had their days and nights straight, not sleeping through the night by 3-4 wks.

 

Ours were mixed up too and then they just sorted themselves out eventually, a few weeks it took. They should be sleeping all the time. I do think starting a routine early on will help out later for sure, even though at 2 weeks it seems silly, you will be glad when at 3-4 months they recognize crib = sleep time. Eat, sleep, poop. Welcome to twin parenthood!!!

 

Like everyone else said - make the distinction really clear. At night keep the lights off, don't interact with the babies, don't change their diapers unless they are dirty, don't wake to feed unless you have to. During the day, keep the lights on, wake every 3 hours to feed, give baths, play with the babies, etc. It does eventually get better - hang in there!

 

Yes, wake them during the day to keep them from sleeping all day. I did the EASY schedule recommended by The Baby Whisperer so its Eat, Activity, Sleep and You time - during their sleep... She also suggests at some point (can't remember if is as early as 2 wks or not...) but to have a "start" time in mind and start the day off at that time. I picked 7a. So we'd start from there and nurse then try for some type of activity... this time includes diapering etc. then sleep and start all over again. The more feeding sessions you get in during the day, the less at night they will wake...

We also swaddled for all naps and nighttime. I quit swaddling around wk 1 or 2 when they seemed to be breaking out of the swaddles... at my lactation group the nurse helped me swaddle them at 5 wks and they quieted right down. that night I tried swaddling again and bingo, they slept through their 2am feeding. They kept sleeping through feeds and by 8 wks they were sleeping 8hrs a night. We also at some point in the middle started playing white noise.

Recap - 1. make sure to not let them sleep past a 2 or 3 hr feeding schedule (2 or 3 hrs from start to start time).
2. Swaddle for naps and night time.
3. White noise for naps and night time.
4. like the others said, keep day time fun and bright and night time dull and dark.
5. More feeding times during the day should equate to less night wakings... because they'll be getting in their daily ounces during the day.


good luck!

 

Totally normal and really frustrating. Ours slept all day long too and then were up eating every 1.5-2 hours all night long for a couple of weeks. But they were NICU babies and were born early so I know they would sleep alot. I had them nap in a PNP out in the kitchen so that they could hear all the sounds and be in the light during the day. And then at night we were all business. Low light from a nightlight for changes and feedings and no talking. It took a couple of weeks, maybe 3 and then they got the hint. But all they want to do is eat and sleep for the first few weeks and it really doesnt matter to them when that is. Hang in there. You can do this. :lazy:

I dont think she meant sleep through the night. I think she just meant that her babies had more awake time during the day and would just wake to eat at night and then go back to sleep.

 

Oh no, no...I wish they were sleeping through the night that early. Rachel and Danielle are right, I meant that's when mine got their days and nights straightened out. Sorry for the confusion!

 

Yup what everyone else said bright lights, normal noise levels, etc and definitely swaddling makes a big difference. I LOVE the miracle blanket it is the best swaddling blanket out there. I now give it as gifts to all my mommy friends! Hang in there momma!!!