That’s right we too are dealing with serious lack of sleep and wanting to sleep train our babes.
They are going on 6 months old and still wake 3+ times a night per baby to feed. Luckily they do not stay up like some babies I know but rather fall back to sleep after they have nursed. Kate is no longer nursing so the night time feedings are all on me know and it’s a challenge to be a happy mommy when I always have a baby attached to me and no space of my own.
I love nursing them, I love cuddling them and I love waking up to their smiling faces. But let’s face it…I’d be happier and better functioning if they slept in their crib and woke a few times less in the night. Both mommies would like their adult bed back and be able to cuddle each other for once!
The real issue is getting them to sleep for more than 20min the first stretch at night. They always wake about 20 into bedtime and then it can take about an hour (sometimes more) to resettle and put them back down. Many times I’m the only one they want and need to get them back to sleep. I don’t know why either. It’s frustrating to both Kate and I.
Kate has tried bottle feeding them my breastmilk during the night to relieve me but they either fuss to nurse, reject the bottle or the other wakes simultaneously leaving me in the same boat.
We we currently reading ‘The No Cry Sleep Solution’ recommended to me by C over at Reciprocallove. We are tracking and logging their sleep right now which is the first step in her sleep training theory. I’ll try to update as we progress.
Naps are all over the place. For the most part they cannot be awake for more than 2hrs at a time and even that is pushing it. Then the need to take a nap that lasts about 40 minutes on average with he occasional 2-4hour nap on a magical day!
I read babies at 6 months should be napping two to three times a day and the nap should last 2-4 hours. I laughed hysterically when I read that! I could only wish they would be up longer and also nap longer too.
This is my current schedule:
Awake:nurse, change, play, change and nurse again.
Nap for about 45min
Awake for about 1.5-2hours: nurse, change, play, change and nurse again.
Nap for about 45min
Awake for about 1-1.5hrs: nurse, change, play, change and nurse again.
This is where it gets weird…
Sometimes the take another nap that is 2hours or longer other times no nap at all until 3pm.
Then the cycle repeats until 6pm when we try to get them to go to bed by 7. Then when they finally go down between 7-8:30 sometimes 9 they wake up 20-40 minutes later and we do it all over again. Once we get them back to sleep the sleep for a few hours solid and then are up every 1.5-2 hours to nurse or be changed.
We are simply exhausted yet used to it also.
Outside of their sleep “fun” they are amazing babies. They are so happy and playful. Very talkative and observant and starting to have more personality than I know what to do with.
The “sing” themselves to sleep and to wake and its soooo adorable. Except when it wake the other which happens a lot.
Daiton babbles all day everyday unless other people are talking a lot around him and then he just stares, eyes wide open with his jaw dropped, observing the conversation. He laughs hysterically at many things and is SUPER ticklish. He is starting to get more hair and it look blonde or strawberry blonde and very big dark blue eyes. His skin ton is staying pretty fair but not as fair as me so we will see if it darkens later. I still can’t believe they are so light skinned! He is wearing 6 months clothes and weighs in at about 15lbs, yet is only in the 3rd percentile for his age.
Emerie is a big ball of sweet love! She finally made her personality debut in December and hasn’t stopped smiling, giggling and chattering since. Everyday she masters something new. She learns very very fast! She was scooting herself at 4 months and rolling both ways too. In the past two weeks the scooting has progressed into a worm like crawl and she can crawl about two feet. Yesterday she started picking up her but and using herbknrssbto propel forward so I imagine “true” crawling to happen any day now. She’s a pistol this one. Her hair is now a very dark auburn on top and red in the back, it’s growing a lot more too. Her skin tone is mug darker than Daiton too. Her eyes are still a mystery to us but we think they will be green or hazel. She is in 3 month clothes since after Christmas and weighs in at around 12.5lbs. She is still on the premie scale and considers very petite.
