Need your help pls!

Hi Ladies...

I have nearly 5 month old twin girls and I am getting to that stage where nothing seems to be right. I really need yr input pls.
here's what we do today:

Bed at 8 - 8:30pm everyday....that works well!
Wake up around 1:00 bottle about 100ml & back to sleep.
(How can I make them drop this 1am feed?)
5am wake up & bottle 120ml
8am wake up - cereal + water, play, bath & sleep.
(here I find that they dont eat much....maybe because of the 5am feed. should I drop the 5am feed? If I drop it then at ab out 7 they are starving & want milk! )
From now on things start going crazy - (
Then sometimes they sleep till 12 or sometime wake up after an hr!
If they wake up at 12 then feed of 120ml play - nap at about 2:00
Wake at about 3:30 play - baby food at 4:30 + water, play bottle of 100ml - sleep 5:30ishh
wake up about 6 play & sleep by 8 - 8:30.

One thing......they don't sleep together, not even in the same room. they wake each other up. How can I put them in the same room? Does yr twins sleep in the same room? do they nap together? How much food do you give them?

Also....is there any books on routines...I heard about Gina Ford it is good?

Thanks in advance for yr replies...
Heena

 

Well, I definitely would drop that 1AM feeding at this point. Mine go to sleep at 9-9:30 and don't wake for a bottle until 6:30 at the earliest. If they wake before that, we comfort, etc., but never give a bottle. We discovered we could do this one night when they both slept until 5:00. It dawned on us that they could go this long without a feed, so we continued to try not to give a bottle when they woke before 5AM, and after about a week, they began to sleep until 6:30. I know that a couple of books talk about doing this. We have "Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child" and Dr. Weissbluth talks about this. You might try reading it and see if it helps. Then you can work on the 5AM feed, but that 1AM feed should be the first to go I think.

Also, if I am reading your post correctly you are feeding them about 3.5 oz at their 1AM and 5AM feedings? That might be part of the problem. At this age, mine are both eating about 5.5 oz (about 170 ml). Yours might be hungry and they are "snacking" on that amount?? Not sure about this, just a thought. We also "load them up" with a bit more formula at their bedtime bottle (6 oz).

I wish I could help you on the napping thing, but sadly I am in the same boat as you are with that... sigh.

As for them sharing a room, again, I am in the same boat as you - one is in the nursery in a crib and one is still in our room in a bassinett because she is the earlier waker and wakes her brother (he will often sleep until 8AM!). So, we are trying to think about how to have them in the same room and need to do this soon. I am curious what others will say about their babies waking each other, etc.

Good luck!

 

Hi Heena,
Sounds like you're having lots of fun . I'll add my two bits for what it's worth. I have an older daughter so my babes were sort of tied to her schedule but we tried to keep their eating/sleeping to coincide with the family.
BF 6:00, 9:00, 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00. At that age they would go back to sleep after 6:00am and wake for 9:00 feed at which point we were out and about. They would then get another nap after lunch at about 1:00 and a short nap at about 5pm (although not always). During waking they would have play time on the floor or be carted along to whatever was happening with their sister. You might find increasing their wake time in the afternoon helps.
Sleeping - ours have always been in the same room. Occassionally one will wake the other up but they get used to each other's noises pretty quickly. Interestingly if one wakes earlier and I take them out of the room, the other will wake up within 15 mins. If I leave they awake one fussing - the other stays alseep! Go figure. You will probably have a few days of them waking each other until they are used to it, but then they will sleep like logs! Ous are in an L shaped room and I have recently had to move them out of each other sight as they were chatting too much to settle down to sleep, now they are okay again.
Good luck!

 

Hi Lisala..

thanks for your reply. Good to hear I'm not alone with this.

I want to get rid of the 1am feed too. I will try what said & see what happens. About the amount they drink...yes they don't take more that 120 per their feed! I try so hard to give them more but not having it! Why?? How often do you feed them? Do you give them a soother? Mine has a soother...it's a bit of sanity for me . Maybe if I give them a soother when they want their snacks.....they might be ok & go longer for their feed & drink more when they're hungry....what do you think?

We wait for someone to response about the sleeping issue. I guess once they start going through the whole nite I can put them together. Oh....One twin really moves around a lot at night....she rubs her backa lot. I put some cream on her before bed incase she has a itch...but she still does it a lot then she wakes & wanting her soother. Any idea?

Thanks
Heena

 

Heena, I feed them about every 3-4 hours, so they get about 5 bottles a day (about 30-32 oz daily). I am just not sure what to say about your girls not wanting to drink more than 120 mls. How often are they eating?

