My 3 month old boy-girl twins are now sleeping through the night! We put them to bed at 8/8:30 (after a bedtime routine at about 7/7:30), wake them up for a twilight feed at ten and they usually get up after 7 am. But now I am not sure about naps. I can put both of them into their cribs when they start to look tired and they can usually fall asleep on their own. I occasionally have to go give them their pacifier once or twice (after waiting five minutes each time to see if they will settle) but it has become much less of a battle. However, they are continuing to sleep for about 45 minutes at some point between feedings. They are formula fed and for the past week have been eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I have increased how much I am offering to 5 oz for him and 4 1/2 for her (she weighs about 10 lbs, he is now about 12 lbs). He usually finishes his bottle and she does about half the time. They usually have 7 feeds a day. Do babies wean themselves off of naps? Should I be pushing them to sleep longer? To stay up longer? To eat more every feed? They both wake up crying and sometimes will fall back to sleep on their own but this is not consistent. Any advice you can give would be great.
Well, I am not much help because I am also a mother of full term 3mos old boy-girl twins, and just wanted to say that you are not alone. I am having much of the same difficulty. We should share stories.
D.
Babies go from sleeping all of the time to two naps a day. Around 1 year of age they transition to one nap a day. Depending on the child, the one nap is transitioned out at 3, 4, or 5 years of age. As far as how long a child sleeps during a nap is dependent upon the child. It is important to have a routine and to provide a room that is conducive to sleeping --- dark, cool, soothing music, comforting, etc. Why do you wake them up for a twilight feed? I would let the babies sleep. You can't control how much a baby eats or sleeps. A baby will sleep when they're tired and eat when they're hungry. You can't force the issue. Just pay attention to their cues. Frankly, it sounds like you are lucky and have great babies. I think the issue is you are trying to control the situation. There are some things you can't control. Things may seem chaotic or inconsistent for several reasons --- you have babies and they are twins. It sounds like you are doing a great job and you have nothing to worry about.
I wasn't super consistent with naps at that age. Usually my daughter woke up at 8, ate, played then ate, napped for 45 to 1 hour in her swing then ate around noon, played, napped again in or out of the swing, dinner around 6, and then to bed by 8 or so after a bath. She was a swing napper and would fall asleep almost instantly but we carried on this routine until she started breaking it around 9 months.
I tried reading Babywise but didn't feel it was applicable. I would let them "dictate" their sleep patterns to you. They may be going through a growth spurt as I found that sleeping and eating patterns were disrupted by this change. Your babies will come to get a pattern you can all agree on. I would also suggest a swing(s) or bouncer if you don't have them already. For fussy babies, these are so wonderful!!
Good luck and good job on the sleeping through the night already!!!!
I am a big supporter of regular schedules and naps. I think the kids win in the end. Even when they start giving them up, push forward with a regular quiet time. Below is an estimated schedule and ages that sems to work for me and most of my mommy friends. mine are now 4 and two and half years old.
3-6 months.still on their schedule so let them find out what works for nursing and all. I found mine were sleeping everyother feeding and both feed regularly every three hours (one on 3,6,9,12 and the other 2,5,8,11) so napped 9 am-12 and 3 to 5 or 6 pm. then down around 9 pm and up at 6 am nursing once or twice at night until 8 months.
6 mon-18 mon---similar schedule but sleepin all night. We moved the bed time up to 7 pm slowly by 15 minutes every couple of days. by a year, they slept 7 pm to 6 am...11 hours. Then about a 90 minute nap in the am like 9:30-11:00. My daughter went right to a 1-3 pm nap. I had to encourage my second to fit that by moving it up 15 minutes until I put my daughter down, nursed him, and put him down (and we all slept).
Just after a year to 18 months, they will drop the am nap so don't fight that...and nw you can go grocery shopping in the morning. Keep the 1-3 pm nap. It could be 2-3 hours but this seems to be when most kids are napping anyway and playgroups are usually 10 am or noon lunch..so it works out great. They are also up in time to play a bit before dinner or run a quick errand. Also 7 pm is a good bed time. some parents prefer the 8 pm and their kids sleep until 7 or 8 am for them.
At 3 ish, they will try to dropnaps. So adjust the bedtime later to shorten that sleep time and insist on the nap...or quiet time in their room. You have to teach them how to do it and will need to nap yourself. I often slept with mine for a bit at that age.
