12 week old twins...help to sleep longer at night

I have 12 week old twin boys. They were born at 36.6, they weigh now about 12 and 13lb. They like to sleep next to eachother in the crib...touching. They eat last at 7:30p, wake around 12:30 or 1a to nurse, back to sleep until 3:30-5ish. I nurse them, they sleep till about 7-7:30. Then up for the day. Their morning naps are starting to become consistent around 9:30-11:30. I EBF. My question.....how can I stretch their night feedings? They are very determined and will scream...fussing will not wake the other, but when arms and legs kick in....the screaming of both begin! They sleep well until the 4:30 mark hits. What worked easiest and fastest? Is CIO the way to go? I have tried for about 2 weeks to do the "sleep lady" approach and soothe them back to sleep until 6a, no success.

THanks!!!

 

They're doing pretty well! I'd give them a few more weeks of feeding when they wake up and then you can try soothing before feeding and see if they'll go back to sleep rather than eat. I wouldn't do any CIO at this age...they're just too little. They need to know that you'll come to them if they need you. What is your daytime feeding schedule like? What worked for all of mine was to eat every three hours all day (for us it was 7a, 10a, 1p, 4p, and 7p) and then let them wake themselves up to eat at night. That helps them get the most daytime calories they can so they won't need as much at night. As they increased their daytime oz, they started stretching out their night time sleep. hth!

 

Daytime eating/night sleep we try to keep very consistent. They eat every 3 hours during the day, 6 (lately it has been more like 5 or 5:30)/9/12/3/5:30/7:30/bed, then they wake themselves to eat at night. I always give them 6 feedings a day, attempt 5-6 ounces (if they are having EBM), nurse for 15-20min tandem. My one boy is about to get tubes in his ears, so I hope that helps him eat more/sleep more soundly. Thanks for your response, I guess I will wait it out...I am just eager to sleep more.

 

We started a dream feed at 3 months old and that kept them sleeping 'till 6 or 7am. DH would do the dream feed. He would do it around 10-10:30 at night. So, it was after they went to bed between 6:30p-7:00p and before he went to bed around 11pm. This way it didn't interfere with his sleep or mine. It worked like a charm and we were able to have well rested babies and parents.

 

I found the book by Suzy Giorgano,Baby Sleep Solution, http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Sleep-Solution-...2363&sr=1-1, very helpful. I didn't take it word for word, but it did help me work down a couple night feeds fairly easily. My son has been going 12 hrs at night since around 3 months, not eating - he may stir or call out or need a pacifier but he is growing GREAT and doing well. My daughter still gets one feed a night- think she still needs it but this helped us get our nights a little more managable. This was recommended to me by a twin mom and the author is a mom of twins so give it a try. Good luck!

 

We kept feeding them when they woke up at night until they stopped waking up. Pretty much. We reduced the amount they got after 6 months though. They've been sleeping through for over 5 months now.

 

QUOTE(SweetGirl @ Feb 7 2009, 03:45 PM) [snapback]1180531[/snapback]
We started a dream feed at 3 months old and that kept them sleeping 'till 6 or 7am. DH would do the dream feed. He would do it around 10-10:30 at night. So, it was after they went to bed between 6:30p-7:00p and before he went to bed around 11pm. This way it didn't interfere with his sleep or mine. It worked like a charm and we were able to have well rested babies and parents.


Ditto. We used to wake the babies 4 hours after their last feed, (I FF and the babies moved themselves onto a 4-hr routine at 4 weeks) at 11.30pm, for a dream feed. They would then go through to 7am. Worked like a charm. They dropped the dream feed at around 4 months and have STTN 12 hours ever since!

I agree that they are way too young to CIO. I dont think its recommended before 6 months. As one PP said, they need to know you´re there. GL!