Only sleeping 45 mins...

I am new to the list, and am so thankful I found it.

Our twin boys are almost 6 weeks old. For the first four weeks they slept great, usually at the same tine, and woke up about every three hours to eat.

But now one of them will only sleep maximum 45 minutes at a time. We swaddle, we do the stuff from Happiest Baby on the Block, use white noise, etc. I know they are still very young and this will all change soon. But it's so hard right now. I know he must be overtired. He simply will not stay asleep. Sometimes he wakes up hungry, and sometimes he's just fussy. We get him back to what appears to be a very deep sleep, put him in the co-sleeper, and then in 45 mins or less he is awake again and breaking out of his swaddle. It's a similar situation during the day as well.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

:welcome:

Yes. That was the norm for the first 4 months or so here. Once they started sleeping better at night, their naps got longer. I did sometimes get a longer nap out of them in the swing.

 

Sleep cycles are about 45 min and most babies will start waking at that time instead cycling back down into the next deep sleep cycle. That's why the twins napped in the swings or bouncies with vibration on from 6 weeks to 4mos!

 

Thanks for your responses.

How did stay sane those first months until their sleep cycles lengthen?

 

Do you have anyone that can help you watch the twins so you can take a nap for a couple hours in the mornings and afternoons? That's the only thing that kept my somewhat sane during the early months. Even though I had to be up every 3 hours for breastfeedings, the naps truly made a difference.

Once they start sleeping well, you'll feel like a brand new woman! Let's hope they learn sooner than later. It wasn't until about six months that our little gals started sleeping through the night.

Keep up the good work!

 

Those first few weeks are so hard. They seem to sleep all the time, but at that same time not long enough. As their night sleep schedule gets a bit more settled, their napping in the day likely will as well. We let them sleep in the bouncy chair, in the swing, whatever worked. Have you tried white noise? Hang in there! :hug:

And :welcome: to Twinstuff!

 

It is sooo hard in the beginning. Swaddling worked for us but only in the beginning. At about 6 weeks it was not cutting it anymore. Are you putting them down awake? If not, definitely do that. they will sleep better that way. I used to rock them to sleep and then put them down and they would wake up all the time. Once I started putting them down tired/drowsy but awake.... things turned around miraculously for the better. They slep thru the night by 11 weeks. Good luck!

 

At 6 weeks babies go through a growth spurt, so he might just be a bit more hungry, things will definitely start to setle down soon. Hang in there, you are doing great