Putting Twins to sleep

Hi Girls

I need some immediate assistance, I have twins 9 months old and all of a sudden they will not go to sleep easily, both day and night. Through the day I have been using swings to put them to sleep(I know that is bad) well now they don't like that anymore. At night they are still wrapped and they have always gone to bed and just gone to sleep now they will not have a part of it and we have to rock themn to sleep. I need help as I have the twins and also a 22 month old so by the end of the day I am so tired I just want them to go to sleep so I can have a rest also by the end of the day I am at wits end and my stress dosen't help them go to sleep.
Hope you can help, or tell me to get off my lazy butt and rock them, any advice will be appreciated.
Jules

Hi Julie sorry I can't help my boy /girl twins are 10 1/2 months old and I have always put them in thier beds to go to sleep I have found Jack is now not going to sleep as easely as before but I just let him play till he drops off sometimes he has a little winge but soon goes down. I hope your Theo and Kobe settle for you soon.
I know what you meen about wanting them to go bed sleep at the end of the day just to have some down time for yourself.
Hugs Jean

You must be absolutely exhausted :hugs:

I'm no help, I can't even get one baby to sleep :(
Hope someone has some great advice for you and I hope it improves for you soon.

Hi Girls

Thank you for replying I will just have to persist and leave them in the cots, I need to be strong when I here them sooking I feel sorry for them and go and get them. Thank god Leroy just goes to bed at 6.30 and hops in his bed.

Jules

I can't imagine having a 22 month old too - you must be exhausted .

Still , I will differ and say rock them to sleep for now... we tried everything with our twin boys when they were about same age ...I think they get to an age when they start to sleep less too.

I just feed them to sleep or we cuddle and let them fall asleep in our arms. It is such a short time they are babies and then they won't you to hold them so much.

Occasionally they will just go into bed.

Maybe ,use the opportunity to put your feet up, read them a story and see if they drift off.

I hope the sleep fairy comes and lets you get some much needed rest.

thanks Trish, that is what we have been doing the last few nights, but our business means that DH does work some nights, he is home around 8.30 but i definately like them to be in bed by then, mum came last night and we rocked 1 each, they go to sleep easily when rocked, i guess some days I am just soooo tired by then , I wont to lay on the lounge and veg out. Leroy (22mth old) Is very good so I am very lucky just a little tired is all... I think it is all just hitting me now everything from the past 9 months and my body is crashing and burning..

Jules

Are they not liking being wrapped. My boys wriggled out of their wraps from around 2 months so since then I have used sleeping bags. And they work really well. No blankets needed. So they move all around their cot and don't get tangled so they stay asleep.
I still give them a bottle at 6pm then straight into bed. Adam often sleeps for 30 mins then wakes up and chats to himself for up to an hour. But I don't need to go in as he is happy.
During the day I found I had to start to let hem cry instead of keep going in and they only cried for about 10 minutes. Now hardly ever cry, just sleep or chat to themselves.

goodluck

Hi Girls

Well babies are still trouble getting to sleep, yes I still wrap them, I have the sleeping bags ready for when they stop being wrapped, maybe I should just put them in the bags instead of wrapping and leave them in there to play a bit before they sleep?? I have no idea really, during the day is not too bad, I guess at night I probably just have less patience. Kelly I am glad to hear you let them cry a little, that is something I have extreme trouble with, but I know at some point they will have to cry a little, again thanks for your replies its just nice to know someone is listening to me whinge....

Jules

Hi Julie,

We use to put them in there high chairs - we had the prima papa ones that reclined back and were on wheels and pushed them back and forth whilst we were watching tv. I know it sounds stupid but it worked for us. Then when they got older we just put them in there cots and keep going in and patting them for a minute or two then walking out of there room. Eventually they just fell asleep by themselves.

Julie - no problems, letting them cry was so hard at first, but definately worth it. Even today, they both have colds and Adam woke after only half hour nap this afternoon, I knew he needed more. Left him for 5 minutes (not serious crying) and he slept for another hour. So I have found even after them getting to sleep that I don't jump to get them as soon as they make a murmer as often they go back to sleep.

Another thought I had is when they were young (before about 8 months I think) during they day they often slept in their rockers. It worked well at the time.

