7 month old twins just will not nap

[GiveMeStrengthAndNaps]

Just that really. They sleep from approx 8pm - 5am without waking, which is great, though I wish they'd wake a bit later. I start bedtime at about 7.

During the day, if they happen to fall asleep it will only be for 15 minutes tops. Maybe 3-4 times per day. They are so bloody grumpy because they're so tired. Whenever they show signs of being tired which is most of the day from lunchtime onwards I do my best to get them to sleep. Rocking (though that's tricky when there are two of them), time in the cots, darkened room, white noise. But they just won't go to sleep. I have also tried catching them before they get tired / doing a morning nap but they won't have that either.

I have resorted to taking them out in the car because they do sleep then, but as soon as the engine stops they wake up and I can't afford the petrol to keep doing this every day! I also have stuff I'd like to do while they sleep...

There's also a 50-50 chance of them falling asleep in the pram, so I try to get them out for a good walk every day, but it's not guaranteed to work and again it doesn't give me any time to get things done.

Any suggestions would be so appreciated.

In all of the things we have done, having two young babies was undoubtedly the hardest. Lack of sleep with one baby is bad enough, but when they wake each other up it is extremely frustrating.

At 7 months they normally sleep very well on you or if you can time a feed when they are tired, it normally sends them off.

I wouldn't usually recommend holding your baby for long periods whilst they sleep, as they can get used to it and wake up when you put them down even of a night. However it may be worth trying for a short period to get them in to some sort of routine during the day.

They are having about 3/4 hours sleep less than our two little ones.

Good to hear from someone who understands the challenges of twins @Tacca! It is so hard with two, because you can't give them the full undivided attention they so often need, especially getting to sleep. Unfortunately mine don't seem to like being held much (which I find quite upsetting, and is not what I expected from babies!). They are real wrigglers and just want to thrash around on the floor all day...

If you copy and paste this in to Ebay, you could try something like this.

TINY LOVE - TWINS. 3 IN 1 ROCKER NAPPERS. MATCHING PAIR. £30 EACH

There isn't any postage on that so new it might be an expensive thing just to try.

Thank you @Tacca, I am willing to try just about anything!

I think rocking/bouncy chairs are a great shout and were a godsend with my terrible sleeper (singleton luckily!). With your two, have you tried tracking when they get sleepy and then putting them down before they show signs of tiredness? It may not be specific times as such but you might find a pattern e.g. every 3 hours or after eating etc. Sometimes signs of tiredness can be over tiredness so if you can catch them just before they go down easier! That being said, my terrible sleeper (now 3yo) really just spent the first year of her life fighting sleep no matter what I did so my next bit of advice is lots of cake! If it's any help she sleeps really well now. Good luck.

With my twins I would put them in the buggy and push/rock it in the house or garden. I then figured out exactly how many minutes a sleep cycle lasted (so when they would wake if left alone seem to recall about early 30 mins) and about 2/3 mins before this I would start rocking again. Obvy got a bit complicated when they didn’t fall asleep together
I wanted to be home when they napped, not out wondering the streets aimlessly
Waking at 5 sucks as well. Makes for such a long day.

The only way I got my twins to nap was to walk and walk and walk. Wow behold anyone who stuck their head in the oram to ask if they were twins...

When they got to about 13 months they did manage to sleep in the cot for one small nap

Just a thought, I think you need to put them to bed much much earlier. They will have built up quite a sleep debt by this point and their bodies will be fighting sleep. Do what you can about naps, but I would say in the meantime you need to put them to bed earlier. If they're up at 5am, I would say that bedtime needs to be 5pm. As in, tucked up in bed for then. So they've got a shot at 12hrs. Yes, it's a pita. But, it won't be forever. I had to put my ds to bed at 5:30 for quite a while until he caught up on some sleep debt. Once he had caught up a bit, he started to sleep better and I adjusted the timings. Use the car for naps for a while longer. Bring bedtime forward. Get their sleep levels up by whatever means you can. Then try for a better daily routine.

