[bumpkin]

Does anyone have any suggestions for getting my 6 month old twins to nap at the same time. As it stands now, it's pretty haphazard. I've been working on it, but I seem to be missing the mark as much as I'm getting it. I know that I need to wake them so that they have a chance to sleep at the same time. But, for instance the other day one woke up at five in the morning, should I wake up the other one that early too????

I know how important this is, so I want to get it done as quickly and easily as possible.... for all our sakes!

tHanks for any advice you can give.

Bumpkin

[MkMw]

hi Bumpkin -

OUr twins (23 months) have always napped at *about* the same time. They were on the same feeding schedule which I think really helped - not sure if yours are or not? When one woke up to eat, we did wake up the other one and fed him too. As a result their sleep schedules have always been pretty similar - we had an established routine by six months, they took a morning and afternoon nap - I just put them down at the "designated time" or when one or the other would fall asleep spontaneously. At 6 months they still rarely woke each other up. (Boy has that changed!).


At 23 months - they are still taking a looooong afternoon nap and they go down at 2 every afternoon. Sometimes they drop off quickly, sometimes they talk and play for an hour - and sometimes one goes to sleep quickly and the other plays or reads in his crib for a while (they still have the aquariums on the side and like different tunes, so it's easy to tell who is up). They now wake each other up when one wakes up.

[bumpkin]

Michelle -

This might seem like a stupid quesiton, but when you say youjust put them down.... do you mean literally, it's 9 a.m. and I want you to nap till 11 and you just put them both in? I've been waiting for the first one to get tired and then put them both in at the same time. They are now 7 months old, but I have only had them for 2 weeks and they were not in the same foster home before hand so they don't have the same routines at all.


Bumpkin

[bumpkin]

oh... mean to say that they seem to have 3 naps a day - one hour long one in the morning, one 1.5 hours ish in the afternoon adn another 45 minute in late afternoon. I'm hoping that if I can get them to two full naps that they will sleep a couple of hours at a time! Any thoughts on that?

Bumpkin

[lucyjoy]

Twins aren't the same people and as exhausting as it is, their little bodies have different needs. Also, waking at different times allows them individual time to bond.

My twins are 15 and all I have to do is suggest cleaning their room and suddenly they both want to nap. So, there is hope down the road a bit.

[MkMw]

Bumpkin -

My "schedule" was really dictated by them...they tended to get tired about 10 and 3 when 6 - 12 months old. They took usually about 90 minute naps James has always needed a little more sleep, so generally if I could get Andrew quick enough he was good for about another 30 minutes. We shifted to 1 nap about 13 months old - their dual naps were getting too short, I never got anything done.

As far as just putting them down. Yes. But I also brought them home from the hospital at 2 weeks old - so their feeding, and therefore sleeping schedule was already fairly established. And, they had 6 months to teach me what they needed. (Every 3 hours 'round the clock).

The first months with infant twins is hard - worth every sleepless minute, but hard. Getting them on the same or very similar schedule is important. I can't imagine at this point if they napped at different times - they go down at 2 and get up between 4 and 5:30 - so anything I have to do outside the house has to be done by then.

Go easy on yourself, it's an adjustment. They'll tell you what they need, but a schedule was a real lifesaver. Do you know what their schedule was like in their foster home? Have you looked into joining a Mothers of Multiples group in your area? A WEALTH of information from the BTDT crowd.

As far as bonding - even with my boys on the same schedule there was always plenty of one on one time with each of them so I wouldn't worry too much about that. And, because I was able to start getting sleep around the 4 month mark we ALL enjoyed it alot more. They have different snuggle times - James is a morning snuggler - we read the paper and books together. Andrew is glued to me from afternoon nap until bedtime (hey! it means my DH does the dishes )


Lucy - have you checked out car insurance yet - I have an acquaintance with 16 year old twin boys - and OUCH!!!!

e-mail me if you want - I'd love to hear more about your twins and help in anyway I can.

[lucyjoy]

I have 4 at 15 and they pay the car insurance to drive, not me.

[bumpkin]

Thanks All.

Lucy - I have been enjoying the one on one time with each of them, and luckily there seems to be enough of me to go around... when one wakes up early I really try to spend time with him/her and it seems to have worked out that one takes a longer nap in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Just seems like everything else is falling by the wayside! I guess that's par for the course at close to three weeks in!

I know I need to have a better schedule, I need it and they need it. I'm of the mind that children that don't sleep and nap well, find it very difficult to do anything well/successfully and with good humor.

Michelle I guess it's maybe a little too early to expect them to be sleeping and eating together, they actually have already synchronized a little so I'll hold onto that. It's just that everyone is telling me that they need to get on the same schedule or I'll lose my mind, but no one seems to be really specific about how to do that! There just seems like something is wrong with waking the other one at five in the morning, just to get them together?

I"ll try and be patient!

Bumpkin

[MkMw]

Hi Bumpkin -

Since they aren't on the same schedule already - I think you are right, definately go slow. Waking up a sleeping baby was really hard - if one of them is getting up at 5, see if you can't either put them in bed with you or lie down on the couch with him for a while. We started doing that when our boys began to shift from a midnight and 3 a.m. feeding to a 2 a.m. feeding - it gave us an extra hour of sleep (well, rest anyway), some extra snuggle time. Snuggling with your early riser might settle them down and get him closer to your other baby's schedule. Even 15 minutes will get you closer.

The same schedule is important, the boys ate at the same time always. But in thinking back until about 1 year their nap schedules were more overlapping that. I was talking to another twin mom in the airport this weekend (18 month old twins) and she agrees with me that what so many others who have gone before told us. The first year with twins is exhausting, but right about that first birthday everything kind of clicks into place and it gets alot easier.

Hang in there! And, if you can hire a highschooler to play with the babies an afternoon a week so you can sleep, even if the dishes and laundry aren't all done!
Keep me posted on their progress!

[bumpkin]

They seem to be doing much better on this this week. Both sleeping at the same time, just who goes first and who wakes first. Still need to get them to two good size naps though.

It will come in time I guess.

Thanks All!

Bumpkin

[enerad]

My girls seem to nap around the same time, with one sleeping a little more than the other one, but... feeding at the same time drives me crazy. Any suggestions?

I have tried the bouncer chairs, the boppie pillow, two bottles, two hands, but one always seems to eat slower causing some crying with the other when she has to wait. I prefer them being a bit off of schedule with each other so I can have uninteruppted feeding and a bit of play time with each. They are a month old tomorrow and bonding to me is so important.

DArene

[MkMw]

Darene -

Gosh - at 1 month old - the ONLY schedule the boys were on was an eating schedule! Because they ate at the same time, they too often napped at the same time, but usually overlapping (like yours), so I had time with one before his nap and time with the other after his nap. I didn't start putting them "down for a nap" until about 6 months - and they pretty much determined the times.... they will "tell" you when they are ready for more structured naptimes.

As far as the feeding thing...I found it best to stick with feeding them at the same time, it made it easier when we weren't at home, and easier at night. When they were about 2 months my MIL thought one of them would sleep through so we attempted to let him. One woke up at their normal time - midnight, 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. The other one woke up at 1:30, and 4:30 - we woke him up for the 6 a.m. bottle and kept them on the same schedule after that.

Congratulations! And welcome to the wonderful world of twins!

[hpoefull2003]

Mine where about 6 months old when I finally got them on a good 2 nap routine. I would try to merge there naps, if they are napping an hour apart I would try to keep one up an extra 10 min. or so and put the other down about 10 min earlier and just continue to do so gradually so they don't have melt downs and they transition easily for you.

Mona mom to Nicholas and Bethany 19 months