Hi Julie,

I have had problems with my twins sleeping during the day for what seems like forever. It is kinda our fault because we got them into a habit of being rocked in their rockers during the day. They came so dependant on being rocked that it was hell if we went out to lunch or dinner because we couldn't even get them to sleep in our arms. Anyway the rockers have started 'popping' because the boys are getting too heavy (almost 8 months old) so their heads would end up on the floor and their legs in the air. Anyway I considered going to a sleep school but read up on it a bit and it seemed to be mostly controlled crying, so I thought I'd rather try it on my own at home. I honestly did not think it was going to work but during the day I put them in their cots as soon as they get a tiny bit cranky or look tired. I only let them go 10 mins and then I would go in and try and settle them. At first I tried to sit in their with them but as soon as I left them alone they eventually fell asleep. Now Dylan will fall asleep within 5mins and rarely cries, Blake on the other hand has some really bad days where he will just fight it and fight it so I have to remove him from the nursery so he doesn't wake Dylan. It hasn't been easy trying to get them out of the rocking routine but I don't regret it because it is what worked for us at the time. I still rock them after their 5am feed because I am too tired and have no patience to wait for them to sleep in their cots. And if I'm having a really bad day and Blake especially won't fall asleep I'll just rock him. But overall things have been a lot better. My pedeatrician said to me you just need to pick a new routine and stick with it, unfortunatly you just have to perservere and eventually they get it.

Kris xo

Hi Kris

Since posting this thread I have had a bit of success, and yes mine is just putting them in the cot as soon as they look tired. My boys luckily have slept through the night since around 4 months so they go to bed around 7 pm and wake around 7 am so I can't complain in that area. It is still hard some days as Kobe can be real hard if he decides to fight it. I have them in seperate rooms purely because Kobe is so loud he wakes Theo, also I have twin nieces, now 12, and they were always in the same room etc, and still now it is hard to seperate them, my sister is having so much trouble I decided to start them seperate, I also have a 23 mth old so I also didn't want him to feel left out as he is in his own room. I noticed on your previous thread you are new to this, trust me it is a god send, some days I have no clue what i would have done with out the girls on here, it is nice just to know someone reads what you write and cares enough to reply.
Good luck with everything no doubt I will see you on a few threads as our little ones are similar in age.

Jules

Wow thats great they go till 7am, for some reason mine never sleep past 5am I have no idea how I can change that but it doesn't seem to matter when they go to bed the night before they will always wake at 5am. Last night Dylan cried almost all night I have no idea why maybe he has sore gums but it was insane! Thanks for the advice about sharing rooms I'll have to start considering what to do. They are not too bad at waking each other up at night but during the day if one is crying and the other one is asleep I have to whisk the crying one out. (Perfect example right now Blake is asleep in the cot and I've had to move Dylan into my room because he won't go to sleep.. crazy twins!!) I seriously can't complain though because I don't have any other kids to worry about.

Thanks so much for the chat!

Kris xo

Dylan - 1/03/07
Blake - 1/03/07

Kris

I have no idea about the 5am thing I guess I was just lucky with them sleeping till 7, it was the same with my first. I feel so bad for you that you had a whole night of crying, you must be a wreck, touch wood I haven't had any of that, the worst was one night Kobe woke at 11 and cried till midnight but then slept the rest. I now that sleep seprivation is the worst thing. You are lucky you don't have any others, but twins are enough work anyway, you sound like you are doing a great job!
Jules

julie
the first full night sleep i got was when my twins were 3 years old! and that was only one night a week
they are nearly five now and sleep through nearly every night now- so yeah its been a gradual thing for us !
if you are at your tether have you thought of going to a sleep school- you should get prioity having twins
if you are unsure what clinics there are- ask MCHN or speak or email AMBA
HTH and hang in there and just do what is best for you and your kids!!

odette

Hi again,

It's funny now it's daylight savings I don't have to feed till 6am now which is a lot better but they are going to bed a bit later. Still 10 times better! The twins and I all woke up with coughs this morning so should be in for an interesting week but the sleeping has been a bit better since Friday night thank god!! hee hee the joys of two babies! Like I said I shouldn't complain as I don't have another child to care for.

Good to talk to you.

Kris xo

Dylan - 01/03/07
Blake - 01/03/07

Hi Odette,

Oh my god you poor thing, how did you cope with so little sleep for so long? I thought 4 months of 3 hours a night was bad.. but 3 years!!? I will remind myself of that next time I complain! Did consider sleep school but just want to see if I can get them into a better routine myself first.

Thanks for your support

Kris xo


Dylan - 01/03/07
Blake - 01/03/07