9-Month Old Wakes up Too Early/down to 2 Naps/day?

My daughter did something similar around the same age. I knew she needed more sleep so I tried to coax her into sleeping longer by putting a cd clock radio in her room. I programmed it so it would play soothing "wake up" music at 7am and decided I would not go and get her out of bed until the music started to play.

If her crying was bad - I'd go and "shoosh-shoosh" her but would not pick her up until 7am. After about 1 week, she saw that she wasn't getting up until the music went off anyway and learned to go back to sleep until the alarm went off. Eventually, we didn't need the alarm clock anymore - she would sleep past the alarm time and wake up in great spirits!

I have a 22month old boy that did that when he was younger but he would grow out of it then do it agian the doctor said that some kids do it so we just let him grow out of it and he sleeps thou the night now his in bed by 8 and up around 7-8am

I think you little one is waking up to eat. Maybe you should feed her at 8:00 every morning regardless of the time she wakes up. Or maybe give her pedia lite in a sippy cup in her crib if she wakes up at 6:15. IMHO you can train stomache to wake her up at 8:00 and still get as many calories in her as possible.

good luck,

Debra

Happy Sleep Habits Habit Child by Dr Weisbluth saved our lives! We were having a really difficult time with our first born, wouldn't sleep in his crib, in a car, in a swing nowhere but in our arms, woke up repeatedly at night finally started to sleep and woke up way too early, we read this book and it literally saved our sanity.
He was over tired. The more kids sleep the MORE kids sleep. He wound up going to bed for the evening at 5360p sometimes and sleep like an angel until 7am. Even when he woke up from an afternoon nap at 3p! It's remarkable.
Eventually around 9-12 months they consolidate their naps to one which occurs around noon and they might nap a little longer but one of the most important things to remember is to "respect your childs need for sleep" and really take their cues of being sleepy and put them down for a nap. Questions to ask yourself if she is not sleeping as well as the other twin. How much productive sleep (undisturbed) napping is she doing during the day? Nappying in cars or strollers doesn't count, it's kind of like when you doze up sitting on an airplane, it's not restful or productive.
If they are getting enough rest during the day they sleep soundly at night and wake up at a normal hour in the morning consistantly, day after day unless they are sick. We proved the book's theory perfectly. What a blessing this book was for us!
Good luck

How fun! Reading this makes me so ready for my third one to be here! At least 10 more weeks! Anyway--I don't think 6:15 is all that early--especially if they are going to be at 7 or 7:70 the night before. Try an 8 pm bedtime and see if the little one will sleep in a little longer! Good LUck!

Not all children will sleep "by the book". Even Weisbluth indicates that in his research. Some children need more sleep and others need less. You could try feeding her a little more before bedtime or using blackout curtains to keep the room darker. You could also try putting a small basket of quiet toys in her crib before you go to bed. She might entertain herself for a bit in the morning - though this might not work until she is a few months older. (and rotate the toys to keep it interesting)

Hang in there! It's hard having little ones. Be sure and go to bed a little earlier yourself if you need to. I'm often not "mentally" ready for bed, but if I lay down with a book I find myself quickly asleep.

Two things I would try that have helped both my children sleep through the night longer. 1.) Get an extra feeding in before bed. Both my children would get hungrier in the evening and take their bottles closer together (about two hours apart insead of three hours). My 2-year-old daughter has a bedtime snack of banana, yogurt, applesauce, toast, etc. My five-month-old drinks 6 oz bottles usually 3-4 hours apart, but about four hours before bed takes a normal 6 oz bottle and then another two hours later and then another at bedtime. He actually cries if it is later than two hours inbetween bottles in the evening. He sleeps about 10 hours now at night and many long naps during the day. That is a full extra bottle. Both my children has been sleeping through the night since 10 weeks old. This extra food helps sustain them though the night. Ask your pediatrician, but mine recommended adding rice cereal to my daughters bedtime bottle because of her acid reflux, but also helped add calories. It's worth asking your doc about (and then you can get the proper amount of cereal for the amount of ounces she drinks. 2.) My children always woked up when they were cold. Has the room temperature or outside temp varied from when she started waking up. She would be a little colder since she doesn't have as much weight as her twin sister. Or could she be too warm?

