Twins - 8 month old brothers - sleep problems

2

2dolphins

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Hi mybb - Desperate parents of twin IVF boys, no assistance from family (includes parents,uncles,aunties) - We are having to rock them to sleep, refusal to sleep on their own thus causing many sleepless nights and grey hairs. When asleep, they only manage a couple of hours at a stretch and are awakened by misplaced pacifiers (dummies),are we going about anything in the wrong way? Note that they are also not sleeping in the day and have dark circles under their eyes.
 
Last edited:
Been there and done that, apart from normal teething problemos and sore ears the diagnosis is wait and see.
 
Are you feeding them any food besides bottles?

Neighbour's baby boy just turned 1 a month ago. he was born 3 months prem. by his 8 month he was eating a little cereal mixed with formula. note he was by then actually 5 months.

if kids don't eat enough formula/food they will give sleep problems.

& do take them to a kiddie doc. there might be something else....
 
2dolphins said:
Been there and done that, apart from normal teething problemos and sore ears the diagnosis is wait and see.
Click to expand...

Do you give them food?
Do you mix the formula according to instructions?
Do you give them boilt/cooled water to drink at times?

If you want to start cereal( neighbour says) start with one spoon of cereal with formula. give it around 4 in the afternoon. the first few days it can give them a bit of wind. that gives enough time for the wind to pass before bedtime...
 
ChilliGirl said:
Are you feeding them any food besides bottles?

Neighbour's baby boy just turned 1 a month ago. he was born 3 months prem. by his 8 month he was eating a little cereal mixed with formula. note he was by then actually 5 months.

if kids don't eat enough formula/food they will give sleep problems.

& do take them to a kiddie doc. there might be something else....
Click to expand...
They have been diagnosed with allergy to certain milk brands - these were NAN AR, then Isomil 2, now been given Goats milk - wallets empty!!! Paed treated them with antobiotics and reckoned the cow milk formula was fuelling tonsillitis. We awaiting paed return from holiday for follow-up...
 
AcidRaZor said:
happy april fools to you too dude.
Click to expand...
Aish dude, no April fools joke this-wish it was;-O PS. Are you available for babysitting so that the wife and I can have 2hours of uninterrupted sleep PLEASEEEE.........
 
2dolphins said:
They have been diagnosed with allergy to certain milk brands - these were NAN AR, then Isomil 2, now been given Goats milk - wallets empty!!! Paed treated them with antobiotics and reckoned the cow milk formula was fuelling tonsillitis. We awaiting paed return from holiday for follow-up...
Click to expand...
Soy based formulas can also be considered.

Note that changing formula will cause them a few upset days.

They could have cramps and/or wind from many milk changes.

They could inbetween that be needing more substantial food(cereal. not containing milk solids but needing you to add their milk and not just water).

Are they battling to keep their milk down? There is something you can give them that helps. its not cheap in SA. but in the UK it costs about £2 a bottle in the supermarkets. my folks brought some for the neighbour when they came on holiday last year. there are people that import it to SA and sell it for well over R100 per bottle.
 
If both of them are like this then it is something you are feeding them or not feeding them. Don't wait for the doctor to come back from holiday, take them to the doctor on call now. Dark circles under their eyes is not a good thing and it says that something is wrong.

And what Chiligirl says is true, changing their formula will upset their tummies for sure.
 
If this is true I'd suggest separating them (enough so they can't hear each other if they cry). Although they weren't twins, the problem with my nieces was that they kept each other awake.

To this day I still do not understand why babies will cry when they're sleepy! JUST GO TO SLEEP FOR **** SAKES!
 
I know how kak this is, but what we did with our 2nd was let her cry it out. Its damn hard but unfortunately you have to do it.

We put her in her cot, give her a bottle and we sit with her for a bit until she is settled in and then we leave her. In beginning it was tough, she just screamed. Now she pretty much goes to sleep and sleeps through the night.

Tough love unfortunately.
 
My wife also had twins. We tried desperately to sync them, so that they go to sleep simultaneously, but to no avail. This caused me to also play mom.

Regarding the formula: One of ours were also diagnosed with a cows milk allergy. There was one specific formula we used, but it was like hens teeth to get. We ended up with the baby shop ordering a box at a time for us. Two years later, after going for allergy tests, it was determined that she is actually allergic to soya. So keep in mind that Soy milk may actually be the problem.
 
Are they on solids yet? If not why not? Our paed recommended from 4 months we must start and our little one actually wanted solids from 3 1/2 months
 
Oooo! Someone else being punished for extending their family!

My daughter is 8 months old tomorrow and still doesn't sleep through the night, we are getting there though as she now sleeps from 18:00 till 01:00 and has a bottle before sleeping again till 05:00 at which point she is awake. Some tips on how to improve things:

First off, if they aren't sleeping in their own room yet, move them. Your tossing and turning at night will bother them.

If the twins aren't on solids yet, slap yourself and then go ask your pediatrician how to start this. Amazingly they all have their own view, our ped laughed at us when we asked about baby cereals and started us off on yellow vegetables, then added fruit, then added oats and mealie meal and tonight we start on meat. The solids take longer to digest and keeps the babies fuller for longer.

Try not to give them too much attention at night if their dummies fall out and do not turn on lights in the room! If you have an angelcare the little blue light should be enough to feel around and find the dummy, pop it back in and walk away. This is difficult but eventually it works. (I am not advocating that you should let them cry it out though)

Check your bed time routine, babies actually like having a bath, then a bottle in a dimly lit room, then a dummy and some rocking. Do not provide stimulation at this point.

Check the temperature in the room, ifs its too cold or too hot they will be uncomfortable.

And finally a highly controversial suggestion. Find them a creche...they can actually teach your babies to fall back to sleep on their own and sleep through most noise. Finding the right creche is a curse though, you want something with a low caregiver to baby ratio, nothing more than 3 babies to 1 caregiver or 5 to 1 at a push with a resident occupational therapist to watch the babies development. I know most people will advise against putting your baby into a creche at such an early age but for us it has only improved things. Baby loves the social interaction, the school managed to teach her to sleep through anything and in general she just seems happier to not be stuck with us all day.
 
Arzy said:
Baby loves the social interaction, the school managed to teach her to sleep through anything and in general she just seems happier to not be stuck with us all day.
Click to expand...

A socialite already? Oi, you're in for big worries when she's a teenager? Maybe you should start slipping the pill in her coffee in secret when she hits puberty just in case ;)
 
Arzy said:
Oooo! Someone else being punished for extending their family!
Click to expand...

@2dolphins - you can listen to Arzy, shes been round the block.

I had both my children on Rooibos tea due to their lactose tolerances.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X