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nightweaning twins and switching to separate cribs

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  imbegliniel 
#1 ·
I'm trying to wrap my head around nightweaning my 12 month old twins. They currently sleep in the same crib, side-cared up against our bed. We also have a pack'n'play next to the crib closer to the foot of the bed for times when they used to nap separately, so that's an option if we need it. But I hate to put one in the crib all cozy next to us and one in the pack'n'play down near the cold floor at the foot of the bed - it just doesn't seem fair. We're in the process of finishing building my older DD's new room, at which point we'll be able to set up two cribs and a bed for ourselves in DD's old room, but that will probably be a few weeks until we get to it. I'd like to try night weaning asap, because I have developed serious insomnia issues from the sleep deprivation (ironic I know), and something has to give. I have high hopes that we can do it with a minimum of tears since the girls don't nurse to sleep (they do take a paci though). Actually, I'm super pissed that despite all my hard work helping them learn to go to sleep on their own without CIO that they are still not sleeping through the night. They wake up every 2 hours like clockwork, and really seem like they're hungry - not just nursing to be able to get back to sleep. I know they "SHOULD" be able to go all night without nursing by this point, but they also "SHOULD" be magically sleeping through the night since they don't nurse to sleep. Ha Ha.

So DH is willing to sleep next to them and try to settle them himself in the middle of the night, but I seriously doubt he'll be able to settle two babies at once, and they'll definitely be waking each other up if we don't separate them. But then I feel bad about separating them from each other and also taking away the comfort of the breast in the middle of the night... Should we wait to night wean at all until we've transitioned them into cribs in their new room and given them time to get accustomed to it, or would it be better to try right now as-is?

Suggestions? Experiences?
 
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#2 ·
That sounds hard! My twins are still in utero, but I have nursed three singletons-not sure how much I can help! My #3 seemed to have the same issues you describe-very hungry. I'm not sure what happened, but my supply went way down around 15 mos postpartum, right around the time my cycle returned, and she was up all night trying to fill her belly. I started giving her a 4oz bottle of milk, and it made a huge difference. Of course that then took some time to wean her off of, but to me, it was worth the extra sleep we all got. All of mine would also be extra nurse-y while cutting teeth. I probably relied on ibuprofen way too much, but that also helped when that was the problem. Good luck!
 
#4 ·
I was just going to post a question about nightweaning twins, and I saw this! I'm in a similar boat, in that my twin girls are 13 months old, and I'd really like to get some more sleep and change our rooming situation. They are in separate cribs in our room, but we plan to transition them to their brother's (almost 3) room soon. I want to night wean them before we switch them into his room so they don't cause a row at night with waking to nurse. They currently wake up a couple times a night each, usually around midnight and again around 3-4 a.m. Every once in a while one sleeps through the midnight nursing and sometimes makes it to 5 a.m., but they sometimes wake up more often (especially if they're teething). They are definitely way more sensitive to our movements and presence now than a few months ago, so I think once they are out of our room, they may naturally not wake up as much.

Anyway, my current plan is that my husband and I will move into our guest room for a little while, and hopefully the girls will naturally sleep longer or settle themselves if they just partially wake up. I'll still go in to nurse them if they really wake up and cry. I'm concerned that going cold-turkey would mean serious engorgement for me. I definitely get full between their bedtime (around 7 p.m.) and midnight. They don't nurse to sleep for bedtime or naps, so I don't have to deal with that. But I'm just not sure how to go about weaning them from those night wake-ups--during which they're serious about nursing and get quite a bit of milk.

Any advice from those who have weathered this before? Also, when did you move your twins into a room with older sibling(s)? How did it work out?
 
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