I buy way too much baby stuff but it’s hard no too when your at home with them all day every day and need verity too lol. I still don’t go out with them by myself and can’t really now cause we sold our other car. I have a friend who comes to see me sometimes with her baby girl who is 6 weeks younger than them and I love it when we can hang out. I need more adult interactions but mommy and me classes just down work when you are by yourself with two babies! So for now I am a very solitary yet happy stay at home mom.
Wish us luck on month 6, sleep training and solid foods! Ah! How did they get so big so fast?
Love to you all I do read when I can but commenting doesn’t happen near enough.
Ladylove & Babydust 
First and foremost, You all looks so beautiful 🙂 your a glowing new mommy. The babies are absolutely doing wonderful. I would NOT worry about their sleeping. This is just normal. No 6 month old baby sleeps perfect just go with your gut on everything. 3-4 times a night is still very ideal. Try not to take a lot of everyone’s advice….even mine lol 😂
They are doing great for twins. You and your wife look like are for sure getting the hang of things. It’s crazy 6 months have already passed. You haven’t blogged in a long time, they both look so big now!!
I feel bad I haven’t been blogging. I need to push myself to do it more. It’s so hard to prioritize it over taking a nap with them or doing housework.
My girls are just under 5 months (and 5 weeks premature) and we’re in the same boat as far as naps. They really like to sleep! Fortunately, we are getting then to sleep from 9p-5a and they go back down until 8 or 9am, then need a nap after being awake for an hour or so most of the day. We just started having a couple days here and there where they will skip a nap in the morning and one in the evening. But we also laughed when we read they should be napping twice a day.
Good to hear. Did you sleep train them?
Not intentionally, the only thing we’ve done is clearly creating different day and night environments from day one. Our goal is to get them to sleep by 8pm, so from day one we have turned the lights off and quieted down at 8. We keep the girls space dark and quiet, and we do “minimal stimulation”. Meaning we are very calm and quiet, don’t make much eye contact or talk after 8, we just quietly take care of them and encourage them to sleep by holding/rocking/rubbing their backs. We added “brown noise” (more calming than white noise). Daytime we obviously engage with them until they start yawning, and we keep the sunlight streaming in the room unless they’re really fussy and fighting a nap.
That sounds like most types sleep training anyway so good job. Only thing I’m still working on is nighttime calmness. Unless to just me taking care of them the house can be noises and bright which counteracts sleep. I also close blinds and keep the room fairly dark for naps to help them sleep, however I’ve been worried it may be hindering their understanding of nighttime.
There are so many different ways to do it, it’s overwhelming! I could never knew which one was the “right way”, so I just followed my sister-in-laws simple advice. I agree with what someone else said that whatever you choose, just try to be very consistent. And good luck!!!
Sorry to hear you’re dealing with the sleep struggle bus! Sleep training is tough at first, but so worth it when everyone is getting more sleep. Good luck!!!
It sucks but I’m sure it will pass. Hope the sleep training does the trick.
I’m not sure what your feelings are about formula, but have you considered giving them a bottle of formula before bed? We started to do this for the last month and ours are sleeping SO much better as a result. (They are breast fed otherwise) Also, again this is just what worked for us, but I stopped offering up a nursing session every time they woke and instead focused on settling them back to sleep. Initially I knew they could go til at least midnight before needing to nurse as they had done it a few times. So I drew a line in the sand and stopped offering a nursing session after bedtime and before midnight. Our pediatrician explained that if they’re offered it everytime they’re going to expect it whether they need it or not. It took some diligence and resolve to stick to it those first few nights but after three days they stopped waking to nurse before midnight. With the addition of the formula bottle they now sleep til 2-3 AM before needing to nurse and then go back down til 6-7 AM, at which time I nurse them again at 7 AM (not a moment before) and we’re up for the day. I recently blogged (yes I decided to come back) about our breastfeeding journey in general if you’re interested. We’ve had a lot of bumps and had to make a lot of changes along the way as well. (Although obviously not as big as going from a two lactation household down to one) Good luck momma, just keep doing your best, that’s all you can do. Eventually these tiny humans will learn to sleep!
