Major sleep issues

I have major sleep problems with my 8 month olds. They are asleep by 8:00 p.m., but then wake up 2 hours later and then again 1 - 2 times more at night. I don't think either one has ever slept a full night. I am curious other moms' evening schedule as far as feeding (how much and what kind) and putting your twins to sleep. Do you rock your twins, if so, how do you do it by yourself? If not, do you just put them in the crib and walk out the door? I really need some help here with suggestions. There must be something I am doing wrong, because I have a 3 year old and we went through this with her also. I also wanted to mention that the twins both still spit up with food and bottle. Any suggestions there? I appreciate your time and help.

 

Hello there!

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I think just like adults some babies sleep better than others. Some learn to sleep well early on and some don't. I think that still waking up at 8 months old is really common. Having said that, there are ways you can encourage them to sleep longer.


I am really fond of a book called the No Cry Sleep Solution. I used a lot of tips in it and they really helped. One thing we did was start a fairly predictable routine before bed. We dimmed the lights, played soothing music, gave plenty of time to wind down, and made sure things were somewhat peaceful, said the same cue words, etc. I highly recommend this book because she gives lots of information about how babies' sleep cycles work, but does not try and suggest that there is one right way to get your baby to sleep. Instead she gives information that can help each individual baby and parent.

A lot of people on this site do CIO (cry it out). I personally am quite against it. For me, the ends don't justify the means. But others hold different opinions.

Our twins are 11 months old now, and they co-sleep. So our routine goes something like this:
1. bath about 8
2. turn reading lamp on, dim other lights, get jammies on, read books. We used to play the nighttime music mix we made for them, but now we do books instead.
3. Drink nighttime bottle (usually about 7 ounces or so)
4. Lay them down in the bed, and then I lay down next to them and sing/cuddle until they fall asleep. Once they are asleep I get back up and have a few hours to myself before I go back to bed.
5. They usually wake up once at night to eat, sometimes more if they are teething. If I know they are okay I usually just cuddle them and let them cry until we both doze back off.

The sleep experts would probably say we break every rule in the book, but that's fine with us. It really works for us and the boys are well-rested and most of the time so are we. I don't know if any of that is helpful, but I hope maybe some part of it is.

The book the No Cry Sleep Solution has great information for helping babies sleep longer in their cribs. I highly recommend the book, and it's a very easy read.

Good luck!

 

We did CiO at 8 months and it was the best way we found to teach our boys to self-soothe and improve their sleep. Your LOs could still need a night feeding, only you can judge whether they're ready to go all the way through the night. But if they seem to only be waking up out of habit it may be time to teach them that nighttime is for sleeping. No Cry an CIO are just two options.

What time do your LOs wake up? I'm wondering if they're telling you they need to go to bed earlier. Sleep begets sleep and they might be waking because they're overtired when you pit them down. At 8 months we were doing bedtime around 6 and getting up between 5:30 and 6.