17mo twins and waking at night!

[twinnies26]

My ID girls are 17 MO now and are waking all the time. I have pretty much given up at this stage as i have done EVERYTHING that one can do to get them to sleep. I followed a really strict routine from the day they came home, our days ran like clockwork but nighttime has always been an issue.

I even got a sleep consultant in around Sept. as i was due to go back to work. We did everything they she said and they slept well for around 3 months. Then DT1 got severe eczema (screamed up to 7 times a night) and her sister then got winter vomiting bug and cut back teeth and ever since then they wake ALL the time. I suppose on average each baby wakes about twice, DT1 can still wake up to 4 times and cries on and off because of her eczema.

I've given up trying to resettle them and we just co-sleep.... i mean how do people actually manage to spend half their night resettling two babies and then go off to work for the whole day??!

i guess what i'm wondering is ..... will they just eventually sleep and stay in their beds or should i devote a week to CC and more sleep deprivation in the hope things might improve in the long term?! I feel like i would have a problem CC with DT1 because of her eczema. We have CC in the past (like i said we have tried so many methods at this stage)

What would you do? they have no soothers so real fast magic way of getting them back to sleep....

I'm out of ideas and strategies.... any suggestions welcome! Myself and DH have not slept a night through since December!!

Hi Twinnies, you could be us, your situation is so similar- snap! We too have eczemous girl twins, 14 months old, lots of night waking, sleep deprivation.....! I do sympathise, it's horrendous! . My four-year-old is off school ill at the moment, so I'll be brief and write more later. But for starters, I wholeheartedly agree with you about not subjecting a baby with eczema to cc. But have you come across a thread entitled " What worked for us."? It's a lovely way to sleep train, in my opinion. I've started it with the better sleeper of our twins and it is working.
I'll come back to you when I can but I hope that helps for now. Take care- it will get better!

Other thoughts I've had are on how very important it is to get your little one's eczema managed as well as possible. The more comfortable she is, the better she'll sleep. I don't know where you are with treatment and I apologize if I'm going over anything you already know/ have tried, tested, rejected. I'll just tell you what I know, coming from a family with a lot of severe eczema.
Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise is what I am repeatedly told. Try different ones til you find something you're really happy with. I plastered dt1 in oilatum and aveeno then realised she was very sensitive to both, but my nephew, with severe eczema is great with it.
Don't be afraid to use steroid cream to clear the skin, keep using it twice a day for a week (where and when needed) after the skin's cleared then gradually wean down how often you use it, then stop, all the while moisturising morning, after bath/ bedtime and at each nappy change. (This is the advice from our Children's Hospital Dermatology Department ) They also advise DAILY cool baths, with a bath emollient that doesn't aggravate the skin, and apply emollient cream to the skin within 3 minutes of her getting out of the water after gently dabbing dry with a clean towel. This rehydrates the skin and keeps the moisture locked in.
My GP on the other hand said don't bath very often claiming it would dry out their skin. It sounded like good Advice as DT1's skin in particular was extremely dry and flaky. But when I tried the daily baths, her skin improved very quickly, becoming well hydrated and plump looking. The dry flakiness disappeared and she was substantially less itchy. But it could be different for different babies.

Consider possible allergies, triggers and irritants eg. Dust mites, washing powders, stress, heat, cold, anything you apply to her skin, foods (dt1 is allergic to cows milk and eggs. Now we've taken them out of her diet, she no longer screams in agony at night, her skin red and inflamed. ) Does she get too warm? Dress her more lightly then you would a child without eczema.

Reduce damage to the skin, keep her nails short and clean, and have her where Scratchsleeves or Dreamskin clothing at night (and during the day if necessary ).

That's all I can think of for now. Best of luck. I hope things improve soon. X

Hi there!

Thanks so much for your reply and all the advise - it gives me comfort to know we are treating her eczema exactly as you are treating your children :) We're obviously on the right track. It's taken almost 8 weeks to get under control, and that only came when we finally saw a consultant for it. The combination of the constant moisturising/washing and hydrating the skin etc.. seems to have helped alot. Although we now only do bedtime bath twice a week and only in very luke warm water, the rest are quick sponge downs.

she has nummular eczema which is mainly on the torso, arms and buttocks/hips and in the shape of coin like leisons. it is non allergent eczema, so she is now back on dairy, eggs etc.. still on soya milk, not put them on cows yet. consultant said this type is most difficult to treat effectively and also has the most persistent itch and gives a burning sensation :( poor babies!

that being said she is looking much more like a normal child now, i think her rhythm has been completely broken and i think the discomfort has upset her alot, she constantly looks for me for reassurance at night, i only have to rub her back and she is ok - that being said she calls out crying even hour or so at times!!

We'll get there eventually! I just keep hanging on to the hope that soon enough they will be two and they might sleep then!!

Hope your girls are doing ok with it, it's just such an awful condition :(

Hi Twinnies, your daughter's eczema sounds awful, poor little thing. I'm glad you're getting the help you need. It's such a relief when you finally get the right help. We spent months getting not the best advice from GP's but now we too are getting somewhere.
Do check out the thread I mentioned for help with their sleep. One of my twins is sleeping through consistently now. Now to tackle the other one..........!
Take care and hang on in there!