settling 10 week old twins for daytime sleeps

Hi all,

I have 10 week old twins. I'm finding the days difficult as they rarely sleep at the same time during the day. It is difficult to settle both at once and usually one or both ends up upset. Then when they I do get one down for a sleep they tend to catnap, waking after 30 minutes or so when I might have only just managed to get the other one down. I spend all day settling them!

They will settle in the stroller or the car, but I don't want to create a situation where I can't get them to nap in their cots in the daytime.

Luckily they are good night time sleepers or I'd be in trouble!!

Any tips from other twin mums?

Thanks,

Argon

I'm not a mum to twins but I work in a nursery in a maternity ward so would you mind if I ask a few questions?

When my twins were that age I rarely got them to sleep at the same time. I swear they actually communicated about it so I always had one baby awake! In the end I just made the most of the opportunity to get one to one cuddles with one baby as the other slept. As they get older they will have more of a defined routine so it will be easier to get them down at the same time, but for now you might have to just put up with their dodgy routine.

Good luck

T
xx

Do they sleep in the same cot? I have no personal experience with twins but have a close friend with twin bubbas and she sleeps them together, and they really settle each other.

You're doing a great job! It must be such a challenge but very rewarding.

Liviam - sure, ask away. :)

Lollybaby - thanks. :) Yeah, they do sleep in the same cot. I find they pretty much don't react to the other one in either a positive or a negative way. They don't wake each other up, but neither do they settle each other. In fact, sometimes I think they don't really conceive of the other one as being a different entity to themselves at all.

Traveller - I'd love to hear more re the defined routine when they are older. Did yours start to settle themselves for naps as they got older? When did this happen and what sort of a routine did they get into? Did you have to help them into it, and if so how did you approach it? Any help is much appreciated!

I found as my twins got older they each started to prefer 3 or 2 naps a day, so I would put them both down at the same time (even if one seemed less sleepy) to make sure the naps coincided to some degree. Often one will wake before the other but I just nip up as soon as I hear the first one waking so the 2nd one can still nap. They slept in separate cots from about 4 months so this helped too as they are more wriggly at his age and they did not wake each other up. They still share a room though and they seem to like knowing the other is just a few feet away.

To be honest though I didn't really try to give them a routine, it was more that we would be busy in the morning, then they would get sleepy so a nap, then lunch, then nap, then play, dinner, and back to bed. I can't remember when they started doing this, I think maybe around the same time they were in separate cots but I could be making that up. My boytwin was sick for a lot of his first year so much of it is a blurr tbh.

Sorry I can't be more help, but feel free to ask any questions as I seem to have survived to 22 months:lol:

T
xx

I was going to suggest them sharing a cot too. Friends of mine had their twins together for the first 3 - 4 months. I think maybe keep putting them both down at the same time & they might line up a bit better after a little while?
Even if one sleeps & one doesn't, if they have that same rest/quiet time each day, they might just decide to start settling into sleep when it happens.

I think 10 weeks is often a bit of a wonder week isn't it?? They become a little more aware of their surroundings, learn a little more & are a bit unsettled for a few days, then they settle again?

Sorry Argon I've only just seen this post. My twins were all over the place at that time too, it did seem as though you spent all day trying to settle them, it is a very difficult and trying time. Try not to worry about it too much, (easier said than done eh?) They will soon start to get into a routine. My two get up between 7am and 8am they get fed and have up time until around 9ish then they both go down into their cots, I let them self settle, some times I get the protesting sometimes they go straight to sleep. If one of them wakes before the other ie. catnaps, I just get her up and keep her awake until about 1ish then put them both down for another nap, again I let them self settle. If the crying gets too much put some music on try to leave them as long as you can, a baby will catnap if they are over tired or is unable to self settle. If the crying is too much for you get the baby up and give her a cuddle for 10 mins then try again, it's a lot of hard work, but so worth it when they go down in their cots without a fuss. This method has worked for me, my two go from 7pm to 7 or 8am without waking in the night, we've had the odd occasion where one has woken at around 5am, but she got fed without a fuss and put back to bed to self settle. If one isn't awake at 7am or when ever I think it's time to get them up I always wake the other so that they are synchronized, even if one got fed at 5am, it makes life a hell of a lot easier. Sorry it's a bit late, but I hope it helps you out. Remember you are not alone, we have all gone through the same trying times! Good luck x

Thanks Kezza, and Traveller too. :)

They are getting a bit better. I've had tresillian out and the woman managed to convince me that I can get them to resttle when they wake early. The resettling is hard going sometimes and I almost never bother if they both wake early, but if one wakes under 1 hour (for the morning sleeps at least) I can usually resettle them so they both get 1.5-2 hours. This has definitely made life easier.

Kezza - sounds like you're going really well. Good to hear!

Argon x

Hi I have always put my twins down at the same time. They wake at around 8.00am go back down at 11.00 and than around 4.oo in the afternoon. Even if the other twin is not sleepy I still put them both down, the other one just lays in the cot and rests. They are now 1 year. Good luck you just need to stick with it. cathie:dance:

I do the same thing, after putting myself through a difficult patch last year trying to cater to their individual sleep desires. It is much easier now putting them down at the same time, letting the sleepiest child indicate when nap time starts and when it ends (ie, they don't get up from nap time until they both awake happy and chirpy. If I hear grumbles and grizzles I recall other times I have gone in to those noises and found they're still half awake and not finished with their nap).
I am finding my little boy seems to need less sleep than my girl, but he chats softly to himself in bed when he doesn't feel sleepy as he knows there's no getting up for a while.
I had them sleeping well when they were little, and then got to winter last year (they were around 8 months) and them being sick and miserable messed up their sleep patterns. We managed to get things back on track at around 11 months and have maintained good night and day sleeps. They're now 19 months.