Just some thoughts about what helped with my kids. Hope you find something that works. If not, maybe she just doesn't need as much sleep. My two-year-old never needed much sleep. She always slept 10 hours or so at night, but fought going to sleep at night was down to one nap a day by 10-months-old. Her choice, not mine. But she just wouldn't sleep. Now at 26-months-old, we can't let her sleep more than 1 hour or she will never go to bed at night. Some days she skips her nap altogether (again, her choice, not mine). I really need the break of her napping during the day, but if I let her sleep more than an hour, it is a nightmare getting her to bed at night. Good luck.

I have twins that just turned one year old. They have a bedtime of 8:00 pm and my little girl consistently sleeps until 6:30 am or 7:00 am, but my little boy consistently wakes up between 5:30 am and 6:00 am and he's really hungry. We tried letting him CIO, putting him to bed later, etc., but nothing has worked. When I realized that he really is hungry, I decided not to do that anymore - I think it's mean to leave him crying and hungry because I want more sleep. I agree with some of the other responses - babies, like us, have their own sleep cycles and needs. My little boy is obviously hungrier earlier than my little girl, and I've come to the conclusion that I just have to be OK with a half hour to an hour less of sleep than I would like! They go down for their first nap at 8:45 or 9:00, then another at 2:00, both lasting about 1.5 hours, and he is cranky for about half an hour before that first nap. I just try to keep him busy and entertained. Good luck - I know how hard it is to have twins and to try to get them on the same schedule.

Dear K.,

Could be they are hungry, try feeding them before bed time and again in the wee hours of morn. They could also be teething. Check for swollen gums. Your schedule is not an easy one, but just take one day at a time. Also talk to your pediatrician or hospital help line and see if they might have some advice for you.

P. Sims

sounds like she's hungry--I'd go by her weight and not age--probably, hopefully, a growth spurt. She'll go back to sleeping I am sure like she did before after 3 or 4 weeks or she'll be old enough to leave a drink with her and go back to bed. Sorry, hon, we are just all hurtin for the shuteye. You are doing so awesome! But she is sooo little--my son, is 10 weeks and weighs the same and he eats every 3 hours. Know the schedule keeps you sane but sometimes they all need different things right? I Don't think it will last. Can daddy do it?? :) Good luck! You sound so organized! Keep it up!

It's been a while, since my children are 12 and 9, but I remember how different the 2 were. Both slept through the night at an early age (God knew what I could/couldn't handle and blessed me in that area). Autumn, my first, took a good morning nap and a good afternoon nap until almost a year old. However, Austin, out grew his morning nap very young - probably 7 months. He was cranky and usually fell asleep during his lunch. He's still not a heavy sleeper. He's the one who consoles himself in the night by turning on a CD or the radio and gets up early some mornings and reads a book. I hate to say it, but you may not get her out of the short naps. She may just be a person that doesn't need as much sleep. Hang in there - it passes quickly. J. H

Hi there! I also have twins...boys who will be 11 months on Saturday. You seem to be going through the same thing we went through. My bigger twin sleeps so well. The smaller one...well that's a different story! He started waking up earlier and I would just put him in bed with us until it was time to wake up. I know...not good, but when you need sleep you need sleep! He eventually got the message that even though he was ready to get up it wasn't time. He started sleeping later. Now he wakes up between 7 and 7:30. Sometimes I can hear him on the monitor around 6, but I don't go into his room. He doesn't cry but just makes some noises and will get himself back to sleep. I should also probably tell you that we decided to separate them into different rooms because of this sleeping issue. This whole sleep thing has taken A LOT of work. Now, the naps. I think it was around 9 months when they decided they only wanted 2 naps a day. They would always take a good afternoon nap and either a mid morning nap or an early evening nap. This all depended on what time they would wake up in the morning or from their afternoon nap. If they woke up around 7 they would take a morning nap but not an early evening nap. If they woke up around 7:30-7:45 they would not take a morning nap but would take an early evening nap. Of course you know that the morning wake up time sets the tone for the rest of the day. If they woke up early, took a mid morning nap, the afternoon nap was pushed back later leaving no time for an early evening nap. If they woke up later, no mid morning nap, earlier afternoon nap, leaving time for an early evening nap. Sounds confusing???? I confuse myself! :) I have learned to just kind of go with the flow. It's so crazy to think that you do the same things for both of them yet they are so very different! I hope that you find comfort from this email... that you are not the only one who has gone through this crazy sleep thing with twins.

