How many naps for 12 week olds?

We are following some of Weissbluth's suggestions from HSHHC, one of which is the two hour wake time rule. I monitor our little ones for any sleep signs and get them ready for a nap when I notice them. The thing is they usually nap at such different times because our ds gets sleepy much sooner than our dd. They both wake around the same time every morning, in hopes of getting them on the same routine, but it doesn't really work out. PLUS, they each have several naps a day, especially our ds. For example, if he wakes at 7am, his first nap is usually at 745/750 and sleeps anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours. If it's a 1 hour nap, then he's up again until 9am and naps again. Do you get my drift? With this sleep/wake routine, he could nap 4-5 times in one day. Am I doing something wrong?! Recently, I tried keeping him up longer for his first nap, but he got sooooo cranky that he only wanted to sleep. I feel like I'm doing something wrong here. WWWD? (what would weissbluth do) Oh, and it would be nice if I could get them on a similar nap routine, although, they are both napping now Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

We are following some of Weissbluth's suggestions from HSHHC, one of which is the two hour wake time rule. I monitor our little ones for any sleep signs and get them ready for a nap when I notice them. The thing is they usually nap at such different times because our ds gets sleepy much sooner than our dd. They both wake around the same time every morning, in hopes of getting them on the same routine, but it doesn't really work out. PLUS, they each have several naps a day, especially our ds. For example, if he wakes at 7am, his first nap is usually at 745/750 and sleeps anywhere from 1 to 2.5 hours. If it's a 1 hour nap, then he's up again until 9am and naps again. Do you get my drift? With this sleep/wake routine, he could nap 4-5 times in one day. Am I doing something wrong?! Recently, I tried keeping him up longer for his first nap, but he got sooooo cranky that he only wanted to sleep. I feel like I'm doing something wrong here. WWWD? (what would weissbluth do) Oh, and it would be nice if I could get them on a similar nap routine, although, they are both napping now Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

I haven't read hshhc but from other posts it seems like alot of what I did fit with it. From the beginning we fed them together every 3 hrs and they slept in between. They slept in the bouncies or swings during the day. At 12 weeks they were eating at 7a, 10a, 1p, 4p and 7p then going up to bed and sleeping until about 6:30a. They napped in the swings or bouncies after being awake for maybe an hour. Sometimes they'd wake up 30 min or so before feeding time but that meant they were still only awake no more than 90min. It wasn't until closer to 4 months that they had any of their wake times make it to 2 hrs.

 

We're not on any feeding schedule. I bf on demand. Thanks!

 

I haven't read that book, either. But at that age we weren't really thinking in terms of naps. They stayed on a pretty good schedule for eating, about every 3 hrs. And in between eating, they slept. They just do at that age, it's normal & what their bodies need. I think around 4 mos or so they started staying awake a lot longer.

 

We have a nap from 9 - 11 am, from 12 - 2, from 4 - 6 amd from 8 - 11pm. At night I am up at 1 am, 4 am and 6 am... we get up for the day at about 7:45 and I wake them to nurse and get dressed. I suppose the 8 pm could be bed time but we usually get them ready by 11 because 8 pm depending on the day we are coming home from Irish Dance/Karate/Swimming/Soccer/etc and we need to feed everyone and eat dinner.

 

I'm not a BF'ing mommy but I FF on demand until about 8 weeks then I had enough and started feeding them at the same time. Their naps were all over the place too until then but now we are almost 14 weeks and they pretty much nap at the same time. Even if one goes down later than the other, I still wake them at the same time to eat. I'm not really strict on what times they eat at as long as it has been at least 3 hours, which it generally is. I am trying to follow the EASY method and it was worked wonders for DS's sleep as he used to sob his little heart out as he was overtired. He does much better and he even sleeps right through the night, so now mommy gets a full nights sleep too!

I recommend getting them on some sort of routine so they know what to expect. Can you tandem BF? I tought my DD to eat at the same time as DS and now she is much better at eating at the same time as him. It took a few days but she caught on fast.

They have usually 3 naps a day...2 long ones and a short one.

