HELP! Sleep Problems

I am a first time mom & my 4 1/2 month old girls were moved from their shared bassinet in my room into separate cribs in their own room about three weeks ago. Since then they have been waking up at least every 2-3hrs in the night & will not go back to sleep without being BF. Any suggestions on how to help them sleep longer or possibly through the night?

Also I currently BF them until they fall asleep at night & then move them into their cribs. If they wake up while being moved into their room they freak out & cry like crazy. And I have tried putting them into the cribs drowsy & hope that they will learn to fall asleep on their own but again they freak out & cry like crazy. I have tried letting them cry it out... (which was the hardest thing ever... my poor husband had to deal with all three of us balling our eyes out) but it didn't work. One eventually cried herself to sleep after 45mins & the other took 2hrs!! They only slept for an hr & a half & when they woke they were even more ticked off then they were when they fell asleep. I have also tried soothing them to sleep & they still cry the whole time just not as hard & take just as long to fall asleep.

I have friends with singletons that are the same age that get placed in their cribs while still awake & their babies drift off quietly on their own. I don't know what to do & don't know how much longer I can go on no sleep.

Any suggestions???

 

Why not let them sleep in the same crib for a while? A big crib is a huge change from sleeping in a bassinet with their sister. My girls are 7 months old almost and they still sleep in the same crib, I'm not even sure we will ever put them in separate cribs. They find comfort in each other. If you want them in separate cribs my suggestion would be find a way to make their cribs smaller for each baby. Put up some kind of divider in the middle of the crib that makes them feel more secure.

As for getting them to sleep on their own. We did a gradual cry it out. We laid them down drowsy but awake. let them cry for 5 minutes, Went in and calmed them down, put them back down, let them cry for 10 minutes. Go back in calm them down and repeat as needed. The key is to be consistent. Yes the first night might take an hour or 2 but the 2nd will be less and the 3rd less and so on.. stick with it.

I never thought I'd be the one to say it but... it gets easier..

 

I was going to suggest the same thing. When we moved the twins to their room from our bedroom where they slept together in a pack n play they went into the same crib. Swaddled. Snuggled next to each other. They slept in the same crib until they started moving so much that they were almost hurting each other. Our son is wild lol and was starting to lay on top of his sister. We started slow with nap time in their own cribs and still bedtime in the same crib, did that for about 2 weeks then we moved them to their own cribs at night too.

I may be in the minority here but from experiance with my first daughter feeding them to sleep isn't always the best plan. If they fall asleep during their feeding time thats one thing but it shouldn't be the only way they can fall asleep. Your girls are old enough to soothe themselves to sleep. Trust me I know how hard it is to let them cry. I refused to do it with my oldest and TRUST me we paid for it. She didn't go to sleep on her own until she was almost 5! I had to rock her or let her fall asleep in our bed it was a nightmare. As far as Crying it out it SUCKS but it gets better each time. My other suggestion if you are not already doing it is swaddle swaddle swaddle! They need that warm comfort. I think twins need it more than singles do. They were snugged in tighter in the womb than singles. Good luck!

 

ours were swaddled and in the same crib until 6.5 mo old... I'm sure that was a big more secure to them...

but, I do remember having issues still... i referenced The Baby Whisperer and she had advice on patting them to sleep if they needed. she doesn't recommend nursing to sleep... for the same reason stated above, they need to learn to get to sleep themselves. even if you just kinda jiggle their heads a bit until they open their eyes and then let them fall asleep on their own.

I can't remember all the other tips. good luck. I would recommend putting in the effort now at 4 mo. instead of dealing with this for the next year... I remember patting them to sleep and "petting" their heads to soothe them for a while... not to terrify you... but teething will kick in and it will get worse, so try to help them now to go to sleep on their own.