Like PP have said-Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child was my "bible" for sleep training-still is.

It's an excellent resource no mom should be w/out. :)

I think you should just keep doing what you are doing. She'll get out of it again. Babies seems to have a new "schedule" every few weeks anyway. This too shall pass.
Just love every second of every day with them because, as you well know, they grow up way too fast. I have an 8 yr old girl, 6 yr old boy and 6 month old girl. Boy, do I cherish even the changes in what used to be her perfect schedule. I just try to get myself to bed early during those times because I don't want to get frustrated with her by my lack of sleep. But that's just my take on it today. I hope this helps ease the worry.

First of all, I am chuckling a little because I think your children are getting A LOT of sleep. They begin to require a little less sleep as they get older, so perhaps you have just hit that milestone. I also think that 6:15 isn't that early, but if you are wanting them to sleep longer at night then cut the last nap of the day shorter. Just remember, we are ALL different and that we all have an internal time clock. Hers just may be set a little differntly than yours. Hang in there! Seriously, if she is sleeping that long I would count my blessings.

I am a mother of 2 yr. old twins (boy & girl), our first & only children. My husband & I had the problem of BOTH kids waking up at 5:30 am & whaling! We ended up giving them a bottle until they reached a year old. This was the only bottle they had in their beds. Ours were preemies & we just got use to feeding them every 3 hrs. & didn't stop! They got huge. Wish I'd been a mother first before these 2 b/c I would have probably done things differently (weined night time bottles sooner).

Like you, we couldn't have one child waking up the other child! We moved one kids bed into the guest bedroom to help with the whaling. Are your twins in the same room? They seemed to sleep better separately.

Back to the little twin...........I say, "Feed her" & she will probably sleep longer. Since she did this 2 mos. ago, she's probably just in a growth spirt. Make sure she's very full on cereal (or something that will stick to her ribs) prior to bed also.

I understand the morning wake time. The sleep deprivation with twins is like nothing I've ever experienced before. YOU ALL NEED YOUR SLEEP!

AS far as naps & not being able to stay up 4 hrs. from 3pm - 7pm, give the last nap at 5 or so. You may need to move bedtime out some. With us, my husband didn't get home until 6 or so & he wanted my kids to have a later bed time, 8-9ish. I don't know your situation but maybe a later nap & later bedtime would be better if they are more tolerable??

You know 5-7pm is "bewitching hour" for all kids. I found it was the worst time of the day. As a family, we started going outside during this time (almost religiously, everyday). One so we could all get some fresh air. The walls started caving in at 5pm! Also, this gives the kids that last bit of sunlight to take in & when it becomes night, they sleep better.

Last, we covered our son's window in his room with stuff to make his room darker. He's still the first one up in the house, 6:30. Now at 2, we just leave him in there until we get up around 7:15. He sweetly sings, plays & doesn't mind just being awake.

Best of luck. You're not in this alone. It seemed like 9 mos. & then 15 mos. old things changed & got better.

J.

I am the 53 year old grandma to five little grandsons and one little granddaughter. I was reading about your little one waking up so early and I think the answer might be that maybe she isn't getting full enough before she falls asleep. I think if her little tummy was full enough to start with she would sleep a little longer. I know that some babies like to eat very slowly and therefore they are getting a fuller feeling, but in fact are not getting enough to eat to sustain the hunger long enough for them to get a good sleep. Just a thought maybe a little cereal would be more filling. I hope that this helps, but don't worry if it doesn't, babies are really good at getting us to do what they need and in spite of all our inadequacies thrive when they are loved.

