I have 19 week old fraternal twin girls, and their nights have turned bad.....really really bad.
To be fair, it is mostly just one of them that is causing a problem. The other one was actually sttn a few days a week, but her nights are getting worse and worse. Baby A is the one having the most trouble
They go to bed around 7:30-8:00 and used to sleep until 1:30-2:00 before one would wake for a feed (usually baby A), then she would go back to sleep until 4:30-5:00, eat again and sleep until their day started at 7:00-7:30.
The past week she (Baby A) has not made it past midnight before waking to eat, sometimes waking as early as 11:00! Then she can't seem to go back to sleep and stay asleep, after I feed her (EBF) she seems to be solidly asleep and I put her back in her crib. She will usually stay asleep for 30 minutes and then wake again. Then she wakes crying every 5-20 minutes for over an hour. Once she finally stays asleep, she will wake up again exactly 3 hrs after she woke the first time. So, if she wakes at 11:30 she will be up again at 2:30 even if it takes her until 1:45 to stay asleep. When I feed her during the night she will eat well for the first feed, but then if I try to feed her at the other wakings she will eat for a minute or two and then suck for comfort until she falls back to sleep. So I am pretty sure she isn't waking out of hunger.
Last night was BAD!! She was up at midnight, ate for almost 20 minutes and was practically snoring when I put her back in the crib. Then she was up 30 minutes later and wouldn't stay asleep until around 2:15-2:30. Then she was back up again at 3!! I fed her at 3 and put her back in her crib. Luckily she stayed asleep until 4 so I got a quick 30 minutes of sleep. She cried and needed me to put her back to sleep every few minutes until around 6:30 and then slept until 7:30.
Baby B's night last night was "bad" as well. Usually if she wakes it is only once and then she will sleep the rest of the night. Last night she also woke at Midnight, but went back to sleep without needing food. Then she was up again at 2:30, ate and was asleep when I put her in her crib, but woke twice before she stayed asleep (something she never does!), then she was up at 5 to eat again.
Their days have been really great! That's why this night stuff has me stumped. I thought that good day sleep = good night sleep. It seems though that the better their days get the worse their nights get. Anyways here is a quick look at our days:
Wake & E - 7:30
A - 8:00 wind down starts around 9:20
S - 9:40-45
E - 11:30
A - 11:50
S - 1:30 - they cant seem to handle as much A time as the day goes on.
E - 3:30
A - 2:00
S - 5:00 - cat nap
Wake - 5:30 - at the same time their nights started falling apart they started waking on their own from this nap.....sometimes after only 20 minutes.
E - 6:00
A - 6:15 - Bedtime routine starts at 7:15 (bath, lotion/massage, PJs, cuddles, swaddle, quick nurse, bed)
S - 7:45
My first thought was that they are getting too much daytime sleep. I have tried lengthening their A times, but as it is now they start trying to fall asleep after only 1:15 hrs and are screaming and melting down by 2 hrs. I cant imagine trying to keep them up for another 15 minutes of screaming and crying. If I put them to bed even 5 minutes before 2:15 hrs of A time they wake early from their naps and cant resettle.
