Changing 10mth habits

[belpots]

Hi, I have twin 10mth-old girls and need help with their sleeping habits. Their daily routine is pretty much in synch as follows:
6.30am - wake and BF
7.30am - breakfast (solid food)
             playtime - lots of crawling and climbing, musical play
9.00/9.30am - nap (40min - 1 hr)
10.30am - playtime. I try to give them a bottle but they are never interested at this time.
12.00pm - lunch (solid food and water) During this time of the day I am often incorporating errands or activity so sometimes they may nap 30-45mins in a pram or car)
2.30/3.00pm - nap (40min-1hr)
4pm - bottle feed/afternoon snack
5pm - dinner (solid food)
6pm - bath, quiet play
7.30/8pm - breasfeed then bed

During the day when they appear tired it is just a matter of putting them into their cots and they will eventually gurgle and coo a bit until they sleep.

At night, we have always taken to breastfeed them to sleep and do the jiggle, rock and walk thing when my DH steps in to help. Even when they might nod off at 8pm there is always a chance they will stir 20-30min later and the only way to pacify has been to breastfeed again.
One DD wakes at least 2-3 times during the night, we try to attend to her by patting but often just causes her to escalate/fuss in which case we breastfeed to soothe back to sleep. She seems to suck for at least 10min or so til she sleeps.

We want to teach them to self-sleep but not sure how to tackle the bad habits. The nightly routine often involves them rolling around in our bed and then some quiet music and massage until their tired signs show. We then swaddle them in wraps and breastfeed until they are sleepy/fast asleep. We wonder what "baby steps" we need to change to get them to settle themselves for sleep at night and to stay asleep? Should we encourage longer sleeps during the day? The night-waker is a good day sleeper whilst the night sleeper naps shorter during the day!

We really need the rest!

Belinda

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi Belinda, congratulations on your twins! That's great that you have them on the same routine and that you've been able to BF both of them for this long, I understand that's unusual with twins.

Firstly, those naps need to be longer, at least 1 hour. Have you tried the wake to sleep technique with them? Good day sleep = good night sleep, so starting with the naps and improving them should help the nights. It sounds like you already know that you need to stop the feeding to sleep and jiggling and all that. Those things are all props that get in the way of the girls sleeping independently. Have you tried PU/PD? 

Do they sleep in the same crib/cot? Is it possible that they disturb each other?

[belpots]

Hi Jessica, thanks for the reply. Well, after some reading from helpful BWs, we launched into the PU/PD method, totally prepared that it would be a struggle. It did seem to take at least 30-40 goes last night but we did supplement the night waker with water when she stirred at 12.30pm and 4am. Some struggling getting them back to sleep.The girls do not share a crib but are in the same room. The night waker did stir the other at 4am! I will definitely try to improve the day naps and see how we go. If I am home I do sometimes struggle trying to give them three daily naps though...Is it OK if they have one long 2hr nap and then a shorter one?

[Colin Macs Mom]

Is it OK if they have one long 2hr nap and then a shorter one?

At their age, I don't see why not. Just make sure the long nap doesn't go over 2 hours. As long as it works!