 

Mine are only 6 weeks old, but I feel the same way. Sometimes one naps and the other one doesn't and then the next session (after a feed) they switch. He says that day time sleep organization doesn't really develop until 12-16 weeks of age, and in case of my oldest, it was even a little later (she took 3-4 naps for 6 months), even though she slept through the night very early on. Also, my dd was born late where the twins were 2 weeks early. At this age, my oldest was way more awake. I just find it hard to get them on a schedule when they're doing something different all of the time. I think I'll just continue doing what I am doing (monitoring their drowsy signs and put them down when I am home) and hopefully in a few weeks / months, it will get easier.

 

I have 6 week olds and we feed every 2 hours during the day and about every 3 at night. Our last feeding before bed is 9:00 thn we wake around 12:00 then 3:00 and 6:30. We are trying to set some kind of a schedule so they get a idea of when the expect to eat. Now sleeping...we just let them sleep when they want...I do try to keep them up and active a bit before it is my bedtime in hopes they will sleep solid for a few hours to help us. I assume it is normal for them to not know day or night yet and they just wake up when they wake up. Also when they cry at night some people say it is okay to let them cry for up to 30 minutes...I don't agree when they are this small..I feel they need to be loved. Am I wrong in picking them up all the time and holding them in a chair to sleep at night or in bed with us...we just really want to bank the sleep hours. Everyone says something else and just wanted to se what other twin P's are doing.
Do they sleep in your room with you or do you have them in their own room yet?

 

At 12 weeks, I would go with the flow and hold him off for a few min. at a time and start soothing DD as SOON as you see DS rub an eye. I can't remember how we got them together, but it's the best way to be. I don't know that they were always together either so don't worry.... it can happen!!

 

quote:
Originally posted by Erykah:
We have a nap from 9 - 11 am, from 12 - 2, from 4 - 6 and from 8 - 11pm. At night I am up at 1 am, 4 am and 6 am... we get up for the day at about 7:45 and I wake them to nurse and get dressed. I suppose the 8 pm could be bed time but we usually get them ready by 11 because 8 pm depending on the day we are coming home from Irish Dance/Karate/Swimming/Soccer/etc and we need to feed everyone and eat dinner.


Two days later we eliminated the 12 - 2 nap! We only sleep from 9 - 11 and 3:30 - 6 and 7:30 - 9. Last night I tried the 8 pm bedtime and they only slept for a half hour and went to sleep at 11 pm!

 

Mine are also 12 weeks and I also BF on demand. Right now one wakes up around 7am and the other at 8am approx. I immediately feed, play and put down for naps when I see them look sleepy. The one who wakes earlier seems to be able to stay alert longer and naps better, but she doesn't sleep as well at night.

Here is a very rough schedule (it seems to change day to day) As you'll see, S usually gets in an extra feeding because she sleeps less.

C- wake 7am/feed play
nap 9am - 10:30am feed/play
nap 12pm - 2pm feed/play
nap 3pm - 4:30pm feed/play/bath(?)
sleep 6:30pm - midnight feed
sleep midnight - 4am feed
sleep 4am - 7am

S- wake 8am/feed play
nap 9am - 10:00am feed/play
nap 11am - 1pm feed/play
nap 2pm - 3:00pm feed/play/
nap 4pm - 5:00pm feed/play/bath(?)
sleep 6:00pm - midnight feed (wake her to keep on night schedule)
sleep midnight - 4am feed (wake her)
sleep 4am - 8am

 

Our guys are 12 weeks old too, and I bf on demand, and we certainly don't have a set nap schedule. Once they're up for the day at around 7am, they're usually only awake for one or 1.5 hours, then they're sleepy again. For the rest of the day, I just watch them for signs of tiredness, and sling/nurse/walk/rock them to sleep when needed. I do look forward to having a nap routine, but it's not something I feel I can impose on them at this age.

Interestingly, the boys' naps don't seem to have a lot of impact on their night-time sleeping, which is getting better and better (only 1 wake-up each last night!)... some days they are happily awake for hours, othertimes they sleep a ton.