Sorry more questions!

Hi,

I'm trying to follow the HSHHC and the girld more or less go down at the isame time but they both ALWAYS wake up 30 to 45 mins into the nap, i always go in give them a paci and or some strokes on the head. If that doesn't get them back off and they clearly need more zzzzzzzzzz's i pick them up and rock them. They can then go on to get another hour. So now i'm concerned that i shouldn't be doing this? Do you think they will come to rely on me to put them to sleep? I let them fuss before i go in but there is always the added worry of my other girl being woken up?! Sometimes it feels like i'm constantly fighting them to go to sleep lol

The other question is really from my DF, the girls go to bed around 6ish and we dreamfeed around 9-10pm. The girls then always wake up between 3 & 5am, they seem hungry as they don't settle so we feed and put them back down. Paul is wondering if we should be doing this? He thinks we are teaching them to wake up at say 4am for food. When did you all start not feeding them through the night?

Many thanks ladies x

 

If mine woke up after 45 mins and couldnt get themselves back to sleep for a nap I would bring them out and let them finish their naps in their swings. They would sleep usually for at least another hour. And when they were ready to sleep longer stretches they did without any interference from me.

As far as waking at 4 to feed, that is totally normal. You are not teaching them anything by feeding them except that they can depend on you to feed and comfort them and give them what they need. They will eventually space out the feeding on their own and drop it at some point.

Sounds like you are doing a great job. :good:

 

I agree with Rachel in using swings or bouncys to get them to sleep longer for naps. As for night feedings, you are not creating a habit at this age, they are probably still hungry. We let our babies tell us when they were ready to drop night feedings.

You are doing great, Momma :clapping:

 

Thanx ladies! I love being able to come on here and quiz all you veterans!


I thought the same as you both re: the night feeds. Df is just sick and tired of working 12 hr days and doing a night feed. I'll just have to reassure him that they will drop it of there own accord and that they are waking because of hunger not for attention.

Hmmm still not to sure about the napoping issue. When i bring them down early from a nap there is no way on this earth that they will finish it in there swings or bouncy. Once they are up that is it it's playtime or dinnertime. I used to be able to do it when they were really small but now they are discivering the big wide world they don't seem to want to miss a second. So you think maybe i shoud seperate them and let them fuss abit more rather than help them back to sleep? I seriously want to avoid creating a problem in them going off on there own.

Ooooooh it's very hard being responsible and decisive lol

 

I would steer you away from using a swing or bouncy to finish naps. I struggled with the same thing that you did about them waking 30-45 minutes into nap. When it first started, I was able to go in and give them paci and they'd go back to sleep, but after a whlie that stopped working. Then, I decided I was just going to let them learn how to self soothe and CIO. This was right around 4 months adjusted age. In my opinion, you are teaching them to be dependent on the swing or bouncy to get through their sleep phase transitions.

As far as the waking in the middle of the night, my girls started STTN when they were about 8 weeks adjusted age so I can't help you there.

 

many moms on this website have used the swings or bouncies and didn't have a hard time transitioning to cribs for naps. my girls will sometimes want to finish their naps in the swing or in my bed (it's super soft) but other days they prefer to sleep in their crib. think about it, sometimes i don't want to nap in my bed and would rather nap on the couch or nearest place that is nappable like my recliner.

also, my girls were doing just about the same thing as your twins as far as waking early morning to feed. turns out they weren't really hungry and were looking for some soothing from mom and dad to get back to sleep. we stopped doing the early morning feeding just this morning cold turkey. we did everything in our power not to feed them. i think we were just feeding them more out of habit. it took a little bit to get them back to sleep but they finally did and ended up sleeping from 7 to 7.

 

I do know that in HSHHC he suggests starting sleep training at 16 weeks, and he does say if your baby wakes too early or is having a hard time settling down for a nap, that by 4 or 5 months it's OK to set an hour time limit and not get them up before then, saying they'll then learn it's naptime and to self-soothe or try to go back to sleep. I haven't really tried that yet (moving them to swings to finish the nap--and not wake their brother!-has seemed to work best for us so far) but I've filed it away for future reference.

 

Thanx ladies! If ONLY the swings still did there job lol I would be sure to take advantage of an extra hour in them. The girls always slept in there swings and carseat because of reflux but for the last month sleep and swings don't go hand in hand. WE have them in there moses baskets in our room. I'm not sure they (or us) are ready for sleep training yet?! Although for one of them i think it will be necessary!

This is when it's good that they came early, i have another 4wks to play with lol It's strange because they can settle themselves through the night better than at nap times.

In 2 weeks my DF has 2weeks off work, the girls will be 5mth (4mths adjjusted) we could look at sorting the napping issues out then? I always thought you shouldn't cio till 6mths though?