And yes, they both love their "binkys," especially my son. We can pop that in their mouths when they wake in the middle of the night and they most often drift back off to sleep.

 

Thanks Sharon for yr reply too. Yes it's double the fun & trouble with the two as you know.

So Ladies......Maybe I'll start with dropping the 1am feed & see what happens to them during the day. At the moment they want to goto bed by 8:0-8:30...which means they get hungry around one...so maybe I'll keep them up longer. I don't know how to get them to feed more per feed.....they go through 3-4 hrs too! though they both share a tub of baby food at about 4:30 so maybe that fills them up. Does yrs eat now? Our love it!!!

As for sleeping Sharon...thanks I think once I've got the feeding sorted I'll put them together too. I'm sure they'll get used to eachother. Does yr nap in the same room too? Do they nap at the same time? Mine don't nap at the same time.....

Thank u once more...it really helps.
Heena

 

Perhaps our Sleep and Schedules Sticky would help?

 

I found very recently that one twin crying does not necessarily wake the other. I had for months ran into the nursery to take the crying child out so the other would not be disturbed. Since I began the CIO method everyone was talking about on the site I have found that one can cry and the other sleeps through it.....that really was astonishing to me.

The boys have always shared a room but, they do have separate cribs. The night feeding I slowly took away by replacing the milk with water splashed with a little juice. When they realized I was not going to come to them every time they fussed and give them a bottle (and that bottle not being milk) the night wakings have decreased considerably.

 

i have a 2 week old singleton and she only wakes up 2-3 times a night for a feed, i would definatly try to drop the 5am feed.

also at 5 months they would have only just started on solids? have you only ever tried them on cereal in the morning? they might not be very fond of it seeing as they eat their baby food at 4:30.

 

Heena,

5 months is about the age I started putting my boys to bed earlier, started dropping night feeds and began to get a schedule established. It took over a month to get everything just right so to speak, but it was worth it. My boys only occasionally took that evening nap around 5pm, but they really got fussy in the evenings and were snacking all night as well. Since they seemed tired but still awake in the evenings, I figured it was time for a change in routine.

Here's what we did: First, I read the " Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child " book PP was talking about. (I read it with my first son as well) I did not follow the book like it was law, but I used it as a tool to help us get established and it guided us through the process of setting a schedule. Literally one evening, I decided to put the babies to bed at 6:30pm as opposed to 8:30 or 9PM. In the book, it talks about a baby's' natural sleep rhythms going something like wake 6/7am, nap9/10am, nap again 12/1pm, a possible 3rd nap around 4pm kept short and bedtime for the night at around 6/7pm. I used to think a 6pm bedtime was nuts but I am all for it now! Anyway, they went to bed that night and slep for 6 hours before waking, which was the longest they had gone so far. They woke twice that night and I called it a victory.They were so happy the next day, it was crazy. We kept up the earlier bedtime and tried things like dream feeds at 10pm before we went to bed to try and stop the midnight waking and finally decided on dropping the feeding cold turkey. We comforted them and gave them soothers/pacifiers, rocking and such. Two nights later, no midnight feeding, no waking. Then I started refusing all feeding until 6:30am (after a couple if weeks). The began to sleep through without much fuss, although we did allow some crying once they got used to not being fed. A few days after the new bedtime, I started the 9am and 12:30pm nap times. They did not nap regularly at all prior to this new schedule. So after very little time, they napped great, slept better at night and because of the longer sleeps, they ate more per feeding less often. It seemed to all work together somehow. I cannot promise they won't wake and need you when they are teething or sick, but regular sleeping can and does get better.

I have a couple of questions for you. Would it be so bad if the babies woke up at 7 instead of 8 to be fed? Mine wake at 6am these days, so 8 seems like a luxury to me! Once they do sleep through the night, I haven't seen very many babies that sleep late. At 5 months, mine did sleep until 7 or 7:30, but no more! My older son also woke much earlier once he slept 12 hours at night. Are they only taking 4 bottles a day right now or am I missing something? I can't compare eating, because mine eat a ton of food and always have. Are they getting a bottle just before bed too, you don't mention that. How much solid food are they getting per feeding? Here's our feeding schedule( the times are approximate):

6/6:30am wake and 8oz bottle
8am solid food
9am 5/6oz bottle, nap
11:30am solid food
12:30pm 5/6oz bottle, nap
3:30pm solid food
5:30pm 7-8oz bottle
6pm in bed

Gosh, I look at it and I'm thinking all I do is feed them!! Maybe I'm not the one to give any advice about feeding. I'd like to drop a daytime bottle and combine it with another, but I don't think they are ready to give up a drop yet. I've always been a feed on demand person, but as they get older they should need a little less! I hope I helped in some way. It is often trial and error to find what works for you and your babies. However, now is the perfect age to start a better schedule that you are more in control of. My boys fell into the schedule so quickly, it was crazy and wonderful. Good luck and remember you will make it through.

