Am I overstimulating my twins?

[BnDsMom]

Hello to all!

I am having some nap issues and feel that part of the problem is overstimulation (other part due to teething). My boys followed their schedules like a textbook until about 2 weeks ago.  Now, they are not wanting to stay asleep longer than 45 minutes (mostly 30 min naps).  Some activities we do: reading books, laying them on tummy time mat and playing with toys. Playing with stuffed animals on floor play area.  I do let them watch a children's video a day (Baby Einstein or Meet the Letters/Numbers etc) as well as play in their exersaucer, walker, jumper.  What are some cues to look for when they are overstimulated?  I get the tired cues, but what about before that point?? I want to try to catch it before they go beyond their max. I know each child is different but would someone please mind spelling out what they do with their children when they were in this age? I am trying to find a balance and want to know if I'm overdoing it and if so, what to do to remedy the situation. 

Thanks in advance for your advice and have a good day

[anna*]

OS cues are hard to come by unless they're actually crying from it - my best advice is to stop just about ANY activity about 10-15 mins before you start your wind-down. From your list, especially video, exersaucer, jumper, walker.

Maybe all three of you could spend a little time lying/sitting on mummy and daddy's bed, just smiling and 'chatting', or looking at a book, for a few mins before the wind-down even begins.

[my3girlsjde]

Hi there and congrats on your twinfants! How old are they now? I'm just wondering if they may also be ready to increase their A time if their naps are suddenly getting shorter:http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=64158.msg476652#msg476652

I found that my twins would feed off of each other when they started getting tired, so our wind down was usually very short. Still is to this day actually and it works great.

Hope that helps

[BnDsMom]

Great info anna-thanks! I cut out the video and let them play in exersaucer at the beginning of A time this afternoon, instead of mid/end and one of my boys slept 2.5 hours! Will keep playing with this to find right balance-hooray!

Thanks my4girlsjde for your input-they are 6.5 months.  B usually falls to sleep sooner than D but D is my more active one and the one I'm really watching for overstimulation. I call him our social butterfly-he wants to meet everyone and see everything! He's a trip.  Great to know about how your twins wind-down still works well.  Do they sleep in the same room? Did they sleep in the same crib?

[my3girlsjde]

They're spirited and pretty light sleepers so the same crib only lasted a couple of months. It was a blessing though because in the middle of the night I had absolutely no clue who was who lol. They're in the same room now, and they won't sleep unless they know the other one is there so never underestimate how attached they can get to one another.
 
Wind down now has become pretty easy as they're not overly cuddly but when they're tired they're either climbing the walls or they want a cuddle. We try to get them to cuddle, and now we get to watch the tv program without them getting os.