Wake times for 8 week old twins

[professormom]

We used the EASY routine with my daughter who is 2.5 years old and it was great. I have 8 week old twins (4 weeks adjusted) and my husband and I have been trying to get the EASY routine in place for the last week. Here is what I notice:

Twin A: Sleeps really well at night. 7:30-8 with 1-2 wakes for feeding. Hates morning naps! Will cry/scream when put down and will only take 30-45 minute naps. In the afternoon his first nap is a bit better and his long one is the fourth one. We just can't seem to get the "sweet spot" for putting him down. Is the screaming typical for this age? Should I try to shhh/pat him? I am thinking if I intervene it may get worse so I have been waiting him out which I hate! For his age they say 45-60 minutes wake time but especially on the morning naps he just does not show many tired signs so wondering if I need to extend that.

Twin B: Same thing with night sleep....going well. Also he puts himself to sleep much better without crying a lot of the time. He seems to be getting it with naps too. He will protest the morning naps too and will typically take 30 min-1 hour naps in the morning. Afternoon naps are also better for him. Wake times is also an issue. Sometimes I think I am getting it right and then he screams and wakes at 30 minutes. Is this typical of the age? We did not apply these strategies with my daughter until she was three months.

I know there are many questions here, but with twins it just makes this so much more confusing at times. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

[creations]

Hi again
Did you manage to read the twinfants link Ali gave you in your previous thread?

We just can't seem to get the "sweet spot" for putting him down. Is the screaming typical for this age? Should I try to shhh/pat him? I am thinking if I intervene it may get worse so I have been waiting him out which I hate!

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand you here.  Could you describe this is more detail please?
When he is screaming where is he? In arms? In the cot?
What do you do if you are not shush/patting?  Do you for example, rock him or stroke his head, lift him up??
I am not sure what you mean by "waiting him out" can you explain please?

[professormom]

Hi yes I saw the links and reviewed them. Very helpful thank you.

When I refer to the "sweet spot" I am looking for that right amount of wake time for each of my boys. I know this will vary throughout the day, but it really is a struggle as I am not sure I am seeing accurate sleepy cues.  I can find this spot with Twin B but Twin A is very tough to see the sleepy cues. The ultimate goal would be: I see the cues, swaddle and lay them down and they go to sleep independently.

My understanding is that a little bit of crying is totally normal when you put down a baby to sleep so I have let both cry a tiny bit before I go in and try to calm (shh/pat). I try to put both down calm and drowsy but not asleep. About 50% of the time they will then go to sleep and have their nap...sometimes long and sometimes short. Other times they will start crying after going down maybe 5 minutes later. Wondering if I should lay them down and shh/pat until they go into sleep at this age? Is this a sign I got the wake time wrong and they are over/under tired?

Hope this helps to clarify a bit.

[Haribo2012]

Hi 8 weeks is still very young to always get the self settle completely right, lots of things affect their day, wind, over stimulation, over/under tired if you get my drift.

30 mins tend to be OT naps, 40/45 mins UT but it can be a bit hit and miss, personally with my kids things tended to get a bit more predictable after 12 weeks.
They may well need different A times, 5 mins either way can make a big difference at this age.

I wouldn't be leaving them to cry at all really, groaning and moaning maybe but I'd go with shush pat at this age. Do they sleep together?

[*Ali*]

The crying is their way of saying "Mum, I need you." So it's important that you respond to that immediately without waiting it out.  They are still tiny.

It's completely normal that they would need you to help them sleep at this age, yes. You could try shush pat, yes. I'd do this before they cry to avoid getting to that stage.

Here at BW we are vehemently opposed to leaving babies alone to cry as we believe it breaks the bond of trust that the caregiver will always be there.

How are they feeding? I'm wondering if they might be hungry.

[professormom]

Thank you both for the feedback and ideas. Very helpful. To be clear I don't let them cry alone for long periods of time. However with twins you can not be everywhere all the time, especially when you are home alone part of the day and have a 2.5 year old who also needs you. It is almost impossible to give each one the time needed to prepare them for sleep fully and to respond immediately to every cry. They do not sleep together as our doctor said this is not safe and we have found that they tend to wake each other up during the day. At night they sleep in our room and for some reason do not wake each other when they cry or we are up feeding the other one.

Yesterday I used shh/pat to help one of my boys fall asleep for a nap as my husband was home and was able to watch his brother downstairs. It worked well, but the nap was still short and I was not able to resettle him. At this point I am thinking my EASY needs some adjustment. I will put my focus there and on using shh/pat as a proactive teaching method. As I learn how to manage three kiddos under three my hope is that I will find a better way to schedule to meet everyone's needs.