Kelly

 

Hi Kelly & everyone else that replied.

Thank you so much for responding. Well, good nes is that I've stopped the 1am feed now Here's what I do today:

8:00 bottle feed of 120ml
8:30pm bedtime (this works for me)
1am - fuss around - give paci...cuddle & back to sleep.
5am bottle feed - 120ml
nap
7:30 - wake - play, cereal in formula about 3 tablespoons, bath & 60ml of milk & nap again
from then on nap time vary...sometime they poo in between & messes the sched. I've figured the max they stay awake is 2 to 3 hrs then they will nap.

They take about 3 tablespoon of cereal mixed in formula in the morning around 7:30. I am finding recently they don't like cereal!! Can I mix it with something else to make it interesting??

I give them Heinz fruits around 4:30 , they share one tub at the moment. Is this enough? They don't want more so I don't force it. I don't give them lunch at the moment, when can I introduce it?

My girls only drink 3.5 to 4 oz of milk! I try to give them more but not having it at all. They seem to be happy & putting on weight so I guess it's ok.

Also one other thing, PACI's!!! they seem to be addicted! they wake up if it falls out of their mouth! At the mo, they are sleeping in our room, I want them out & both in one room. I tried but the min the paci falls out...cry & I'm running to their room. I can't take this. How do you all handle this one??? What shall I do...it's driving us crazy! Really need yr help with this one please. I want to get rid of the pacie......How???? They're taking their hands, fingers in their mouth all the time so I'm hoping they will not need the paci. AM I hopeful??? Maybe give a blanket or something....how shall I introduce this?

Thanks in advance for yr replies.
Heena

 

my girls are about the same age as yours, 4.5 months. They are eating 5 ounce bottles every 3 hours. I put them to sleep at 8:30 pm and they sleep until about 7:15am. I feed them and they go back to sleep, the amount of time varies at this point. They are not good nappers and by the afternoon they are miserable because they are so tired...

 

Heena,

You can add a half or whole jar or fruit to the cereal to make it taste better. I usually make the cereal as usual and add about half of a jar of peaches, pears or prunes. Add whatever yours like best. That cereal has no flavor at all! Feed them only as much as they want to eat, don't force it.They know when they have had enough. They don't have much room in those tiny tummies and they fill up a lot faster than we think they should. My guys are 10 months old and only eat a jar and a half of stage 2 food at each solid food meal,they share a small bowl of cereal mixed with fruit each meal and take mostly 5-6oz bottles each time. Before solid food, they were taking 8oz each bottle, but have cut back because of all the other food. Sounds like yours are doing fine.

As for paci's, that's a problem for us too. My 3 yr old still has a paci to sleep. We will wean the babies off of their paci's sometime after they turn a year old so we don't have paci's at 3 again! For the babies right now, we keep about 6 paci's in each crib so they can find one when they wake up in the middle of the night. I don't know if yours can put a paci in their own mouths yet or not, but if they can it's a good option. I even go so far as to put an extra paci in their hand when I put them to bed. You say they are sleeping in your room still. I moved the twins at 4 months and they immediately slept better than they did in our room. Our first son slept in our room until he was over 6 months old and he slept awful until he moved into his room. I think somehow they just knew we were right there to comfort them with no delay and did not give them the chance to learn to get back to sleep in their own. I'm not saying you have to let them cry, but often if I just waited a few minutes they would settle back down without me getting out of bed. This took a few nights in their room though. I did do some CIO at 6 months to eliminate all of the night wakings, but it's not necessary for all babies if you aren't comfortable with it. None of my boys have taken to a security object like a blanket or stuffed animal. Of course, I have not give the babies any large blankets or stuffed animals in their cribs yet. They each have a very small "lovey" which is a bear head in top of a blanket. It is not large enough to use as covers, it's quite small. Anyway, they don't seem to care about it yet. From the reading I've done, babies often don't take to a comfort item until 10-12 months of age. That doesn't mean you shouldn't introduce something though, it just won't really take the place of a paci in my opinion. You can add a lovey with your scent on it for comfort and it may help them when they wake up, I don't know. In any event, don't put anything at all in their cribs until they can roll over both ways very well. They are still quite young and may not be able to get their faces away from something easily. Just be careful.

I hope I have helped some. Maybe you'll get some other great advice about the paci issue. I'm a real wimp about taking them away. I want them to sleep! Good luck

Kelly