Thanks for your insight love. I’m not interested in formula since it’s not medically needed. Their nursing at night is mainly to soothe and very short lived. Only once or twice is it obviously for hunger. We realized last night after sleep logging that they actually sleep a lot more than it feels. They wake frequently but go right back to sleep when I nurse or rock them. Nursing at night solo is exhausting but it will get easier. I need to go and read your blog! Yay!
God it’s so hard. See my post. They are beautiful. More later – my phone isn’t working!!
Aww beautiful pics! xoxo
Thanks xo
So, I’m the last person to give sleep training advice (by the time I did it, my son was almost 2). But here’s my two cents: whatever approach you decide to use, you haaaavvveeee to be consistent. Even when you’re exhausted and you know if you just bring them into bed with you you can go back to sleep, don’t do it. Babies are SUPER adaptable. Stick with whatever you’re plan is, and it’ll become their new normal.
Thanks for your support and advice
We just finished with a sleep consultant who does everything via email. It was reasonably priced and I would HIGHLY recommend her. I am happy to forward along her website! Our babies are now sleeping 10-12 hours a night and getting on a good nap schedule!
I’d love the info. My email is ladyloveandbabydust@gmail.com
They’re so cute!! Good luck with the sleep training!
Omg. They’re absolutely adorable! 🙂 Around 5 months is when we began to really get a good sleep routine with Kai, 7am-7pm, three naps and sleeping through the night in his crib but it definitely took some experimenting as we weren’t into the whole cry it out thing either! We tried different background noises (rain worked the best at first have you tried that?) I may be contacting you soon to ask some questions about IUI!
Sounds good I’ll tell you whatever you need to know. Yes we use ocean, rain and steam noises for them.
You, Kate, and the twins are so beautiful. I feel like you have really grown into your motherhood, and it’s gorgeous. The babies are certainly thriving and learning so much! I can’t believe that Emerie was scooting already at 4 months! What a strong girl. Good luck with the sleep training. It sounds like the babies aren’t doing too bad in the sleep department so far, so maybe it’ll happen with little resistance. Lotsa love to you four!
Man they are adorable. I love your breastfeeding photos. Can’t believe your little Miss is about to crawl! If you lived closer I’d suggest my Mommy Baby yoga class. The instructor was just complaining that she hasn’t had twins in so long. She uses a doll, but would prefer a real baby! Sounds like you are do in an awesome job parenting – even with the sleep deprivation.
Thank you love your Sooo sweet ☺️I think I’m handling it pretty well myself. I have moments but they seem fleeting. I am going to look into our monmy and me yoga class here in town and suggest that Kate and I go together once a week.
PS I’m in love your little man too. Kate and I ooo and ahhh at you Instagram pics all the time.
Have you ever thought of trying the Baby Merlin Magic Sleep suit? I was skeptical but I have a daycare baby that started rolling and had to be taken out of his swaddle and rock and play. The only way I could get him to take a nap was in the swing until that magic sleep suit arrived and it is magic. Now I put him in it, put him down awake, sometimes he cries at first but is always asleep by the time I check on him and sleeps anywhere from 2-3/12 hours usually. If he does the long stretch in the morning, he sometimes will only sleep for an hour or so in the afternoon. I just got one for my other daycare baby because her sleep has been terrible lately. I’m hoping for the same results.
Does that baby still roll onto his belly? The suit says not to use it if they can roll over otherwise I would have tried it.
Nope, it’s heavier, almost like a snowsuit so he can’t roll over in it. He kind of looks like a marshmallow man in it, lol.
My girl gets posse when she can’t roll over if something is in her way, so I don’t think that will help us unfortunately. Thanks for the helpful advice though.