Sleeping at night...

The boys are having a hard time falling asleep at night. They get a bottle at 10 and then they stay up until 11:30- 12:00!! I can't continue this type of schedule. When I was pumping it was no big deal, but now I would like to go to sleep!! They fuss and fuss and fuss, I give them a paci and they are quiet. As soon as they drop the paci, they wake up and fuss. At this age, can I let them fuss? I was also thinking about putting them in their crib tonight (they are in a co-sleeper in my room), do you guys have any tips? TIA

 

Tarin, I would, given their adjusted age, not let them fuss. At that age I was having the same problem and figured out that Emma slept best in her swing and Jake slept best right beside me, so guess what? That's where they slept! ALL night! Have you tried the swing, bouncy, maybe just tilting the co-sleeper to an incline, etc?

 

Yes, I agree with Becky, too early to let them fuss. Have you tried putting them down earlier? 10pm seems awful late to me! Good luck.

 

I am a big supporter of putting them in their crib to sleep. This is where they learn to associate their crib and sleeping so they know what is expected of them when they are placed in their crib. It has worked for us since one of my daughters came home from the NICU at 34 weeks gestational age. I would also try a bedtime routine. At that age, ours were going to bed at 9:00pm. We have since slowly moved it up to 8:00pm. I might let them fuss for about 5 minutes, but not a full fledged CIO. Once they have their nighttime bottle, which you say right now is at 10, then put them right to sleep. They shouldn't really be having waketime that late at night. Hope any of that helps!

 

ITA with the pps, too early to let them cry and I would start a bedtime routine and start working towards an earlier bedtime. At that age ours were starting to go to bed at 8pm and working towards dropping the 11pm feeding. Ours slept in a swing and bouncy seat due to reflux at that age, but we did go cold turkey into the crib so maybe that will help. Do they still like to be swaddled? How about some white noise in the nursery for when they go into their cribs.

 

I agree with trying white noise and swaddling; that helped us! Also, based on what I read in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, it sounds like they might actually be overtired which can make it harder for babies to settle down and fall asleep. I would try moving bedtime earlier. Seems counterintuitive, but it can help! How are they napping during the day? I also agree it's OK to let them fuss for a few minutes at this age but not really CIO. Good luck!

 

I agree that it's too early for letting them fuss. I think for adjusted age you may be at that witching hour. My boys did it at 6-9 weeks actual AND adjusted. Nothing I could do calmed them down. I just soothed as much as I could. It may not be that though. I agree with starting bedtime earlier also. We started ours after the 5pm feeding and then I just woke to feed them in the night. That way my 2 hr sleep increments added up to more throughout the night. A nighttime routine could be bath or just a story (I'd read to mine while they were in their car seats).

 

Someone on this board suggested I read "12 hours of sleep by 12 weeks old" and I HIGHLY recommend it. My twins are 10 weeks old and slept last night from 11:30-5:30 in their crib. I feel like a new woman. It is very practical and gives you a plan to gradually get the kids to sleep without crying it out and starving them. The woman that wrote the book is a mother of twins and is very practical. The book is easy to read and only took me one afternoon. My kids eat at 7:00 am and then every four hours. Once that is established then you can begin to gradually wean them off the middle of the night bottle as long as the kids get those extra ounces throughout the day. We put the kids down at 8:30 and they sleep until 11:00. Then we feed them again and put them down until they wake up on their own. The book tells you how to do it exactly and we are almost there! It is not a rigid schedule and allows flexibility. My kids won't be sleeping 12 hours by 12 weeks exactly but we are getting close to that each week. I was happy with just 6 in a row. The web site is www.babycoach.net if you are interested. I think what is important is that you find what works for you and your family. Some people are very vocal about what they think works but the reality is that many things work. You just have to find what works best for you and your twins. I wish you luck! Our twins are only a few weeks apart. Mine were born January 22.