synchronize naps? four months old

[LALEONAR]

Any ideas how to synchronize naps for twins - my boys are four months old. I have been sleep training them for about two weeks with some success, but still finding it hard to get their schedules more in synch. Any ideas about this or sleep training would be appreciated! Thank you!

[Newmom!]

Are you also feeding them at the same time. If as much of the rest of their schedule is in sync I would assume it would be easier to sync up naps. I only have one child, and I just "went with the flow" of whenever he needed to sleep, so I can't give you any other advice. Keep in mind they are individuals, ideally you might be able to sync up their schedule, but if you can't, you are still a great mom, just bussier. Best of luck.

[momsponge]

Hi!

I have twin girls who are 14 months now. The first thing, although it is hard, is teaching them to self soothe and be able to fall asleep on their own (if you haven't already). Honestly it was the best thing we ever did. Not sure how often they are napping (I already forget when my girls went to two naps a day ), but when that happens it makes it a lot easier for scheduling. In the beginning we just made sure we fed them at the same time, always and they slept when they slept.

When they get to just morning and afternoon naps, it is all about routine, routine,and more routine. I take the girls in their room and we read books and sing songs and then I just place them in their crib with their security blankets and we have a little music machine that plays for about 10 minutes and then I leave the room. You have to keep them on the same schedule for everything including feeding and sleeping. Their schedules eventually sync up if they are not now. If one wakes up, I wake the other one up within the next 15 minutes. I know it is hard to wake up a sleeping baby, but if you don't, you will always be on and never get a break. We all know that moms need breaks too! I know it can be extremely overwhelming at times but hang in there, it does get a little easier.

I hope this helps, I also included two titles of books that I read that were a huge help for me! Let me know if you need anything else!

Take care,

Patty
http://momsponge.blogspot.com

1)Raising Twins: From Pregnancy to Preschool
2)Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins: A Step-by-Step Program for Sleep-Training Your Multiples

[project elbow]

Oh my, I remember those months (and not always so fondly). My twins took almost a year to start sleeping through the night and most of that time they took turns keeping me awake all night. I had them on the same feeding schedule so that when one got fed the other did too even if I had to wake him up to do it. They also got their diapers changed at the same time or else I would never remember who was changed when. For a while I couldn't even keep track of when they were both fed or changed since it seemed like it was ALL THE TIME. I had to start writing it down including how much they ate, if they had a BM or were just wet, etc. I also learned to ask for help and to accept it from anyone who offered. I am usually the kind of person who would rather do it myself than to ask for help. I felt horrible the first time my sister-in-law took the kids for the weekend but after being able to sleep for 10 hours straight I was asking her when she wanted to take them again. For some reason though, my boys did not want to let me sleep and there were some nights that I would end up putting them in separate rooms and let them cry if needed between feedings/changings. I was too worried if I put them in the same room together one would wake up the other during the night. Although most people would say not to do this, the boys ended up sleeping while strapped into in their baby swings. It calmed them down and was the only thing that ended up saving me from loosing due to sleep deprivation. Good luck!