settling twins for naps

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Hello, I have 4.5 month old twins. I wondered if I can get tips and advice on settling them fir naps.
I use shhh-pat. It works with both but the problem is it can take 10 mins sometimes. By this time my other twin is either really upset I'm nolonger with her., and/ or really overtired and I have to work doubly hard to get her to settle. This often leaves me with a v short windowbefore my first baby wakes, to have a rest/ do bottles/ have shower etc as they only have 30 min naps.

its hard with twins and I am so blessed that they sleep 12 sometimes 13 hours a night, but I am really in need of tips on this as daytime free time is so precious.

A friend told me it took her son 6 months to embrace tge shhh-pat and go down completely willingly from then on she also said that if 30 min naps is all my babies can manage I should prob accept it as that's just the way they are.

It's just I find it so stressful, putting them down one at a time, while I know the other one is getting upset and crying, and on top of that having to race around the house like a mad woman when they are napping. All these other ppl seem to have babies that nap for atleast an hour at a time...Help!!

[MamaBlue4]

At least yours sleep longer than mine! Haha. Mine are 29 weeks and wake 2-3 hours a night and ebf on demand.

I try and settle them together, either by tandem nursing or I set them in their bounces and uses my feet to rock them.

I always make sure they nap in the dark if possible and only the stereo for noise. Then once they're fast on, I can pretty much do anything and normal noise level and they'll stay asleep as long as the room is dark. If travelling, I use a snooze shade on basically everything.

Then they're usually down for 30 minutes - 2 hours depends on how co-operate they are.

[rednellie]

It was around 4/5 months that I started putting my two down in their cots in their rooms for naps. I just used to take them both up at the same time, put them in their cots, tucked them in, closed the door and waited. First day they cried for about 5/10mins but settled, and ever after that they've been great.

My golden rule was: wake up, feed, play, after about an hour and a half or two hours when they started niggling I'd put them down. Never thought it would work, and it did.

Wish I'd discovered this when I had my dd 2 years before!

[Celestia]

Do they self settle at night? Or do they have a comforter? From about 3 months, my dtd sucked her thumb and dts liked to have a muslin to rub on his face.

My nap routine is pretty much the same as rednellie.

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

They self-settle at night without a comforter/ dummy no probs there.
Its just for naps that I am really struggling sometimes

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Is it a good age for me to start putting them in their cots awake for napping? And see if they can settle? What if they cry!? Should I give them 10 mins to see?

[rednellie]

That's what I did and it worked. Ten mins is about right to see if they'll settle.

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Thank u. Do you know anything about extending naps from 30 mins? X

[rednellie]

I think they naturally start having longer naps as they get older. I reckon by putting them to sleep in their cots in a dark room that will help.

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Thanks - I'll give it a go! Already they have naps in dark room in cot but always go down asleep rather than awake. Will see! Thanks for your replies x

[givemeaclue]

Never heard of shush pat. I just put them In the cot as was nap time. Tried to make it intervention free so they learn to go to sleep by themselves. Was never really a problem, of course not always straight forward but normally fine.

[givemeaclue]

How many naps are they having? I wouldklimit night sleep to 12. Hours

[Celestia]

Yes I'd give it a go now especially if they self settle at night. My two often cry for 5 minutes or so as they drop off for naps in the day but don't at night . I learnt that after dd1!

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

They have 3 naps in day ( morning 30 mins, lunch 2 hours - in pram while walking around, late avo 30 mins)

[givemeaclue]

I would say they don't need longer than 30. Mins or the two short napsgiven they sleep 12. Hours at night and two hours at lunch so I wouldn't try to extend, if they sleep more in day may impact on night sleeps

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Cool thanks for the advice, I won't try and extend then! I find they are absolutely knackered by bedtime so I was worrying about naps, but I guess being knackered ( and extremely grumpy! ) is a good thing if they are sleeping through 12 hours.
Do things change much when they go on solids at 6 months?

[BuggedByJake]

No idea what the shh pat thing is
I just used to put mine down & leave them to settle but I had a just three yr old when they were born so no time to try anything else.
Sorry not much help.

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Ok - so as long as I consistently put them down at the same time for their naps, lights out, in their cots, they hopefully should get all the right cues at the time they are tired - and it should maybe just click!
Fingers crossed! I will report back! Thanks xx

[MamaBlue4]

thegirl My twins are 7 months and are still waking up like newborns, however they nap less but still fall asleep whenever they like, I'm not inclined to wake them. I think it just depends on babies themselves and the routines you have them in. :)

[toomuchpink]

Hiya,
Yes, like others, I just put mine down in the cots for day time naps and walked out. First few times they did howl, but you can always go back in again, and they get the hang of it pretty quickly.
I would say to myself I am putting them down kindly, do it gently with a kiss and a song, to stop myself feeling bad. Then exit.
Great news on your nights though - one of mind didn't go through til 9mths.

[toomuchpink]

PS I found the length of naps extended after they started solids around 6mths. It really improved things. I could more or less rely on an hour in the morning and in the afternoon.

[MamaBlue4]

toomuch MY dts have only just started showing interest in food, so we've only just started weaning (2 days ago), so maybe that's what why they've been napping like newborns since they were born. Hope it does improve with mine :)

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Thanks everyone it's great to know what different ppl find works. So I'm on day 6 and it's gone well. I didn't sleep Sunday night as I was psyching myself up fir the crying involved in napping Mon,,, but it was weird as first thing they did after I put them down is close eyes and sleep!! Here's how rest of week went:

Tues- dt2 cried for 5 minutes (timed) dt1 settled as soon as she heard dt2 ( she always does that!)
Weds - both went to sleep, fairly straight forward I just walked in the room once and made a shhhh sound then walked out
Thurs - dt2 cried for 4 mins, dt1 went to sleep
Fri - both went to sleep
Sat - dt2 wemt to sleep, dt1grizzled a bit but went to sleep about 5 mins later

Going to keep going and be as consistent as poss!

Dh is looking after twins for whole day tomorrow as we're doing a 'role reversal' day, so it's been great as now he knows what to do too. Personally I found the whole nap thing exhausting before, so this defo better, and they slept for longer stretches I found by end of week as they weren't going to sleep overtired or after a fight.
Great to know there may be differences when they go on solids.
Tues I met a twin mum whose 2 year olds sleep 13.5 hours a night AND a 2 hour lunchtime nap! Wow!

[thegirlinthesassyspace]

Thank you toomuch
I know I am lucky with the nights, I think formula fed babies sleep longer and are easier to settle after nightfeeds
I definitely found that after I switched from breast to bottle, although I had complicated feelings about it at the time
Xx