When do twins STTN?

Our twins are 4 mo and they keep having nights where they are up 3 or 4 times!! I don't want to be unreasonable, but my singletons were all STTN by 2 or 3 mo. And by STTN I mean it was a 12 hour stretch, and if they got up it was usually just once.

Are my expectations too high? I'm just so tired!!!

And where is the happy face icon that has the droopy sleepy eyes with big bags under it? I need one of those 8)

 

Are they in the same room? Maybe they are waking each other up? We had to separate ours and have found a huge difference. At that age, Daniel was getting up twice and Ben usually once. Now Daniel still gets up once a night and Ben sleeps through about 1/2 the time. I think all babies are different...but 3 or 4 times a night at that age is WAY too much.

What time do they go to bed? Maybe an earlier bedtime would help?

 

At around 4 months I had one that was getting up every night, only once and the other one would sometimes get up with her.

So we decided at 4.5 months to do CIO with the one that was only waking once per night.

 

At 4 months ours were probably getting up about 3 times a night as well. They were 2 months premature so I am sure that had something to do with it too. I tried to get them to bed by about 8 Pm and did my best to stick to a nightly routine. You can put some white noise on in the room and see if that helps. But they did not STTN until they were 9 months old. My older DD slept through the night by 3 months so I totally know where you are coming from. Hang in there.

 

Emma was sleeping through at 4 months, Jake was a different story! He was up 8-10 times a night for a paci. I did CIO at 6 months with him. :hug99:

 

I'm sorry you are so tired. It impacts every aspect of life, I know!

 

I feel so lucky...mine were just shy of 3 mos old when they STTN. (Two days before I went back to work, thank goodness).

Just recently they've been starting to get up around 4 am and think it's party time :banana: ...smiling, laughing, pulling socks off, talking...if they were crying, I'd just stick a bottle in their mouths and they would go back to sleep. But they're in such good moods, and it makes me want to stay up and play with them!! :wub:

What has helped us get them to sleep and sleep pretty soundly is a bath right before bedtime.

 

Mine didnt sleep through the nite until they were 10 months old...

 

Babies frequently need to eat at night until they are almost a year old. I think babies who don't require nighttime feedings are the exception, not the rule.

Still, it's a rough time to live through on no sleep!

 

My pedi told me that STTN is a weight thing, not an age thing. Their bodies are not physically able to go without eating that long until they are around 13 pounds. And that totally makes sense, because EVERYBODY's baby STTN at a different age. I tried everything with my babies and nothing worked, sure enough, once they hit 12-13 pounds they started STTN, which my pedi says is defined by 5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It's longer, they older they get. With mine, it started around 4 1/2 months. They would sleep from 8 p to 2 a, get up for a quick feed, and go back down for another 3-4 hours. Eventually, they dropped that 2 a feeding. It's gets better! The day will be here before you know it, hang in there

 

Some babies are sleepers others are not. Our DD has always been a good sleeper but only recently started STTN. DS is still up several times but at least 1-2 times do to hunger. You were very lucky with your singleton I think!

 

Mine didn't sleep through until about 7 months and even then we ended up having to let them cry. It was a really tough few nights but it eventually worked.. Every now and again I still hear one cry maybe 3 a.m. but usually goes back to sleep after a few min... It sucks I know!! Just know eventually it will get better and it is just so nice to have a full night of sleep again!

 

We juts hit 6 months and we still usually get up once. At four months, we had stretched it out and they were getting up twice usually. :hug99:
I know it's tough when you're so tired. Hang in there!

 

Mine didn't sttn until 7 months after a week of CIO. Ryan is now up several times a night again for paci and to be rolled back off his belly. Mine were early, but they were really hungry several times a night. Hang in there. Sleep deprivation really starts to take it's toll around 4/5 months.

 

We were sleeping 8 hours at 5 weeks and 12 hours at 8 weeks and people are totally amazed. We used a modified babywise from then day they came home. it worked for us.

Good Luck - I promise it will get better!

 

we were goign about 5 hours at 4 months. It took to aboutu 7 or 8 months to go 10 plus hours straight!

 

Mine are 4.5mnths old, and sleep is all over the place too. Some nights they will sleep 8 hrs in a row (starting at 6pm, as that is their bedtime), but most nights one or both are up at midnight and again at 4am, and then are up for the day between 530-6am. I am with you, I am really looking forward to consistent nights of sleep - but I am trying to not expect it for another few months. Perhaps you could try only getting up to feed and not reinserting pacis, I hear the first few nights of any change are the hardest.

gl - I am with you, and I understand about the lack of sleep, hang in there, we will make it! Someday I wonder how twins survive to the toddler stage! : )

 

QUOTE(Tammy Fine @ Jun 13 2008, 04:37 PM) [snapback]825111[/snapback]
We were sleeping 8 hours at 5 weeks and 12 hours at 8 weeks and people are totally amazed. We used a modified babywise from then day they came home. it worked for us.

