Please Help

Hey everyone. I'm fairly new to the boards. My twin baby boys were born on Friday at 36wks and 1 day. Baby A, Nicholas, was born at 6lbs 1oz, had two days of NICU time and was then released to come home with us. Baby B, Andrew, was born at 5lbs 3oz, had no NICU time and dropped down to 4lbs 12oz by the time we left the hospital. Last night was our first night at home. They did really well at the hospital with BF and then going back in their lil bassinets but last night was seriously the worst night ever. They would not sleep in their co sleeper. They would BF for minimal amounts of time and then when I'd put them down they'd cry. Eventually, at 5am, we put Nicholas in the swing on low and Andrew fell asleep on my chest. And that was that. We got 2 hours of sleep and are going to see the pediatrician today. I just wanna know if I made a huge mistake by doing that. I don't want to start any terrible habits but DH and I need to sleep a lil. Should I be letting them cry in the cosleeper instead? Should I separate them so that they don't wake each other?? Any advice would be sooooooooooo appreciated. Thanks and hope to get to know all of you better!

 

I'm sorry I don't have any advice for you, my twins had long NICU stays. Ido remember those 2 hour a night days tho, still have them at times. Good Luck !

Keri

 

Congratulations on your twins! Do not let them cry at this age, on purpose anyway!! Some crying is inevitable with twins because there is only one of you and two of them!! Right now, you are simply in survival mode! Whatever works, do it! Swings are fine! Emma lived in her swing at night for the first 3 months, and I kept my sanity(sort of!). Hang in there, and do whatever works! You can break habits later!

 

You are so at the survival stage! You do what you need to so you can get some rest. If that means they sleep in the swing, on you, in their car seats, it doesn't matter. What you do in these first weeks can be undone later. You may have to work at breaking a habit if it goes too long, but you can do that, too. What I did that helped me a little is that I would pump after nursing them, and then dh could feed a bottle at night so I could at least sleep a little (you know, maybe an hour here or there). Good luck and enjoy those little boys.

 

Congratulations on the birth of your sons!

Please don't let your tiny brand-new babies cry because you're afraid of bad habits! There is no possible way to create a bad habit in a baby this young. Remember - even though they made it to 36 weeks and came home so quickly, they really are supposed to still be inside your womb right now, and they are out in the big world instead. They need contact and comfort and loving. Enjoy their tiny little warm squishy baby-ness while they are little. It's so hard to take care of two little people who need you for everything, but you can do it! If you are going to sleep with a baby on your chest, be careful - prop your arms up with pillows and make sure you are not right at the edge of the bed (even a baby that young can somehow slither off - trust me, I speak from experience).

Hang in there. And don't let anyone tell you a baby this young should not be picked up when he's crying. Even the most rigid sleep books say that babies should not be left to cry to sleep for AT LEAST the first 4-6 months. I, personally, believe babies should never be left to cry to sleep.

 

Ours had reflux and it helped them sleep better to be in the swing or in their carseats. They slept in their swings for most of the time for the first 3 months. Now..I will say they had some tightness in their back muscles later because of being swaddled and in the swings alot, so if they will sleep some times in their beds that's wonderful. But we were getting NO SLEEP and like has been said before, the first few months are absolutely about surviving. Let them sleep in the swings. When we switched them to their beds, it only took us a couple of nights before they were sleeping peacefully. As I read your post, and I never thought I'd say this, I just miss their little bitty bodies so much. I wish I had held them more and not been so worried about doing things "right". Good luck and hang in there, and if you need us...we're here! Come often. It helped me so much those first few months! Congrats on your brand new babies!!

 

My dh and I spent most nights each holding a baby to sleep. If they slept, we could too and that was the only way to do it. Swaddling helped get our little bundles to calm down faster. At this age they still need the tight comfort and warmth like the womb provided. Congratulations and good luck!

 

First of all, congratulations on your babies! I'm so glad they came home with you soon.
All I can say is, the first few weeks (months?) are going to be tough. We slept with the babies on our chest for at least a few weeks until they slept longer stretches at night. Now that they can go 3-4 hours, I can get them in the pack-n-play next to the bed and they do well. So I wouldn't worry about bad habits just yet. Just comfort your babies and get as much sleep as you can!
Also, I think they're much to little to even consider letting them cry long.
As for seperating them, that seems to be pretty individual. Mine like to be together; it's like they get too cold on their own or something. I plan to play that by ear as they get older.
Your babies are little like mine; it's only just now that they're getting into the 8 lbs range that they can go those "long" stretches without eating. When they're tiny, they need to eat every hour or so since thier little bellies are so small and can't hold much.
Hang in there and congrats again!

 

after the first month of relatively no sleep and trying to get them to sleep in the PnP or their crib we moved to swings - it was the best thing we ever did...right at 4 months when we started solids and they started to sleep ALL night we moved to the cribs which was almost like no transition at all...they snuffled about the first night and were fine after that...

I also agree at this age you sleep when they do - and if its in the middle of the afternoon so be it!

 

quote:
Originally posted by HRE:
You are so at the survival stage! You do what you need to so you can get some rest. If that means they sleep in the swing, on you, in their car seats, it doesn't matter. What you do in these first weeks can be undone later. You may have to work at breaking a habit if it goes too long, but you can do that, too.


I agree! I also wanted to add my congratulations on your two new babies!