Schedule shortening from 3 to 2 hours?

Is it possible for your twins' schedule to get shorter rather than longer?? When my twins came home from the hospital, they were on a 3 hour schedule, which we enforced softly and the girls ultimately had a cycle that ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 hours. They sometimes napped so long they had to be woken up to eat at 3.5 hours. Now, at 14 weeks 2 days (8 weeks 6 days adjusted), the girls eat every 2 hours and sometimes just catnap (20 minutes) in between. They rarely nap more than one hour.

At first, I thought the shorter cycle was a growth spurt (the girls wake up chewing on their fists and eventually cry if not attended to), but if it is this is one heck of a long spurt. I am fairly confident that it is not a milk supply issue. I am also fairly confident that my girls tire out after 1 - 1.5 hours of wakefulness because they yawn and get crabby. When I have tried to keep them up (hoping to make them extra tired so they would nap longer), they completely melt down and don't necessarily nap longer.

I guess I thought that our schedule would get longer with longer naps and longer periods of wakefulness. I have tried to soothe them back to sleep, but my efforts only seem to wake them up more (they love to play). We're not ready to CIO it out yet. (DH and I agreed not to try that until 6 months.) Did anyone else's kids do this?

Thanks for your insight.

 

My boys did this....but very early on, maybe at 3 weeks. I would read "Babywise" It helped me get them on a schedule. I loosely followed it. I tried to stretch out their feeding to 2.5 hours and feed them more at each. I put them down for a nap every 3 hours at that age.

 

I think it's pretty normal for fluctuations to occur in their schedule. You might find as they grow they will cluster their feedings a bit at certain times of the day and eventually start to space out other feedings. As for keeping them awake to try for a longer nap, you'll find the opposite is true. If you put them down at the very first signs of tiredness, they will probably have a much longer better nap because they'll be more relaxed. Overtired babies get too worked up to have a restful sleep. If they go down relaxed they'll wake up refreshed and relaxed and likely go down just as well the next time. I would try a few days of getting them down as soon as they show cues of sleepiness and see how that goes.

 

Mine did this too. Especially during growth spurts and around maybe 3 or 4 months when they seemed to "wake up" and see theres a whole world out here lol. mine also had reflux flare up and thats what caused theirs too

 

Sounds like they make be "waking up!" I'll reiterate what others have said-the longer you keep them up-the worse that nap is going to be-if you even call it that! As soon as you see signs of tiredness-put them down. Annabella is 13 months old. She woke today just after 7am. It's now 9:30am, and I put her down for a nap. She was relatively happy, but rubbing her eyes like crazy. Down she went-without a peep. I've found that out the hard way-and it really amazes me how easily they go down, the sooner you put them down.

As for schedules, I've found the first six months we were flying by the seat of our pants(even sometimes now! :laughing. You'll get into a good rhythm in due time. I promise!

 

I also think that you need to be flexible in terms of trying to establish a schedule in the first few months. Mine couldn't stay awake for longer than 60-90 minutes until they were about 4-5 months old. I think we got into a good eating/napping schedule by 6 months. I would also reiterate the advice about putting them down at the first signs of tiredness. I know it sounds counterintuitive but babies get more wound up not tired when they are overtired. So paying attention to those cues and putting them down right away might help them sleep longer.

 

Thanks everyone. Maybe it will just take time to smooth things out. For the last 3 weeks I have been putting them down at the first signs of tiredness. While their dispositions have improved significantly, their naps have not lengthened, and have possibly shortened - hence our 2 hour cycle. It baffles me. I read the books (Baby Wise, Baby Whisperer, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins) and all are based on a 3 hour schedule. I wonder "where's my 3 hour schedule and how do I get there?". I suppose I should be satisfied with happy kids for now and let the schedule come in due time.