You are not reinforcing your baby's wake up times. You are just responding to your baby's needs. Unfortunately, once you get a schedule down, it changes! Your baby may be going through a growth spurt and may just be hungry, especially since she is smaller. Make sure your baby's tummy is full at night. Also, smaller baby's usually eat more frequently and she may be catching up(I had two premies). Forget what all the experts tell you. Act on your natural instinct and respond to your baby. I don't recommend letting your baby CIO for long periods of time, especially if she is upstairs and you are downstairs (you don't want to hear some of the horror stories I have read). She is crying for a reason (wet diaper, bad dream, hungry, afraid, not feeling well, etc). And certainly it will not do anyone else any good to wake up the whole house. If your baby wakes you up too early, consider taking a nap once in a while the same time your baby does. It is the greatest gift you can give yourself and family is to have a happy and healthy mommy (4 year old can have some quiet time or play with at a neighbor's house). Be grateful that your little blessings sleep 11 hours straight (mine never did). Also, consider going to bed earlier so you will have a smile on your face the next day! There are always things to do, but it can wait. Your happiness and health are first.

Maybe she is having a growth spurt and just needs that extra feeding for a while, she might start sleeping again once she does a little "catching up." It is not easy on you, but may help her out. I know it is hard not getting your sleep, but it seems like my kids would do that for a couple of weeks then let it go again, and I could "catch up," with my sleep! Hope it works out!

I highly recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD, who runs a sleep lab as a research MD in California. He gives suggested sleeping schedules for children ages birth through 12 years (ie broken down by age, such as from 0-1 month they need to be up for 2 hours then down for a nap, etc., all the way up to age 12), explains how to recognize the earliest signs of sleepiness to place your child down before they get cranky, and describes how to create a peaceful sleep environment to help your child put him/herself to sleep. I introduced this to my oldest 2 children when they were 9 months and 29 months old, and saw their sleeping schedules/ ability to fall asleep restfully improve dramatically. I started my 3rd child with these ideas from day 1 and she was sleeping through the night at 7 days. As a breastfed baby...no kidding. I don't know if everyone has these experiences but I recommend this reading to all families with small children.

K.,
You can not make everyone fit your schedule. I only wish that were possible! Your twins are two different people and they will have their different needs. You need to focus more on the health and feeding than on getting them on the same schedule. If she wakes up that means she is not speepy anymore and probably hungry. At that size she for sure does not eat as much as her sister and therefore gets hungry sooner. She may never need as much sleep as her sister or she may take longer naps and sleep less at night. She has her own internal clock. Try taking a nap with them so you will feel rested. Good luck!!

You are so lucky! I have many points to touch on so bear with me. When my daughter was 6 months old, she only weighed 14 lbs, and and weighed that at her 9 month dr. appointment as well. So don't stress; as long as your baby is eating healthy she will be fine. My daughter only weighed 20 lbs at 12 months, 22 lbs. at 2 years, 24 lbs at 3 years, etc. She is now 15 years old and weighes about 105. She's on the 10 percential for height and weight, but has been all her life. She's very athletic and smart. She's fine. (and did I mention, fabulous?)

She slept 12 hours at night, like yours are doing, but we put her to bed later because of my husbands schedule. (he's a police officer and wouldn't otherwise be able to see her) I would give her a 4 oz. bottle before bed (with cereal through a cross cut nipple) about 10:00 p.m., and she would sleep 12 hours! She slept like this from the time she was 6 weeks old until now. (She loves her sleep). However, she would NOT take a nap! OMG!! She wore me out, because she was also walking at nine months, and I was exhausted. And, as soon as I would get used to a schedule with her, she would change. My doctor explained this is normal because they are growing (physically & mentally) so fast, thier interior clock is changing to meet thier needs. I felt lucky that I was a SAHM so that I had the flexibility to do this with her, and make her life more comfortable. (But I only had one as opposed to your three).

Try the cereal in the milk at night for the little one (this might help her gain weight as well), and try to wait until 8:00 to put them down. Then in the morning, feed them, get them ready for thier day, take a walk or do something to keep them occupied until lunch time. Then let them take a nap after lunch, which might allow you quality time for your older one. They might even sleep about 3 hours rather than the two. Then you will be ready for dinner and night time activities. Hopefully you can delay them on thier bath and bottle time until around 7:00. Remember it also takes about 3 days to get into a new routine.

