Sleeping FAQ: 8-12 Weeks – Daytime Sleep

My 10 week old twins have begun to refuse to settle themselves in the day for naps, despite sleeping well at night

My 10 week twin girls are sleeping after the 11pm feed through to 6/7am. They started off as easy to settle and were following the routine well. In the last week the girls are refusing to settle themselves to sleep during the day. We return from dropping my 3 year old to pre-school and they scream through their morning nap. I eventually feed them as close to 11am as possible but sometimes as early as 10.15am. I try to entertain them a little if they manage to stay awake until 11.45am, although they are sometimes tired and sleep before that. If they do sleep they wake shortly [20-30minutes] and scream through the rest of the nap. I check they are clean and dry. If I try to settle them by themselves, they scream the whole 2 hours. In the afternoon they catnap in the pumpkin seats whilst picking up their sister.

I have used the controlled crying method so far to no avail; I have separated them for all naps and sleep. I am at a loss as my daughter was a CLB baby to the last word. We moved house a week ago.

My daughters feed at 6/7am 4-6ozs, 10/11am 5-6ozs, 2.30pm 6ozs, 6pm 5-7ozs, 11pm 5-6ozs.

They weigh 12lbs and 12lbs 9ozs.

They usually nap from 11.30-12.15pm and are settled by 7pm.

If your daughters are awake and ready to feed at 6am give them their feed and, once they have finished, try to get them back to sleep until 7.30am, even if it is only for a short time.

At 7.30/7.45am offer them a top up feed of 2-3ozs so they are able to get to at least 10/10.15am for their next feed. At present they are overtired by the time of their morning nap and so they are fighting going down to sleep.

Depending on the time of your school run it may help your girls to have two morning naps to prevent them going down at lunchtime overtired. If they are ready for a sleep by 8.30/8.45am let them sleep until 9.15/30am. If they have had a top up feed at 7.30am they should be able to wait until 10/10.15am for their next feed.

If the babies are hungry it is far better to feed them rather than trying to get them to wait until nearer 11am. Once you have fed them at this time let them have a short cat nap around 10.45/11am. This will then mean they are ready to settle to their lunchtime nap around 12.15-12.30pm.

Before they go down for their lunchtime nap offer the girls a top up feed. If they are not over tired and not hungry they should settle well for this nap.

Dealing with twins and another child is not easy in the first few months after the birth. As the babies appear to be overtired in the mornings, despite sleeping well at night, it is much better to put them down earlier for their nap than allow them to get overtired.

Once you have sorted out the morning naps for both of them you may like to put them back in the same room for their naps. It may mean two or three days of them getting used to each other again, but will prevent more severe sleep problems which could occur if you wait until they are older before moving them in to the same room.