Need help with sleep!

I posted before... my twins have been sick (still have runny nose/cough) and we just switched them to their own crib. They are still having issues sleeping at night this week (waking up 2-3 times) perhaps due to illness perhaps due to rolling around more (specifically my son). Quite frankly, it's draining me as I got used to sleeping for a long stretch. Their naps during the day are about the same. They take one good one about an hour after they way up. And then another one sometimes really short/sometimes not after their 2nd feeding and then sometimes a short nap after early afternoon feeding.

Any suggestions... do they just need to adjust? Also, currently they nap downstairs in Family Room in their swings and I keep reading it would be best for them to nap in their crib. Any ideas on transition?

thanks!!

 

I posted before... my twins have been sick (still have runny nose/cough) and we just switched them to their own crib. They are still having issues sleeping at night this week (waking up 2-3 times) perhaps due to illness perhaps due to rolling around more (specifically my son). Quite frankly, it's draining me as I got used to sleeping for a long stretch. Their naps during the day are about the same. They take one good one about an hour after they way up. And then another one sometimes really short/sometimes not after their 2nd feeding and then sometimes a short nap after early afternoon feeding.

Any suggestions... do they just need to adjust? Also, currently they nap downstairs in Family Room in their swings and I keep reading it would be best for them to nap in their crib. Any ideas on transition?

thanks!!

 

As far as transitioning, when we moved them to their crib after being in the swings, we just put them in their crib and basically let them CIO. It was really hard, but it didn't take long for them to get used to it. Now they cry when they aren't in their cribs and it's bedtime (or naptime). I know some people don't agree with CIO, but it did work for us. Just depends on what you're comfortable with. You could try letting them just lay there in the crib for short periods of time, so they know its safe and get used to the sight and smell. Also, if they have a blanket or stuffed animal they are used to having with them in the swings, be sure to put that in the crib. You probably already knew that. Good luck, transitioning can be really hard.

 

I would expect your babies would need some transition time. It's better to do it earlier rather than later. They will get used to the cribs soon. I would wait to transition for naps in the crib until the night time is a bit more regular. They need to get some good sleep to sleep better.

Being sick is probably contributing to the night time wake ups. My two have been sick for weeks and we've gotten NO sleep. They go down OK then can't breathe, cough etc and they're awake again. We've been separating them so if one can sleep, they aren't woken up by the other.

Good luck - it's not easy being sleep deprived.
Jen

 

Okay, but how LONG do you let them CIO? An hour seems cruel? What's reasonable/not reasonable? Thanks.

 

Here's some info from Babycenter. My personal thoughts on CIO is that over an hour is too long. If they begin screaming I would go in and check, but if they fuss or cry then try it for an hour. Eventually they will (hopefully) go to sleep before the hour is up, then eventually go to sleep with no "arguements". I definately reccomend doing it sooner rather than later, I did CIO with my 15 month old son, that was HORRIBLE!

 

Mine have never cried over 40 min which seemed like 40 hours. Now if they fuss at all it is usually just 5 minutes. After 5 minutes I'll return to their room and give them a paci and watch their eyes roll back. CIO was hard; however, it worked rather quickly for mine. THANK GOODNESS!

 

Yea, it's gotta be because they are still stuffed up/coughing. I really don't think the separating into their own crib would have that big of an impact (although my son is moving around more and when he does he gets freaked out). Plus, I am thinking that maybe they are waking up very frequently because they are also going through a growth spurt. My daughter was screaming at 11:30 last night and guzzled a 4oz bottle in about 2 minutes.

Thanks!

 

I would think part of it is that they are sick and probably can't breathe well when laying down just like us. Also, teething makes a difference with my girls sleep paterns. Anytime a new tooth starts coming in it messes them up.

 

My girls started to have lots of disturbed sleep with rolling. I did not go to them if they were disturbed from rolling. Then they hit 7 mos and just had difficulty with milestones...those sorts of things throw them...if teething or illness doesn't. So we put them in their room and kissed them goodnight. If they were really sick, then I slept in the hallway to listen out for them. If it was mild then I medicated them for their illness and did not go to them during the night.

We had to have our sleep too. And they aren't mad at us or remember any of it!

 

I used to put them to sleep in their swings and then carry them up and let them fuss for a couple of min. and they would pass back out. (9 mos. I finally went cold turkey and just put them down awake in their cribs. They would cry and fuss for about 10 min. and then pass out!)

 

one transition thing i dd at 3 months was to moe the swings into their room and nap tem there. our boys sleep with us in a crib in our bedroom, so they were not familiar with their room.

good luck, but i would wait til everyone's healthy before cio. all the books say that.

teri