Help! No one is getting enough sleep.

I have been off the boards for about a year...you know life happens. We are having major sleep issues. We have some nights that are hard to get them to sleep, but it seems that EVERY night they wake up sometime in the early morning hours. They are sleeping in twin beds (lost crib parts on our last move, so we can't go back to cribs.) Screaming ensues. I am exhausted, DH is beyond exhausted to the point it is affecting work. We have CIO and it just gets them more worked up. It has taken almost 2 1/2 hours to get them both back to sleep. They both want me and no one else. Nathaniel has this thing that he has to be touching me. Right now he is tossing and fussing because I moved my leg away from him. I desperately need advice to get them to sleep all the way through the night.

 

You need to tell us what the age of your twins is so the appropriate people can respond ... I think that will help you better.

 

Sorry, I wasn't all the way awake...They are 22 months. Sarah and Nathaniel are healthy and never have more than a cold or whatever virus that goes around. They were born at 38 weeks with no problems. Breastfed until 15 months. Never really slept through the night except for a few times. I did nothing special or different those times that I can think of. I am considering moving one of them into a separate bedroom so they don't feed off of each other, but that would be a whole different ball of wax. I definitely can't be in two places at once. Any help will be appreciated.
Shannon
P.S. I have to get a new signature...mine was so out of date.

 

What is their bedtime and wake-up time? How are naps? Do you do a consistent bedtime routine? I tend to be a CIO person when it comes to sleep issues, if it is clear that nothing is wrong and a quick hug a kiss doesn't solve the problem. Mine go to bed at 7pm, wake at 7am, nap from 12:30-2:30. I would make sure you do the same bedtime routine every night, make it clear that it is bedtime, mommy can't stay with you, you need to sleep now, and leave. Same thing with the night waking. Oh, just thought of this, we also added a white noise machine around 10 months because Ainsley is a real light sleeper and any little noise woke her up. This has done wonders!
Good luck!

 

I'm a stickler about keeping to a sleep schedual as well. Get a routine going and you should see huge improvments within a week or so. Here is mine as an example

Dinner... 5pm
Bath .....6pm
Storytime 6:30pm ( while snuggling with mommy and a sippy cup of warm milk)
then we brush our teeth and say our prayers and
Bedtime 7pm!

I've done the same thing since they were babies and it still works. Good Luck to you .