Sleeping Through the Night - Valley Village, CA

I know it's got to be very hard working full time with not one, but two infants, but unfortunately your babies may not sleep through the night, or longer stretches for a while. My first slept through at 10 months old, and my second is just now starting to sleep through at nearly 23 months... As a working full time plus nursing around the clock mom, I've found ways of dealing with this - like co-sleeping. It's made it a lot more do-able. They grow up so fast and they won't always be this young...so try to enjoy your little snugglebugs in the middle of the night no matter how sleep deprived and frustrated you feel.

I was hard enough for me with one, but I can't imagine doing it with 2! On another request made by someone about the same subject, many moms answered the request by saying that it is mean to let your baby cry it out. I totally disagree. I read a great book called "On Becoming Babywise" and it taught me how to help my babies help themselves to learn to sleep through the night. I have 2 boys and both of them, 3 and 1 year, have great sleeping habits. It is how we survive as moms. It is possible for your babies to sleep, and it is good for them to have some sleep. There is a specific chapter in the book on multiple births and how to help them. Good luck. You can do it!

Sounds like you have healthy babies doing just want they're supposed to do. Waking up every 2-3 hrs/ 24 hrs a day at this young age is completely normal. For survival reasons, infants aren't supposed to sleep through the night. From my research, one should not even think about some sort of "sleep training" (hopefully NOT the cry-it-out method!!!) until at least four months, but ideally much later. (Our daughter didn't sleep through the night until we nightweaned her at about 14 months.) Good luck, and sorry for your exhaustion. We can all empathize!

My twins started sleeping longer stretches around 14 weeks. Until then, one was up every 3 hours. Were your twins full-term? Mine were born at 35 weeks. My singleton was full-term and was sleeping 7-8 hour stretches by 11 weeks. Maybe that made a difference? Unfortunately, I don't have any specific advice. They will get there eventually and you will sleep again. Are they taking a full feeding before bed or are they dozing off before they finish? If you think they're not waking to feed, what about just touching them for reassurance while they drift back to sleep. Swaddling also helped my twins sleep longer stretches. One who startled easily was swaddled at night for almost 5 months. It was touchy because one could sleep longer stretches, but the other woke him every three hours. We seperated them for awhile until the one who woke constantly matured more. That way, at least we weren't trying to put both back to sleep.

Best of luck. Every week will get easier now - hang in there.

I think you are stuck with them waking up every 3 hours until they are about 4-5 months old. Then you could have them cry it out but until then I think they still need the food to grow and thrive.

Dear R.,
A friend of mine recommended a book called Healthy sleep habits happy child by Marc Weissbluth. My son was the same until I read this book and now he sleeps from 6 or 6:30 pm till 6:am. He's like a new baby who is a lot more alert and attentive and so am I. Naps are on a regular schedule too.
Good luck,
S.

R.-
I have 10 month old twins and we didn't really sleep through the night until 8 months. I also went back to work full time after 4 months so your spouse is KEY! Everyone has different methods but we just broke it down I took one baby he took the other and when 'my' baby woke up I took care of that baby and when 'his' woke up he did the same. That way we avoided the 'midnight chicken' of who will get up. Mine were born at 36 weeks and I remember our pediatrician saying at 6 months- they finally weigh enough they can be sleeping through the night. I didn't understand what she meant but other Moms have already addressed this. Your daughters need to eat still- they're babies. It is an ancient hazing torture ritual for Moms of twins. I had great success with the tight swaddle I learned from watching the 'happiest baby on the block' video. I swaddled them for 6 months at least and they LOVED IT. And I know lots of Moms don't agree but essentially at 8 months we put them down to sleep one night and decided we weren't going to pick them back up during the night. We would go in and comfort them when they cried and soothe them with quiet whispers but no picking them up out of the crib for any reason. There was a lot of crying from them and me but you know what? After 2 nights- no more peeps. Sleep for everyone. They sleep now from 7pm-6am like clockwork. You will get there too! Good luck, and ENJOY!

My daughter slept through the night at 8 weeks and I was crying thinking she was starving to death because I thought she needed to eat. And she slept for 11 hours at that! Do you know what my doctor said?? THAT'S GREAT!! HOW LUCKY ARE YOU???!!! Babies only need to be fed through the night for survival means for the first 2/3 weeks of life. After that, they're fine. You should get the book Baby 411. It has a lot of Q&A that you were wondering.

Now..how did I get my baby to sleep through the night? I didn't do anything, but swaddle her very tightly with a swaddler that has velcro. She was calm and happy and warm and never woke up (well she stirred here and there). In fact, I woke her up in the mornings! And I weaned her off of being swaddled at 3 months and she was unswaddled and sleeping through the night at 4 months. She is 7 months now and has been sleeping 11-12 hours straight every night since 8 weeks. She weighs 18lbs and 4oz and is very healthy even though I didn't feed her through the night past 8 weeks!

Try it out and don't give up. They'll be fine. Good Luck!

FYI...it isn't uncommon though for babies to start sleeping through the night much later. I think my baby was an exception. There is a correlation to weight as well so that typically falls around the 3-4 month age range. But do try swaddling. Don't think you're baby doesn't like to be swaddled. I thought that and didn't swaddle her in the beginning. But in all honesty, they all do for the first 3 months!

Your babies NEED you and crying is the ONLY way for them to let you know... please do not even think about letting them cry it out at this early an age (or later for that matter). Babies go thru growth spurts where they MAY NEED TO EAT AT NIGHT! NEVER assume your babies aren't hungry or don't need you.

I agree that the book Babywise should NOT be followed... I despise that book. I am absolutely against CIO and feel that it is not a proper way to "teach our babies to sleep thru the night". We don't "teach" our babies to eat or go to the bathroom... so why are we expected to teach our babies to sleep?

Amidst all this I DO HAVE A SUGGESTION... Here is what I did for my beautiful baby girl to help her differenciate between night and day...

For the 1st 6 months we co-slept sooo during the day she would nap in her bouncy seat or swing or somewhere that was NOT in our room. When it was time for bed we would stick to the same routine... Bath time, Nursing, night time music, bed time. We would ONLY put her in our room to sleep when it was bed time so she would begin to see that there was a difference between night and day.

ALSO during the day I would wake her to nurse if she slept longer than 2 1/2-3 hours. That way she would see it was day time and she needed to eat that often. At night I let her wake me to breastfeed.
Up until her growth spurt at 6 months she was sleeping 8-9 hours/night!!!!

After her 6-month growth spurt she began to wake up every couple hours again... I tended to her when she cried (if she fussed for a bit I would wait a couple minutes to see if she would fall asleep). Most of the time she would fall back asleep on her own and if she began to cry I would either nurse her or rock her back to sleep (or my husband would rock her back to sleep).

Here we are and she is a year old and sleeping GREAT!!!! All it took was love and reassurance that her mommy and daddy are always here for her!! :)
*Of course to this day if she wakes up CRYING her daddy or I are right there for her.

I know it is tiring, but it WILL get better! Do they sleep in the same crib? I think sticking to a night time routine is key... not matter what time you do it, try to do the same things to let them know it's bed time. Also maybe make it quiet time a half-hour before you begin the routine... that way they can begin to wind down in time for bed!

Just think... one day they're going to be older and they're not going to want you hugging them all the time! take advantage now! :)

You really can't expect an 11 week old to sleep throught the night. I'm sure it is so much harder with 2 at a time and I sympathize, but they are still only 11 weeks old and they need to be fed during the night. Hang in there - it will pass. I think, though, that getting them on the same schedule, so that they are awake at the same time is probably a good idea, maybe you'll be getting up less.

Hi R.,
Congrats on your twins! I have 11 month old G/G twins. My twins didn't start sleeping through the night until 5 1/2 months old. They were born 1 month early and were small so I had a night sitter who fed them every 3-4 hrs at night. I would recommend a night sitter if you can afford it, maybe every other night. I think 3 months or 13 lbs, whichever comes first is when babies start sleeping through the night. You can start sleep training them though. Try www.sleepyplanet.com website and buy Jill Spivack's Sleep Solution book from Sleepy Planet which is excellent. You can buy it at Borders, Amazon.com, at the sleepy planet website, etc. I have the book and it helped me get them on a schedule. The website also has tips but the book is worth every penny! It helps with sleep issues from birth to 5 years old!
Hang in there! It gets easier!
Regards,
E.

All three of my child slept through the night at 8 weeks. Make sure they god to bed dry and put something to keep them dry. Make sure they are warm enough, double pj's best instead of blanket so they don't cover or wrap themselves and get stuck. Feed and burp before putting down and don't be so quick to rush and pick them up and/or feed them if they wake up. Give them a chance to soothe themselves and get themselves back to sleep. There is a thin line between being hungry and a habit. Remember don't rush to pick them or feed them. I have given this advice to many and it always seems to work

Please, please, please do not get or use the book "Babywise" before you read this http://www.ezzo.info/index.htm
I know this was a difficult but short time for us but this too shall pass.
There's some great information here on sleep for your little ones http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp
and if you're looking for healthy books about baby sleep, "The Baby Sleep Book-The Complete Guide to a Good Night's Rest for the Whole Family" by Dr. Sears, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth or "The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night" by Elizabeth Pantley

All of these books follow the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations on sleep in varying degrees.