how do you stop a crying twin waking the other up at night?

[3pinter]

I have 2 no id boys aged 10 weeks. One sleeps like and angel from 11 til 3/4 when he wakes up for a feed. the other, lovely though he is, is a bit of a pain at night. He has a dream feed at 11, and then wakes up at 2.10 without fail. he then screams non stop. He is not hungry (i always check, and I know he is capable of going til at least 3 without needing a feed), and usually calms down if I pick him up. However, I do not want to get him into the habit of having to be picked up and cuddled for 45 mins every night until he is hungry. If I only had the one baby, I'd leave him in his cot and check on him every 5 mins or so to soothe him back to sleep. I feel mean doing this with the othe DT in the room though, as DT2 makes so much noise, it starts to wake DT1 up, resulting in my picking DT2 up and cuddling him to keep him quiet. It is not a growth spurt as he does this every night and has for ages, and I always check nappy, body temp and so on. Any advice would be appreciated!

[dolly1972]

hi,
mine used to do this....they were both in the same cot and one used to wake the other!

when they were in their own moses baskets or in different cots it was better.
try not to get into the habit of picking one of them up...it is hard i know (i used to do it every now and then!)
i dont think there is a sure-fire way of the other twin not waking up...unless they are in different rooms of course!

so no proper advice for you....sorry. but at least you know that you are not alone.

dolly x

[MarsLady]

3pint... how are they fed?

[3pinter]

thanks dolly 1972, they went into their own cots today, so maybe that will make a difference. Don't want to get into the habit of picking DT2 up, so am resolved to brave it out tonight even if it means that DT1 wakes up and I have two to calm down. It helps to hear that is what other people have done, so thank you.

[3pinter]

marslady, they are exclusivly breast fed. Do you think that plays a part in why he wakes up? he does not seem overly hungry at 2.10 though?

[Overrun]

yeah, it is a problem isn't it/ If they are in the same room, putting moses baskets/cots as far away from each other as possible is your best bet.
I found it was very arbitrary with mine, one night the other would wake, the next night they would sleep through. Sorry can't be much more help.
I just cuddled the one who was crying when they were only 10 weeks, usually fed them as well. They are very little still........

[MarsLady]

No! I just wanted to know.

Now at 11 weeks they do go through another growth spurt, but as you say this has been going on for a while.

Have you tried cranial osteopathy?

Also, can you tell me (incredibly briefly lol) how they were born? Caesarean birth, vaginally, intervention etc.


Oh and I'm not promising an answer, but hopefully I'll either have one or know someone who might!

And babe..... you can call me Mars (though Marsy seems to be de rigeur lol!)

[dolly1972]

hi 3pinter,
i bet they will sleep much better on their own...... i know that when one of my boys moved the other one would too, so now they dont have that to deal with.

and you know they will look sooo sweet in their own cots! very small too! lol

hope you get some sleep tonight!

let us know how you get on....
dolly x

[3pinter]

thank you mars, we haven't tried cranial osteopathy as it does not seem 'bad' enough to warrent it. Don't mind spending the money if it will help but don;t want to put DT2 through something if not needed. I had a c sec, but quite traumatic as DT1 cord prolapsed, so was a rush job, emewrgency c sec with general anesthetic. Don't know if forcepys ect were used, but don't recall anything in my maternity notes.

[mnerindisguise]

can you not just feed one at 2 and the other at 3?

[MarsLady]

You can often find co free, but you'd have to research that. All of my mums that have used it found it incredibly helpful.

I agree with overrun though. They are still very young. Do they like being in the same bed? I found that that settled my pair. In fact they still sleep in the same bed now and settle best when together.

I'll do a little research and get back to you tomorrow. Can't promise tonight as my eyes keep trying to close and I have a glass of wine that I want to drink.

[3pinter]

god my typing is awful! have to go as DT1 has just woken up. Will t ryand get back asap if I can calm him. Thanks for the help!

[dolly1972]

with my two. the first twin had a punctured lung so he spent 5 days in nnu, and twin 2 was fine.....t2 got all the cuddles in the first week. t1 was only picked up when needed to. now t1 is so placid and t2 is a bit of a livewire.

im sure thats why t2 was the one that most often woke up during the night.

i was told by my h/v that as t2 was only 5-6lbs he needed more re-assurance...cuddles etc.

bit of a waffle...but there you go!
dolly x