I have fraternal twin boys (born at 34 weeks) that will be 6 mos this month and they are not sleeping through the night. Both are breastfed and are not eating cereal yet per their Ped. Typically they go down to sleep between 6-7pm, I wake them to feed them around 9pm. After the 9pm feeding they will sleep until about 2am take another feeding then sleep until 5-6am. Have other mom's with twins had a similiar experiences? Does anyone have and advice or helpful words of wisdom? Your feedback is appreciated. Thank you!
C.:
sleeping through the night is developmental it is not about a "full stomach".... babies wake to help keep their systems running. Breastfeeding is what soothes them ...
P., RLC, IBCLC, CST
Breastfeeding and Parenting Solutions
I wouldn't really expect them to sleep through the night. I have two full term singletons who did not sleep through the night at 6 months:) I would possibly recommend adjusting their schedule so that you are not having to wake them up in the evening- that seems counterproductive. Good luck.
Actually, on second thought the definition of "sleeping through the night" is actually sleeping a five hour stretch which your boys are doing, so technically they are sleeping through the night.
I have B/G twins that will be 5 months on the 21st and they were born at 36 weeks. They started sleeping through the night about 6 weeks ago (which was very appreciated because I went back to work 7 weeks ago!). At the recommendation of another twin mommy we dropped our 10pm dreamfeed and backed their bedtime back up to 7pm (previously it had been 8:30). Can you believe after a couple of days they started sleeping 10 hours at a time and previously they had only been doing 5-hour stretches? And we did not do cry it out or anything like that. I just think that sometimes sleep begets sleep. Or maybe it was pure luck. Who knows, but I'll take it!
my 3 year old twins took longer to sleep all the way through than my singleton did and they weren't all that early (36 weeks). Are you sleeping them together? We ultimately moved ours into separate rooms because we realized that the majority of the waking was initiated by 1 of them. We didn't really have the space, but jammed a crib into a little room at the top of our stairs, where he stayed until last November when they moved into big boy beds and now share a room very successfully. I agree with the earlier poster who asked about how long they'd go if you didn't wake them at 9. Perhaps if you waited a couple more hours to wake them for a "dream feed" maybe around 11ish, you could get a decent stretch of sleep for yourself. Since you're waking them now only 2 or 3 hours after putting them down, it's possible they might stay asleep for a couple hours longer on their own. I frequently did a dream feed around 11pm before going to bed myself and found that worked really well. I didn't change them or anything, just did a real mellow, quiet breastfeeding session with each of them to tank them up for the night.
Good luck!
I believe sleeping through the night is defined at 4 hours. So it sounds like you have achieved this already.
I think this pattern would be normal for any 6 month old baby and realize yours may tend to reach milestones more like a 5 month old due to arrival date.
Hope this helps.
My BF twins didn't sleep without a feeding all night until they were weaned. I never let them eat more than twice a night though after they doubled their birthweight although I never woke them. That was around three-four months which is also about when I started letting them cry themselves to sleep. I would love to have been able to hold and rock them to sleep but I have older kids and I'm a better mom when I have enough sleep so I am a big advocate of letting them cry at an appropriate age. I love the book Healthy Sleep Habits; Happy Child. Anyway, what you're describing sounds about right to me.
I have g/b twins born at 34 weeks who are now almost 20 months. Sleeping through the night is considered 4-6 hours unfortunately. It sounds like they are right on target. I can't exactly remember, but it wasn't until 9-10 months when they started sleeping past 6 hours at a time and even then, my son would wake up and want to be soothed by nursing/feeding. Just hang in there, it does get better. You also might want to try putting them down a little earlier for the night. It seems counterintuitive but I have found and have read a lot that earlier bedtimes and better naps throughout the day produces better nighttime sleep. Congrats!
If you did not wake them at 9pm, how much longer would they sleep? Also, they were almost 1 1/2 month early, so they are probably just a bit behind a typical 6 month old.
I have 5yr old twin girls. I cannot remember when they slept through the night, but even a 5 hr stretch is great.
Enjoy them.
C.,
"Sleeeping through the night" is considered waking up one to two times a night for a feeding.My boy/girl twins didn't stop waking in the middle of the night until they were about 10 months. When you start to feed the babies cereal and fruits veggies they will be able to sleep longer but it is a ways off. Ask your pediatrician if they are ready to learn to eat rice cereal yet. It takes a few weeks for them to learn to actually eat even a few tablespoons . My doc said to start them at 4 months on cereal . Then we worked through the veggies then fruits. You need to give them the same one for 3-5 days to make sure they don't have any allergies . By then they will be almost 8 months and will be used to eating food in addition to their bottles and will be ready to handle sleeping all night at about 9-10 months or maybe longer since they were a bit premie. The book Healthy sleep habits Happy Baby is great . Good Luck !
