Waking throughout night but not hungry

[HH1986]

I'm a first time mum with 5 month old twins, they wake throughout the night (last night we got up 18 times) they don't want feeding as they refuse the bottle but just want the dummy putting back in.  We've tried not putting the dummy in and shushing them, placing our hand on their tummy, even lifting them out to cuddle them but they just get worked up and cry and cry.

They are fed at 7 and usually take 9oz and then dream feed at 11 and take 3oz. They go in their cot awake without a dummy and fall to sleep on their own so they can do it! Any suggestions?

[becj86]

Hi, sorry to hear of your disrupted nights - you must be exhausted!

I can imagine this is related to pain or routine - though pain would be my first bet given they're waking that frequently. The DF being 4hr after BT could be messing with their sleep cycles - might be worth shifting it to 10:30 or stopping it and seeing if that makes a difference.
Can you please write out how your day goes - eg.
7 - WU, 9oz
10 - nap
11:30 - wake, 9oz
etc. (include NWs)
How long have they been waking this often? Is the waking mainly at the beginning of end of the night?
Have they ever slept long stretches at night?
Could/do they have reflux or any other medical conditions? Reflux 101 - General reflux information

It was around this age I gave DS a dummy to play with during his A time and he learned to replug his own dummy... then just threw lots in the cot with him and he replugged himself... worth trying?

Hugs xx Lets see if we can get you all sleeping a bit better!

[HH1986]

Thank you for your reply. We thought it may be teething pain so was advised to give them Calpol before bed and we do that every night.

I had already noted down yesterday's routine:
7.45 feed
8.30 - 9.30 Isla nap cot, 1 dummy
8.45 - 10.15 Mia nap cot
Jungle play, whingy
11.30 feed
11.45 - 12 Isla nap bouncer during feed
12.15 - 1.15 Isla nap swing
12.15 - 1.15 Mia nap swing
1.30 - 2.30 Group
2.45 -3.45 Isla nap
3 - 3.45 Mia nap
4 feed
4.45 weaning
5 - 6 both nap
Play, crying at end
7.10 feed
8.15 asleep Mia dummy
11 dream feed

Upto 9pm Mia dummy
Upto 10 Mia x2 dummy
Upto 11 Isla dummy
Upto 4 Isla dummy
Upto 5 Mia Isla dummy
Upto 6 Isla Mia x3 dummy
Upto 7 Isla x5 Mia x2 dummy

[Jodes112]

Hi, sorry to butt in was having a read and thought id offer some advice on what i can see!

It is quite possible that they are teething. So keep giving calpol before bed.

Looking at your day though, it looks to me like they are not getting enough A (awake) time between their naps. A lot of babies at this age now start increasing their awake time and moving to 2 naps (my DD was at 2 naps by 6 months with a 3 hour A time between naps. If i were you i would start to aim for a 2.5hr A time and hold for a while and see how you go with that. As an example:

Awake 7am? (not sure what time the bubs wake)

Nap 1: 9.30- 11

Nap 2: 1.30- 2.30/3

Nap 3: cat nap no more than 30 minutes 4.45-5.15

7pm bedtime.

This would hopefully help the nightwakes a little.

A few other questions. Are they too hot, too cold? I take it they sleep in the same room, do they wake eachother from crying?

It also sounds like the dummy is possibly now a prop, you're probably best to have a little change of the routine first though, see if that helps, before you consider the dummy prop sitiation. (They will be replugging themselves in a few months anyway)

It must be soooo hard with twins!! You sound like you are doing an amazing job!!

[becj86]

Ok, most of those NWs are either end of the night so likely OT (from short naps all day) at BT and UT in the AM (too short an A time first thing in the AM.

Completely agree with Jodes - what you've got, with ~1.5hr awake is great for a 3 month old, they really need longer A times to sleep well in the day and therefore sleep better at night. I really think the first thing to fix is the routine in the day and most of the night issues I suspect will go on their own. They will be cranky and OT the first few days you do the new A times but keep going. Resettle the 30min wakings if you can (creep in at 25min and hold a hand on them - easier to help them through for the first few days than to resettle when they're wired). 

[HH1986]

Thank you for taking time to reply it's really useful to have other opinions.

I hadn't thought of increasing their awake time during the day so that's interesting. At the moment I look out for their sleep cues so when they start rubbing their eyes, yawning and getting grouchy I tend to quieten things down and see if they'll nap. Also the HV said sleeps breeds sleep so encourage them to nap in the day, maybe this is only for younger babies, although they were a month early so have to adjust their age.

So if I increase their awake time I should expect them to be grouchy the first few days until they get used to it and just ride it out?

[becj86]

You could go to 2hr and see how that goes (adjusted age is about 4months, no?). Babies get into the habit of being tired when they're used to going to sleep They are sleeping undertired short naps through the day - an increase should help and iron out the night.

So if I increase their awake time I should expect them to be grouchy the first few days until they get used to it and just ride it out?

Pretty much Let us know how you go!