Good Luck - I promise it will get better!



Well that was helpful. Not.

My twins didn't sleep through until almost 11 months. However, Max started waking that frequently at around 4 months, and was eventually diagnosed with and medicated for silent reflux. If the crying seems like a pain cry I would investigate that possibility with your doctor. I was on that same waking schedule, and I know how much it impacts every aspect of your life. At the very least can you get some help until things get better?

 

After EXTENSIVE sleep training, my girls STTN except for one feeding at around 6 or 6 1/2 months. Then they dropped the one middle of the night nursing session at 8 1/2 months for Hannah and 9 months for Meredith on their own.

 

OH, please let me know what works for you because we are sooooo dealing with this also. I just have about had it. I posted earlier about my girls getting up freq. at night and also about what happens when you quit swaddling. PM me and let me know how things go.

 

My son slept through the night at 7 weeks, my twins at five months. I thought I was never going to make it. Hang in there, I'm sure it won't be much longer.

 

QUOTE(Mimsy @ Jun 13 2008, 02:50 PM) [snapback]825481[/snapback]
My twins didn't sleep through until almost 11 months. However, Max started waking that frequently at around 4 months, and was eventually diagnosed with and medicated for silent reflux. If the crying seems like a pain cry I would investigate that possibility with your doctor. I was on that same waking schedule, and I know how much it impacts every aspect of your life. At the very least can you get some help until things get better?


This poster is correct...this happened with my DS too that had really bad reflux. At one point he was waking every couple of hours and crying out from the pain.

 

You guys are great ... thanks for all the ideas and encouragement!!

We have been doing many things that are suggested, like the babywise routine, white noise, early bedtime with routine, etc. I think we may try to let go of the paci's -- maybe they are more of a hindrance than a help? Is 4 months too young for a big CIO? I do small portions of it during the day, but usually only like 15 minutes or something. Is it ok to let them go longer? We may stick them in pack n plays on opposite parts of the house for a night or two!!!

And if you guys check back about the silent reflux, are there other symptoms?

Most likely we are just trying to get over the hump like everyone else. Hopefully we are getting close. Thanks again for all the help !

 

QUOTE(JenniferZ @ Jun 13 2008, 09:57 AM) [snapback]824840[/snapback]
My pedi told me that STTN is a weight thing, not an age thing. Their bodies are not physically able to go without eating that long until they are around 13 pounds. And that totally makes sense, because EVERYBODY's baby STTN at a different age.


Agree with that post, both my boys slept through about the time they weighted 13 pounds. By reading these posts I realize that I am lucky For my big DS it was around 2 months (from 10 to 4 am) and for my smaller DS, around 3 months. Now my big boy sleeps 12 hours straight and my smaller boy about 9 hours. I have to say they have good weights, especially my "little" one caught up and I'm sure it helped with the sleep. They were 17 lbs 4oz and 15 lbs 4 oz at their 4 month appointment.

One thing that definitely helped was to make sure that they were getting more nutrition during the day to help them skip feedings at night. I mean larger volumes or more frequent feedings, I did not give them any solid foods and they still haven't started them.

Hang in there, I hope it gets better soon :hug99:

 

QUOTE(2BOYSmore @ Jun 13 2008, 05:21 AM) [snapback]824608[/snapback]
Our twins are 4 mo and they keep having nights where they are up 3 or 4 times!! I don't want to be unreasonable, but my singletons were all STTN by 2 or 3 mo. And by STTN I mean it was a 12 hour stretch, and if they got up it was usually just once.

Are my expectations too high? I'm just so tired!!!

And where is the happy face icon that has the droopy sleepy eyes with big bags under it? I need one of those 8)


Mine are the same age basically and Anna will often sleep 10-11 hours in her crib without waking for us once (although she has been waking up at 4 am a lot lately!) Jack needs his pacifier reinserted a lot, and usually ends up in his swing because I know he will sleep without waking in it. All babies are different, but here is what I did. I started putting them in their swings with a pacifier when they woke up for the first bottle and they would go back to sleep and skip a feeding (obviously if they were truly hungry they wouldn't go back to sleep and we would feed them). Slowly, they started waking up to eat later and later until Anna wasn't at all some nights (leaving aside the last week when the poor child is STARVING at 4 a.m.) and Jack just needed to be put in his swing mid-night and then slept through. At most, they are up once a night to eat. I also swear by white noise, an early bedtime (6:30 or 7 at the latest), feeding them their last bottle in their room (they go to sleep so much better than when we move them after their last bottle), and the acquarium soother by Fisher Price for Jack (he slept 6:30 to 2:30 before he woke up at all last night because every time he moves he bumps the on button and it soothes him back to sleep.)

Good luck!

 

E is STTN but D is up 1-2 times. He has some nights where he goes 6-8 hours. Im not too worried. He'll get there when hes ready. Gppd luck. It will happen! :hug99: