Typical Schedule

Updated on November 17, 2009
F.V. asks from Columbia, SC
4 answers

My twin girls are now 7 1/2 months old. They are not both sleeping through the night at the same time. We are now weaning them off the bottle at night so we try not to feed them before 8-9 hours after the last bottle. My first question is this... often, one of my girls will fall asleep around 8:00 pm and between 10:00-10:30, will wake up crying and fussy. I try to give a passy and sometimesrock but she fusses when I hold her, when I don't hold her. She fights sleep. Any suggestions?
Then I was wondering what a typical schedule looks like for this age. My girls are making their own bedtime between 8:00-8:30, sometimes waking up between 3-4 for a bottle, sometimes not. They are up for the day between 7-8 am, take a bottle and cereal between 9:30-10:00. Then bath and down for a morning nap. Wake up around noon, bottle, play, then back down for an afternoon nap between 2-3. Up around 4-4:30, bottle, veggies and fruit around 5:30, then play, bottle between 7-8, then down for the night. Does this sound normal? My pediatrician said her twins didnt sleep through the night until 11 months. Just wondered if they were getting enough to eat.

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So What Happened?

Thanks so much for your advice. I do have a bedtime routine minus the bath. My mother-in-law gives them a bath since we are still living with them. But this is going to change since we just bought a house. They both slept all night Sunday night but Monday the first twin was up three times. She sucked down 2 6 ounce bottles. So I guess she was just really hungry.

More Answers

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E.H.

answers from Atlanta on

I think their routine sounds pretty normal, but I agree with Sarah on a bedtime routine. My baby is seven months old and she wakes at 8am, naps from 10-12p and 4-4:45pm. We start our bedtime routine at 6:30 with dinner/bottle/bath and she's out by herself by 7:30p. I learned about the bedtime routine with my two year old and it has been marvelous. Sometimes she'll wake around 10p and cry out, but I don't hurry in. Usually she'll fall back to sleep. I put some toys in her crib and I'll hear her in there with them cooing. I also give her a pacifier, but she usually just plays with it. Give a bedtime routine a try and maybe don't give them a bath in the morning. Hope this helps!

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L.B.

answers from Atlanta on

Congratulations on your twins. My guy and girl are 15 months old. It does get easier. Two suggestions: Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Saved us with the sleeping issues for all of our kids. Secondly, consider starting some finger foods like cheerios, they may not be ready. If not consider adding a yogurt or protein as a early afternoon snack or lunch. Good luck.

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D.W.

answers from Charleston on

I wouldn't night wean any child under 12 months. As you state in your signature block: they "are growing so fast." They need that sustinance to help them grow.

From Dr. Jay Gordon: http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp
It is as applicable to formula feed babies as it is to breastfeed babies for the reason that babies are not designed to sleep through the night, usually 4 hours is the longest stretch. 5-6 hours IS considered sleeping through the night at this age. They will sleep through the night when they are ready physically.

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S.L.

answers from San Francisco on

Check out Babycenter's website, they have some typical schedules posted on there that may be helpful.
Your schedule sounds good to me, but I never had twins! When my kids were that age their schedules looked very similar to that. One thing we did was end their day with a bedtime routine. It think this is very important for them at this age as it helps them recognize that it is almost time for bed. I did a bath, lotion, pajamas, bedtime story and cuddles. This helped them sleep longer.
Usually at this age they don't "need" to eat in the middle of the night. They wake up because they are used to eating and it provides them comfort and allows them to get back to sleep easily.
When I was trying to wean my daughter from the bottle at night, we watered down her formula with increasing frequencies each night. So on the first night we would give her 4 oz of formula and 2 oz. of water. The next night we would do 3 oz of formula and 2 oz. of water. Then 2 oz. of formula and 2 of water...so on until the bottle was just a few ounces of water. During this time she began waking up less and less and eventually slept through the night.
Also, try other self soothing methods like pacifiers, blankies, stuffed animals and so on. They can get used to having these things instead of needing a bottle.

Hope this helps! Don't worry, it won't be long before they (and you!) are sleeping through the night.

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