Settling babies to sleep after being in SCBU

[Wickerbox]

Hi. My twin boys are now 11 weeks old but spent the first 8 weeks in SCBU where they were fairly settled. Theyve been home just over 3 weeks & we have kept the 4 hourly feed routine at 10, 2. & 6 but are having problems getting them to settle down to sleep at night in their moses baskets. We have tried putting them down both directly after their feed @ 6 & also keeping them up a bit but they just won't settle properly until after their 10pm feed. They aren't colicky and we don't have hours of inconsolable wailing, they just cry & grumble a bit & will only settle if they're cuddled, which is fine for now but I don't want them to need to be cuddled to sleep. Any suggestions or am I just expecting too much too soon? Help please x

I couldn't ever get my DDs to go in their Moses baskets at 7ish until nearly 3 months at 7ish. Previously to that they used to sleep on DP whilst I got some sleep.

Then suddenly they were just ready at 7ish... Didn't do anything to initiate it, just happened.

I'd give it a few more weeks.

Congrats by the way!

Could you pop them both side by side in a big cot?

were they premature? if so what is their corrected age?

ps many congrats on getting them home - DD was also in SCBU for 3 weeks, it felt like a lifetime.

Their corrected age is 13 days ( if you base it on my 40 week due date which was 1st March and would NEVER have happened)! It's odd because they're 12 weeks old today & follow that in terms of things like feeding which is 4 hourly but in other aspects they are newborn I guess. We're really not sure to expect as anything you read doesn't allow for the time spent in SCBU, in terms of behaviour. Hubby went back to work today & they have spent most of the day wailing & they had a really bad night last night. Please dont judge me but I've moved their Moses baskets into the nursery today, both together in one cotbed to see how that works. I need some sleep!!

My two girls were both early and in scbu for a month each.
When they came home they were in the hospital routine and easy to settle.

But with each of them around about their due date, they seemed to 'wake up' and were suddenly less easy to settle. They wanted more cuddles, weren't as happy to just be put in bed. They also started shorter periods between feeds in the day as they went longer at night.

I would just treat them as you would any newborn.

Good luck!

Mmm DD was similar KD0, she seemed to become much less likely to stick to the hospital routines just after her due date.
DS is in there now so I wonder if he'll be the same too!

I'm not judging you at all for moving them into their own room BUT you are aware the advice to keep them in your room is so they hear you breathing, and not so you hear them, aren't you? It's thought that they need to hear you to help them regulate their breathing, but I know that lack of sleep with just one was hellish.

I think expecting too much too soon! My 31week DTs came home after 7 weeks so still effectivley -2 weeks old. We didn't bother putting them into a bedtime routine until about 20 weeks corrected. They stayed in the living room with us in their carry cots, bouncy chairs or more often than not, on us until we took them up for their last feed and then setttled them.

We were told to treat anything to do with the gut - weaning age for example, as actual age and behaviour / development as corrected.

Do you have vibrating bouncy chairs? They were a lifesaver for me as can rock one with each foot! The infant to toddler rockers from Fisher Price were brilliant as much more supportive, even for my 4lb babies when they came home.

Also, not judging you at all but they may find it even harder to settle in their own room. They are used to the lights and constant noise of SCBU....

Congratulations on your twins and getting them home.

I can second what some of the others have said here, when my two approached newborn 'corrected' age they sort of woke up a bit after the 'sleeping and eating' phase of SCBU, and got very colicky and grouchy in the evenings. We popped them in Moses baskets in our living room (TV on quiet), or in a sling if they wouldn't settle there at all, then used a bedside cot when we went to bed.

It's not easy, but hang in there. A couple of months after they were home we implemented a proper bed time routine with baths etc and they settled relatively well. One of the good things about SCBU babies is that they don't tend to become feed-to-sleep dependent!

Good point about them being used to light and noise. My DD1 needed a nightlight. She screamed blue murder when in the pitch dark.

Thanks for your comment, particularly hosewho said sbout brcoming unsettled around their due date, which seems to be the case with us. Silverangel- we have bouncy vibrating chair which they'll generally settle in, unless they're really grumpy but they HATE the vibrations - guaranteed wailing every time! They settled fine at 7 in their room last night & we woke them for their 9pm & 1am feeds but about 1:45 one of them woke up as his nappy had leaked & soaked through his clothes to his mattress & then wouldn't settle again until after his 5am feed! The other one was fine. I don't think they would hear my breathing anyway as they are in the farthest corner of the room from me due to room size (& DH had decamped to the spare room) so I don't think that has made any difference. Lets see what tonight brings - all quiet at the moment!

"But with each of them around about their due date, they seemed to 'wake up' and were suddenly less easy to settle. They wanted more cuddles, weren't as happy to just be put in bed"

Exactly the happened with DD. Suddenly she would only sleep if a person was holding her. She slept on my chest till she was about 9 weeks corrected...

minipie DD also ended up only sleeping on DH or on me for a good few weeks!

not really feasible with twins though...!

preemies are more prone to wind and reflux issues which can make it harder for them to sleep and more comfortable on a person or in a bouncy chair than in a crib. this may not be the case with your twins OP but it's worth bearing in mind especially if they seem uncomfortable at all...

We had two slings for our twins!