Please, sleep advice for twins (6mo) and toddler (almost 2) -

[Scotlian]

So! In our house we are almost ready to celebrate surviving 6 months of twin DDs and 2 years of DS. This is good. However, sleep things are not all good so I am seeking the wisdom of Mumsnet. I will try to be brief:

Twin DDs (very happy, chubby, healthy and chilled out babies most of the time) have started getting up earlier and earlier for the past month or so. Today it was 5:25 . They are cheery and ready to go, refusing all milk, beaming at us if we get them up, screaming and waking their brother if we put them down again.

They go down to sleep in their cot with no fuss at all for bedtime, which they seem to have decided is 6:30 at the latest: however late they nap they still want to sleep then. Currently they are asleep by 6:30, wake anytime between midnight and 2 for a feed, settle back no bother and then wake up stupidly early.

They don't nap any more than 40 minutes straight through the day; currently they have 3-4 naps, given that they are already shattered by 7 am. When most of the civilised world is just waking up!! They are on 2 meals of pap a day, loving their food.

I just hate the fact that they wake up DS. He has always been a light sleeper but will go til 6:45 (a lie in indeed if allowed; but disturb him any time after 5am and he just doesn't go back. He stays in his cot playing but is khackered and sooo grumpy in the morning. I am too but I am the adult and have to hold it together.

Should I let the twins cry in the mornings, a sort of cc for a few days to see if they go back? Cut out the night milk feed to see if that changes anything? It is difficult to have regular nap times as we are out and about with DS so much, they seem to sleep 2 hours or so after the last nap whatever we are doing.

Sorry that wasn't brief in the end but hope some kind advice will be forthcoming...thanks all!

Forgot to say - DDs have been formula fed since they were 12 weeks old, no bother switching or taking bottles or anything like that.

i do not have twins, but my DS did this, and it got earlier and earlier!

We did CC until 6am, but it was more of a gradual retreat, shush pat thing. Basically we would comfort, hug, lay down with, tummy rub, but under no circumstances would we get up before 6am. It seemed to work.

Hi Onganak, thanks for answer...DS was the same! Then we bought a Gro-Clock thingy and now he doesn't get up til the sun comes up on it. But 6 months seems a bit too young to learn about groclocks! Hmm ok so one vote for the cc til 6 am thing. Any more?

I don't have twins yet but my other two have both had phases of being terribly early risers.

As you say, from about 2 or so the alarm clock has worked quite well, but for the younger one we just treated early wakings resolutely as night time wakings, so leave for a bit, shush, pat, retreat, repeat.

I can't claim total success (we're in a phase at the moment, 4.50 am this morning) but it generally keeps a lid on it. So we have a few days of early waking, a few days of the regime, then a while of later waking (but only till 6.15- 6.30) then a relapse.

Hopefully someone with the magic touch will be along soon. People speak highly of the wake to sleep method on here but I'm not tough enough for that!

Grins Kingfix, I just posted on the thread you started! No way DP and I are tough enough for wake to sleep with twins. Didn't work with DS anyway. Will maybe try treating all wakings pre 6am as night time and see what happens. Shame for DS though...maybe could sneak earplugs into his ears when he's asleep?? Sleep deprivation makes for wierd ideas, eh...

Hello thanks for your replies on the other thread! Does your DS share a room with the twins? We've moved DS in with DD now and it does make it harder as she needs her sleep too.

I remember my DTs went through an early waking phase, I've since put it down to teeth moving about in their gums, as it stopped around the time their first teeth appeared.

We treated it as night time, shush pat and no getting up to play.

Thank you. Tried it this morning, much crying, they didn't go back to sleep at all. All three of them up since 5 am. Gah.

I wonder if it is connected to the fact that their naps are so short? It's difficult to get them to nap for any longer, also we have to be out with their brother so they catnap in the buggy but there's nothing at all I can do about it... any ideas about that? Younger sibling naps having to revolve around older sibling activities and how to manage it?

So far it feels as if we have been totally winging it. Feeble exhausted smile. Thanks.