Good luck and let me know what happens. As you know, every child is different and there is no hard and fast rule for anything. This is where I felt lucky that I was at home and could adjust to the comforts of my own child. Please let me know how it goes.

lj

I feel for you...I HATE MORNINGS that come before 8! (Sadly, all of my mornings start before that)

A couple of things to try. As was mentioned before, try to get them (or just the one)down at night a little later. My son was very young when he went down to two naps during the day, one around eleven and the other around two-thirty so that is not unusual. I did not let him take that cat nap around five since he went to bed at 8-8:30 and that messed up his sleep schedule.

Someone mentioned that their kids were really hungry...since she is the bigger twin, she likely is hungrier than the littler one, try giving her some extra cereal or extra formula before bed.

Also find out what it is that is waking her up. Is there a window near her? With my two girls, I would have to "trick" them into sleeping later. I put a very dark curtain on their windows(even a light-blocking shade from JC Penney works great). That usually bought me about an hour in the mornings! In the meantime, you have twins for crying out loud! Afford yourself a cat nap when they go down...the dishes and laundry can wait a little while! If your four-year old isn't able to stay by herself, maybe find a Mothers-day-out program to put her in during morning hours so you can get some rest. Good luck!

Consider yourself lucky that they still at least sleep thru the night... I am also a mother of a 4 1/2 yr old lil girl and 10 mo old twin boys...Around Christmas time they started waking all thru the night (after having been sleeping thru since about 4.5 mos old) Currently they are still waking periodically, but I will admit it seems to be getting a lil better. Like you, I don't want to let one cry it out while the other two are sleeping nearby, so I have reluctantly been giving them their bottles each time since that seems to be the only thing that will calm them. Of course they only take a few sips and then pass back out, but it's the getting up part that has gotten me to a point of exhaustion. They take 2 to 3 naps during the day and then don't go down til around 8:30 sometimes 9...wake up atleast twice during the night and then get up around 6 or 7 on a good day...My husband did some research and apparently it's common for babies to start doing this between 8 and 10 mos old due to them developing their motor skills and wanting to practice them all the time (even in their sleep)so hopefully your daughter(and my sons) will get back on track soon so we can all get some z's :)

Try adding ceral to the night bottle, also have you tried evening baths with warm water and use the lavendar scented lotion and body wash by Johnson and Johnson. Also try cutting the 2nd nap shorter and see if he/she will sleep longer. I had a baby that didn't hit 20lbs until just recently when she turned 2, Don't worry it will work out.
B. S

I say consider yourself blessed that you have babies that sleep through the night!

But as far as her waking, I would say there is a reason. And that reason could be that she needs to feed. You said she is smaller so perhaps her body is telling her that she needs to feed. I would accommodate. Expect her to wake, have everything ready and then put her back to bed and you can get a few more minutes of shut eye.

Schedules are great, but kids can't ALWAYS go by what you want. If you need, push their bed time back a 1/2 hour or so and try putting them down for a evening nap.

I didn't have twins, but I had back to back kids 6 years straight, and always had a newborn and a not quite one year old at the same time. Believe me when I tell you I know what it's like to want to sleep! But sometimes you have to go with your baby's schedule and not yours.

Best of Luck!

If she's still that tiny, then she really should be eating during the nite, as well. She probably is also going through a growth spurt, so it is not "bad" that you're feeding her - I would not at all recommend letting her CIO - she's waking up because she's hungry, so feeding her is the right thing to do. If you really want her to sleep later, can you not put her to bed a little later and make to feed her a bit extra before she goes to bed? If I'm interpreting your note correctly, you're wanting her to sleep almost 12 hours straight? Again, I think that's too much to expect for such a tiny little girl (my second son was 13 pounds at 1 month!). Also, if the issue is just about you getting more sleep, can you not get your husband to handle those early morning hours and perhaps an hour longer yourself? Also, you could go to bed a bit earlier, so that your sleep is not so impacted.

