Ugh, sleeping problems!

The boys' sleeping--both naps and throughout the night--has SUCKED all week! There has only been one nap all week where they both slept for a decent amount of time. Last night, for example, Will woke at 12:15 and needed to be reswaddled and pacified, then Alex woke at 12:45 for the same thing (I want to try weaning them from the swaddle but it seems like they won't go to sleep at all without it), then he woke at 1:20 to eat (and I went ahead and fed Will right after; that's how we handle nighttime feedings to "get it over with"), then between the two of them, they were up every 15 minutes from 4 to 8 am (basically taking turns waking up crying). Prior to this week, they would usually sleep soundly the first half of the night, wake to eat sometime between 1 and 4, go back to sleep, and then from around 4 or 5 to 8 they (especially Alex) would be pretty fussy and restless, but not hungry and clearly not ready to wake up. (that's probably a problem for another post!)

Anyhow, back to this week and more specifically, today as an example. I put them down for their morning nap at 9:15. Until this week, they were sleeping a good 2-3 hours during the morning nap. they might wake and fuss briefly, then they'd usually fall back to sleep. At least 80% of the time, they both took a good nap. Well today, they slept for maybe an hour and now they are both in there babbling; Alex randomly fusses a little and then stops. I am hoping they'll fall back to sleep so they wont' get more overtired but I might have to give in shortly and get them up.

They *might* still be overtired from our crazy weekend with the ILs here--all the extra people in the house (including noisy kids) plus a lot more outings than usual. I wonder if they got overtired and it's just multiplied since then, since overtiredness tends to lead to sleep problems which leads to more overtiredness ... I am hoping it's that, actually, and not a bigger problem! Any suggestions for how to break the overtiredness cycle? We're going crazy with crappy nighttime sleep AND no decent naps!!

Oh, and I don't think it's teething or anything developmental; there doesn't seem to be anything else unusual going on. Not sure if constipation is an issue; they've been on soy formula due to an apparent milk allergy and one of them is still constipated despite following doc's Rx of 1 oz of juice twice a day.

 

Hi there, when did you change to soy formula? Does this coincide with the timing of the change? If so, I would attribute this change in their sleeping to tummy troubles??? I would talk to your pediatrician about switching to Nutramigen for the protein allergy. My DD is on it and it's been GREAT.

 

Will was on the soy formula for about a week before the trouble started; Alex had been on it for about 4 days. But I have noticed that their eczema went away but flared up again after starting the soy so I have been wondering if they're allergic to it too.

 

Wow, 52 views and only one person had a suggestion? That's discouraging.

 

a few things -- for constipation put prune juice (start with a teaspoon) in one of their bottles. If you need to put more in the bottle then do so -- this works like a charm. AND, if it doesn't work you can always use Karo Syrup...I think Prune Juice works better.

RE Naps: right around the three month mark our were horrible nappers...this unfortunately lasted until they were about 6 1/2 - 7 months old. And you know what I did to get through those months? I let both babies nap in swings. I would try the crib first, if they were overtired I would swaddle and use the swing...this ALWAYS worked for us...I don't know what I would have done without those swings. ALSO, around the 6 month marker we seperated the twins for naps...this is great and still works good. I have a humidifier tht runs for DD -- she is our light sleeper, so it definitely drowns out sounds. Also, another thing is that their napping habits may have changed as well. They continually change as they get older so maybe they can stay up a little longer -- just make sure you are following their sleepy cues.

RE: swaddling -- we swaddled until 5 months...ours did not sleep without the swaddles and we would test them every week (starting at 4 months) to take the swaddle off and that was a disaster. We used the Kidopautomus (sp?) swaddles and an inner blanket swaddle (double swaddled) so they couldn't break free of them. Then one day we tried to not swaddle and put them in their sleep sacks and that was the last time we used swaddles.

Soy milk could be the culprit as well -- I know it takes a good week for an infant's digestive system to get used to a new formula. Hopefully this helps a bit.

 

No suggestions here i'm afraid but just wanted to say that i am struggling with there naps at the moment too. I have just had Amber howl like she was in pain before bedtime this evening. She fights naps all day long lateley and pays for it at bedtime. I'm hoping someone pipes up saying that this is a phase, a tooth, milestone or one off as she used to be my good sleeper!! I seriously do my best at trying to get them to nap and avoid being overtired but what to do when they REFUSE i would love to know??????? I felt bad about them napping in swings and carseats but right now i would give my left leg to have them nap anywhere so they don't suffer this awful overtired state we keep getting into!!

I hope you (and i) get some more ideas! xxx

 

My g/g twins are only 9 weeks (3 weeks corrected) so they are still getting used to sleeping at home LOL but I noticed that our swaddling has needed to be changed with the change in our seasons. I live in MN and it is now getting really nice here. The house gets pretty warm in the day even with the windows open and I noticed that the blankets we were using (flannel receiving blankets) started getting them really warm, almost sweaty so I switched them to some muslin ones we bought for Spring/Summer. It seems to help a lot.

Also, our twins "talk" to each other. We actually call them Flipper 1 and Flipper 2 because it is kind of like a clicking sound they make! We think this keeps them from getting good sleep sometimes. The only thing I can think of to solve this is to move them apart but they seem to stay asleep during these "talk" fests : )

 

I have 3 mos old twins too! I swaddled from day one and they chose not to be swaddled at about the 3 mos mark. I was going to swaddle them as long as they wanted. Both the twins and myself got much better sleep this way. They are doing really well w/o being swaddled but I took their cues about wanting to not be swaddled, if that makes sense.

I think you are on to something about being stressed out from being at your inlaws. My twins, especially Jonathan, do not do well when they are not at home. For ex: A few weeks ago, my grandfather passed away and we had to make a last minute trip to Minnesota. We live in Missouri so it would be a 10+ hour trip. Thankfully, we stopped at my inlaws going and coming to give the boys a break. The whole trip, their naps and nights were so off. One night, Riley slept only 2 hours along with me! You should have seen their faces when we put them to bed the first night home! It was a look of pure relief!!! The next day, the boys were back to smiling, cooing and just being themselves.

When a baby gets out of their surroundings, they get stressed out, mama gets stressed and they notice it. Naps and bed time is going to be off. Give them a few days and they should be back to normal. Until then, lots of lovin' and huggin'

 

From what you are describing, it does sound like they might be overstimulated from the visit. I would keep doing your normal routine and I agree with the pp, they will be back to their routine in a few days. Hang in there Momma!

 

Just one thing to add on the constipation- if you get them switched to Nutramigen it will take care of that problem right away. My ped said that it would make my daughter go often as a BF baby and that was very true! Also, my daughter's eczema went away with the Nutramigen but still flares up now and then since we have started adding solids to her diet. Hope your babies have settled since everyone left!