Putting twins down for a nap...

[mom3]

My twins obviously need a nap every afternoon. The problem is that they wake up too easily. I nurse them together until they fall asleep and when I move to lay them down they wake up. If it was only one I could easily nurse them back to sleep and then lay them down, but I can't figure out what to do with two. Nursing them separately won't work because whichever one wasn't nursing would be screaming and it can take anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes before they fall asleep. I've tried nursing them in our bed and sliding them off me, but they still wake up. I would nap with them if it weren't for having an older child too. My oldest son could have slept through an explosion and I just can't figure out how to help these light sleepers.

[laralou]

I wish I could help but my girls rarely wake up when I transfer them- they also sleep through lots of noise. If they do and they have already nursed, I lay next to them (me, baby, baby) and tap their pacies with my fingernail. It takes about 5 minutes at least, but eventually they fall asleep without too much crying. Of course this only works if you use pacies.

[mom3]

My boys suck their thumbs and have since about 3 months old. You'd think that being able to self-soothe would help, but not with these two. What really gets me is that they were in the NICU for 10 days. With all that goes on in there you'd think sleeping at home would be a breeze : .

[Twinsmama]

I find a couple of things sometimes help with my girls...making sure they are REALLY, truly tanked on milk (and I mean stuffed) before attempting to move them is one. A warm room helps, too. Another is a swing--they often sleep in those when they won't sleep in a crib. Another is subdued lighting, or at least no bright lighting right in their faces. I found that in the early weeks they were even soothed by the sound of the running vaccum cleaner, so you may not want it dead-quiet, either, depending on how old they are. Of course mine are only 3 months old now, so I may have your troubles ahead of me!

I think I have read somewhere that kids from the NICU actually have a harder time adjusting, unfortunately, because their nervous systems are a little immature. You might try this guy's book for better tips: http://www.happiestbaby.com/

[Cakes]

I face the same dilemma. My solution has been to get everyone in the car and drive till the twins fall asleep. I leave the twins asleep
in their carseats andI get a few precious moments with my older daughter. Sometimes my younger daughter will only sleep 45 min. To compenstae for the poor nap times we put the babies down early at night ( between 7-7:30). They will usually sleep 12 hours with about 2-4 wakings.

I also have tried putting a video in for my older child while I put the twins down. This usually backfires because my older child will keep coming in to ask questions and keep waking the babies up.
I can't blame her for not wanting to be left alone.

Hope this helps.
Julianne

[Periwinkle]

This brings back memories. My dd and ds stopped napping soundly around 3 months (1 mo. corrected). No idea why. But I had to separate them. I also bought room-darkening shades in the rooms where they nap. And two white noise machines from Hammacher Schlemmer. I put these on ultra-low so it doesn't sound like a wind tunnel :LOL but it helps them tune out annoyance noises like the telephone ringing, doorbells, me crashing around in kitchen and so on. I know a lot of people who tsk tsk me for making them get used to sleeping in dark and quiet, but it's the only thing that worked. I wish I could have babies that fit that cliche of "I could vacuum under his crib!!" but mine just aren't wired that way! It's a lot easier to meet their needs than try to teach them to sleep through WWIII! Good luck!

[mom3]

We finally separated them around 6 months because Forrest got Ansil in a head lock after a nap . What I've finally figured out is that I have to put one down if they fall asleep before the other one instead of waiting for them to both be asleep. I can usually get the one that's still awake to go to sleep easier once they're the only one nursing. I think they just like having me all to themselves sometimes .

[angie6]

About 95% of the time I nurse my b/g twins to sleep at the same time. We usually nurse and rock in the recliner, that they now call the nanee chair! Then like mentioned above when they are tanked on milk I can half hazardly carry them over to the couch and allow them to get a decent nap if all satys quiet in the house.
Other times I leave one in the recliner and I carry them one at a time upstairs to their beds.
I too have gone to the extreme many times of taking a drive just to knock them out so that I could come home and have about 45 minutes with my 5 year old.
I have also laid on the floor and nursed them or the bed so that they are comfortable and can easily be laid down. Try covering them with a blanket while you nurse to get them nice and toasty to help them fall asleep.
Another trick I have is to take them for a walk or bike trailer ride.
Good luck!
Angie

[mom3]

They seem to be sleeping better now. I guess like all things with babies, once you think you've figured out the problem it changes. Hopefully this is their new pattern and not just a fluke. Thanks for all the suggestions!

[GoodWillHunter]

With my twins (I always seem to come in on the end of the discussion!!!) I have to sleep in between them because Natalie doesn't want Duncan touching her and vice versa. However, both of them want to be as close to me as possible, so I end up feeling like the peanut butter in between two slices of bread!!!

Lisa