By four, they wil nap when hey need it for about an hour. We provide a 1:30-3:30 time slot as my son still neds daily naps. My daughter sleeps about every other day and then sits uietly watching me clean the house or plays dolls in her room other days. We keep it very quiet and no talking. she s learning to self entertain..bu it has been a bit of a challenge for me when I need a nap and she doesn't.
Good luck...I am a former teacher and beliee many children don't get enough sleep so make sure you follow to recommended amounts...infant 12-14 hours, toddlers and young children 10 hours, 8 hours for older elementary and then junior high they should only need 8 but really should have 10 most nights as they are growing and have hormones going on.
T.-
Most babies the age of your twins will take about 3-4 naps a day, and around 6 months they will move to 2-3 and around 9 months they will go to 2, and between 12-18 months they wil go to one, and keep taking that one nap until they are about 3. Now every child is different, but it is very important for babies to get enough sleep to give them time to grow.
I think it is crazy waking babies up in the night to feed them!! The doctors that say it are crazy too!! I would not wake them up in the night and read secrets of the baby whisperer about napping. They'll probably work it out themselves. My youngest is 13months and still takes two naps. At 3 months she was taking 3.
K.
My 4-month old son has been waking up at the 45-minute mark for a month or more now. I just go in, rub his back, and get him back to sleep; he'll then go on to sleep another hour or more. I think the 45-minute wake-up is just babies trying to get into their sleep cycle (which changes around 3-4 months, too, by the way). It's much too early for your little babes to even be thinking about weaning themselves off of their naps. Try being consistent and persistent about getting them back to sleep after that 45-minute mark; pretty soon they'll do it on their own.
Good luck!
S.
P.S. Congrats on full-term twins, and on sleeping through the night!! Great job, Mom!! Also, as for eating, I read the other day (I think on Babycenter.com) that babies should eat about 1-2 oz. more than their age in months (e.g., a 3 month old should eat 4-5 oz.). So, it sounds like your babies are eating a good amount. Good job, again!
Babies will usually drop naps but it isn't until they are older than 3 months. They are still little and need a lot of sleep. My kids weaned themselves at 15 months old. Go by what your child is telling you. If they are still hungry feed them. If they are tired let them sleep. Have a routine but don't be so stricked with it. Leave room for growth spurts. Babies grow when they sleep so does everyone else. So In my opinion they are way to young to stop taking naps. But you need to be the judge of what is right for your kids. I love getting different methods and what works for others and then picking the one I beilieve will work best for that particular child.
Hi T.! Your twins sound heavenly!! They're only three months old, so they are still going to nap quite a few times during the day. Let them sleep unless it starts interfering with their evening routine. The experts say babies will wean themselves when the time is right. I hope that helps!
3 month olds still need a lot of sleep. I think most babies don't start having "organized" naps until about 4 months, but they should be napping a lot still. One thing I've read that has worked well with my kids (one 2yo and a 4 month old) is not keeping them awake for more that 2 hours at a time. If they are awake for too long, they get overtired and have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep. And with my baby, she is sometimes only awake for 1-1.5 hours at a stretch (including feeding time). So, for example she wakes up around 7:30, eats, plays then is back down by 9:30 at the lastest. Even if she doesn't fuss like she's tired, I put her down and she sleeps for about 2 hours usually. And if she starts showing signs of needing to sleep before the 2 hours I put her down right away. She is starting to have regular AM and PM naps plus sometimes a little catnap in the late afternoon if she needs it, but this just started to be more organized since she turned 4 months. There are other options that having your baby "Cry it out" though I think with some babies it may be necessary, though not at 3 months (I think that's a little early). You can go in, spend as little time as possible, pop a paci in or put your hand on their bellies and sing a little song or something quick to settle them back down then leave again. I've found the more time I spend, the more awake they get and the more they want me to stay. But those are just my experiences, every baby is different. Go with your gut and god bless ya with Twins! Good luck!
do you want them to drop their naps? i would say that they should take at least two-2 hour naps a day and that is the norm till they are about 12 months. usually kids don't wean themselves off naps on their own. if they don't sleep enough they don't grow enough. you could help them sleep longer if you add some rice cereal to the bottle before nap-bed time.simply cut a larger slit with scissors.