I'd say well done you. I know it's really hard going at this age and when they struggle to nap it's tirying work. But your two sleep through the night without waking. Well done you . They need to get all their feeds in during the day so won't sleep for long during the day. At 7 months this is quite normal, forget trying to get lots done. Just do one job at a time and not fret about the house, they will be big before you know it.

I'd set up a routine of taking them for a walk in the pram morning and early afternoon. You'll get some fresh air and exercise they'll get a rest, even if they don't sleep. I used to find the fresh air would help mine sleep at night to. (Although you don't have that problem) timings I'd aim for around 9am and 12.30pm ish my napper who woke at 5am would always sleep on the school run as he needed to be asleep. They could just be overtired. Don't worry if it doesn't work though. One thing I've learned being a parent is all babies are different. None of them have read the books and there is no rule as to how long they should or shouldn't sleep for.
Oh and as soon as you think you have it all figured out they will change and throw you a curve ball to keep you on your toes.

Good luck. Your doing a great job 👏 👍.

@GiveMeStrengthAndNaps what I was told (but one baby only tg) was the nap times go wake up, then 2hrs up then nap. Then 3 hrs up then nap. Then 4 hrs up and bedtime.

So I'd have them back in bed at 6:45 with bottles of milk. Whatever the length of the nap, I'd try even if only 5mins. See if it changes. Do not wait for them to be tired if this makes sense, it may work.

Nothing else really comes to mind, sadly. Total darkness, short awake times, white noise and routine are the only things I am aware of.

Also, 7m are on the verge of 8m regression (horrible thing). My sympathies to you, especially having two, that's G&T for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

Once my DD was used to napping at certain times, it became easier to get her to sleep as her body was “expecting” it. Worth doing a really long pram walk in the hope of getting a decent nap out of them? Then if you have a good week or so of napping you can try walking just long enough to get them to sleep and then parking up? My DD always napped in the pram for my DMum, and once she was really good at it and used to it my mum could reliably park her in the garden with the back door open for a good hour and a half/two hours.

They are probably over tired if they wake 5am and not napping until afternoon! If they wake 5am they would need a nap by 8am the latest. My dd is 9 months and she wakes at 6am and naps 9am-10am and then up until 1pm and naps until 2:30/3pm and then down for the night 6am. She usually wakes briefly in the night for a quick bf and rolls over to sleep again. If they don’t sleep in time they will be over tired and fight sleep.

Thank you all so much for all the tips, lots to try! It's good to hear from people who are/have been in the same boat.

The thought of 5pm bedtime made me a bit nervous, but I tried 6pm last night and guess what... I've woken up before they have... It's gone half six! I was thinking they'd still wake early but at least have had a couple more hours at the start of the night, but amazingly they've now been sleeping for over 12 hours They are fine, I've checked them! I'm sure they'll be up any minute, and what a great start to the day. Fingers crossed for a couple of good naps later too!

Oo brilliant!!! It's a asleep consultant classic that one, sleep begets sleep. Well done op hope it carriers on for you.

I would say to aim for a nap 2hrs after they're up so maybe at 9, ideally for an hour but even 30 mins great, and another at maybe 12:30 or 1 and a similar length. Some babies might want a catnap about 4 but I don't think that will work for you, so I'd go early bedtime again. The key thing will be not being up too long before a first nap. Good luck! Even if it all goes to pot now at least they've had some more sleep.

Thanks so much @Indecisivelurcher, I will give that a go. So grateful for your help!

I like to offer advice on sleep issues because I know the pain! And have worked with sleep consultants which obviously cost money so nice to pass on some tips I picked up. Plus my sister is pregnant with twins so that's interesting!

I was about to echo the earlier bedtime advice but I see you did it and it worked! Congratulations!! Definitely the way to go. Also as someone else said, keep an eye of how long their 'awake' periods are and watch them for when they get sleepy; there's a window that it's important to catch for naps and when you miss it, it's too late. They might not seem sleepy as such, but start slightly zoning out/staring off to one side. At that point get them down asap, you need to catch the wave!

We had a really comfortable bouncing chair/nest downstairs in a quiet room with the curtains drawn, could you try that?