Hi K.,

I am a mother of twin boys who just turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. I would also recommend the book by Dr. Weisbluth - Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I lived and breathed this book throughout my boys first 18 months, and still keep it at my bedside for reference. During the hard times, I read it by lamp in the middle of the night, just to give myself courage to follow through with the difficult decisions you have to make while sleep trianing your children. I had a similar situation when my boys were around 9 mos old. One of them was sleeping soundly from 7p - 7a. The other was waking too early (5-6 am) for an early morning feed. I let it go for a while because the early riser was my less needy one during the day. I felt like this was his only true "mommy and me" time because his brother was more demanding in general. Dr. Weisbluth's book assured me that my 9 month old did not "need" to eat at this time. He wanted his time with me and and we were both just emotionally attached to this early togetherness. I have two older children and we all needed our sleep. I decided to let him cry and it only took a couple of days before his consistent wakeup time became 7 am. Our schedule was this: Wake at 7, nap from 9 - 11 and then again from 1 - 3. I had to provide lots of stimulation and hopefully outdoor play in the afternoons so that they could make it to bedtime, and sometimes they would be so exhausted they had to go down as early as 6 or 6:30 pm. To this day, both of my boys sleep from 7 or 7:30 PM until 7 am the next day. It's wonderful. There are certainly times when we have to deviate from our schedule, and I believe that my boys tolerate these deviations as well as they do because they are generally well rested children. I know full well what a wonderful handful it is to raise twins. I'd love to chat with you to give you any advice I can.

W.

I empathize, but based on their age, my daught-in-law would love to have your kids sleeping times. My grandson is almost 20 months old. He is just now sleeping through the night and usually gets up around 6:30am. His patterns were horrible, actually there were no patterns. The doctor said that it is perfectly normal for some children/babies to have varied sleeping patterns; some are just light sleepers. There are too many factors for sleep problems to name here but while reading the book "What to expect the toddler years" by Eisenberg, Murkoff & Hathaway there are a few tips: starting each day and each night the same; sleepy time mood: room darkening, story or two, tranquil music, sing, put pillows on floor & snuggle & whisper; to releave separation anxiety put something of yours in the crib like a t-shirt and pushing in a stroller before naptime is OK. You can also get the book "What to Expect the Baby Years". My daughter-in-law and no I have learned so much about our little ones. Another good book for the older ones is "Recipies from Parenting". It's an easy one-page answer for your questions guide. Outstanding! You can only get it through the author/educator's website: www.sandymcdaniel.com.
She came to our schools to speak when we lived in CA. I wish I had had her ideas when my kids were growing up.
Good luck

Sounds like you have a houseful! How fun. I'm thinking maybe your little twin is going through a growth spurt? You mentioned that she did this about two months ago and then broke the habit? Did you help her break the habit, or did it happen on its own? She might be waking because she is hungry. After you feed her, are you putting her back down? You might try putting her to bed a little earlier? That might help her to sleep a little longer.
Good luck!

K., maybe she's having a growth spurt and is hungry when she wakes up early. Might try giving her a bottle before you go to bed and see if it holds her over until the normal waking time.

Mine all went through a transition at that age with their sleeping and eating. It is most likely a stage and she will get through it.

Mine were close to that size too--not huge babies. I know my oldest was around 19-20 Lb at age 12months. He was so busy he burned off everything he ate. LOL And he ate a lot! At this age I was buying him 3 jars of food per meal per day and usually only had 2-3 jars left over by the end of the week!

Oh, and he woke at 6 am every day no matter what, but his sister (they are 1 yr apart) woke up at 8 or 9 and it varied every single day. It took me a year to get them close to being on the same schedule.

So if yours are even sleeping through the night and close to being on a same schedule you are way ahead. I would say just go with it and soon you will find everyone adjusting. They just go through eating/sleeping adjustments as they enter new stages--crawling, sitting up, walking, running, etc. ;-)

ok, the 2 things are related. if you put them down later they sleep later! i have twins that are 3 and a half and i have had to adjust their sleep schedule a million times! it's little steps. keeping them up by playing with them and keeping them busy even just 15 min later means they will wake up 15 min later. do it more and more each day.

now as far as waking up earlier, she might just be in between growth spurts. i would give it a week.