Twin girls waking up 4.30 - 5am every day :( HELP!!!!!

[Mrs-h]

Please can anyone advise me on what I can do.  Briefly I have 3 children ds who is almost 6 and id twin girls who are 2.5.  For the past 5-6 months the girls have been waking up during the night (they are in junior beds shared room, no option to separate them and could climb out of cots) myself or my husband usually use the supernanny technique of putting them back in bed.  However, they have been waking up between 4.30 - 5 am everyday.  They run to the stairgate and scream until we get up (which isn't long as ds room is next to theirs)  we place them back in bed but to no avail anymore.  We have tried altering sleep patterns, lying on floor in their room to encourage them to sleep - but recently I have just ended up taking them downstairs as they keep waking their brother up    they don't nap every day anymore and I have always kept them in a routine. They aren't too cold or hungry.  I've ordered a gro clock hoping it may help, but they aren't really talking much as yet.  The routine for bed is bath or shower at 7 followed by milk in cup then story and bed between 7.45 and 8.  I really don't seem to be able to get the pattern to change and we are both exhausted.  We get zero help from any inlaws etc so we really need to get this sorted if we can for our sanity 

[cath~]

Hi there,

((Hugs)) sounds like an exhausting time at the moment for you.

Are they not napping at all any more or just some days? How long have they been not napping for?  If they do nap, do you notice a difference in BT?

My guess would be that they are OT (this can cause EWs) and if you can't get them to nap then I'd def do EBT to help them catch up.

Also, have you considered using a Gro clock, lights on a timer or similar to help with the EWs? It was really a saviour for us.

I'm not really familiar with the supernanny technique. Could you explain what you do for NWs?  Also, how do they settle at BT? Are they independent sleepers?

Sorry for all the qns.  Just trying to get the whole picture.

[Mrs-h]

Hi thanks for taking the time to reply I def think they are overtired for sure.  They have naps around 3-4 days of the week usually for an hour or so.  Lately they have been napping in the car around 3pm when I am picking son up as they have refused to sleep in the day, which is too late Its a vicious circle. I don't really notice any difference if they nap or not its still the same wake up time.  A gro clock should be arriving tuesday to hopefully help us out.  We keep the light on in the hall or family bathroom all night, due to ds getting up for toilet etc and their bedroom doors are open (mainly due to stairgate on girls room) We have blackout blinds every room.  What we try to do is when they wake up one of us will go in and tell them its bedtime and not time to get up yet and then we put them back in bed.  If it happens again we do same again but not so much communication and if again we just put them in their beds.  They will go back to sleep during the night its the early alarm call every day that is really getting to us.  They go to bed fine really, they can put up a bit of a fight some nights but usually they will come to the gate a few times then crawl into bed.  They sleep in separate beds and have done since 5-6 months. 
Any advice greatly welcomed xxx

[anna*]

Hi there. My son was a terrible early waker. The Groclock CAN be amazing but it doesn't work by itself - it will need you and your DH to be 100% consistent in how you use it. I would give your DS a pair of ear defenders (£10 on eBay), a white noise track playing in his room, and instructions to put on the ear defenders and go back to sleep if his sisters wake him. Even if he loses a few nights sleep, he will be better rested in the long run.

Is the stair gate at the stairs, or at they r bedroom door?

My son was younger. Is their receptive language good, i.e. they can understand and follow instructions? We told him, when you see the moon, mummy and daddy are sleeping, and you need to go back to bed and lie down. We then had 3-4 mornings of screaming. I didn't even go to him, but when he would quiet down for a moment I would call out from my room to say "Look at your clock. Mummy is asleep. Go back to bed now." On the 3rd morning he quieted down, on the 4th morning he went back to bed. Then we started to move the clock on by 10 mins every couple of nights until we were at a 7am wake up time. Thanks to the clock he was getting more sleep at 30 months old than he was at 18 months old.

[Mrs-h]

Hi the gate is on their door - we also have one on the stairs (fort knox springs to mind lol!) we will try to be very consistent with the clock as we really want it to work and make a difference.  My ds isn't the greatest sleeper and he wakes very easily.  If needs be he can share with us for a few nights if it gets too much. Their understanding is excellent, its just the stubborn 2 year old streak that says "no mummy we do what we want when we want"   My dh has just taken the girls up to bed (20 mins earlier than usual) I fully believe they are sleep deprived and their body clocks are in a bad routine.  I managed to get them to nap at 12 today instead of the nap in the car so fingers crossed they will sleep better this eve. x

[cath~]

hope last night was better?

sounds like you have a good plan in place: helping them to catch up with naps/EBT and introducing a gro clock to address EWs

If you haven't seen it, there is a FAQ here about introducing the Gro clock with some tips:
Gro-Clock / Lights on a timer: What, Why, When and How

You might also find this one useful since they are starting to skip some naps:
The 1-0 transition...Advice and Tips to help you through.

[Mrs-h]

Hi Sorry not been on - not been feeling too good anyway the sleep went a little better on tues evening they woke up at 6 but last night was back to square one.  So we are trying again with fingers crossed this eve x

[anna*]

What's the situation with the Groclock now? What happens/whatdo you do when they wake up so early?

[Mrs-h]

When they wake up we are showing them the clock with the moon on and putting our fingers on our lips and saying ssshhh its sleepy time still.  I was up before them this morning (my body clock out of sync!) and they woke at 6.30am and the sun was well and truly up so they got a huge hug and praise.  Whether it was a fluke or not - I don't know but we are preserving with it and I'm keeping everything crossed that they sleep better each day x

[cath~]

sounds like you're making progress with the gro clock

how are things going this week?