I have 11 week old twins but they were born 7 weeks prem. They were on a good 4 hr routine and were feeding well. As getting up several times in the night was tiring, I decided to turn to the recommended book of Save Our Sleep. I have started them on the twin 6-8 week routine for bottle fed babies. Two days down and it is a nightmare!!! They are now hardly sleeping and are hungry all the time, but when I feed only feed a small amount! I am not sure if it is because technically they are only 4 weeks old and I should revert to a younger routine or what. Did anyone out there have success with these routines! I keep hearing people saying their babies were sleeping through the night at 9 weeks!! I just really want this for my babies but not sure how else to go about it. I would really appreciate help from experienced mums out there.

I have 11 week old twins but they were born 7 weeks prem. They were on a good 4 hr routine and were feeding well. As getting up several times in the night was tiring, I decided to turn to the recommended book of Save Our Sleep. I have started them on the twin 6-8 week routine for bottle fed babies. Two days down and it is a nightmare!!! They are now hardly sleeping and are hungry all the time, but when I feed only feed a small amount! I am not sure if it is because technically they are only 4 weeks old and I should revert to a younger routine or what. Did anyone out there have success with these routines! I keep hearing people saying their babies were sleeping through the night at 9 weeks!! I just really want this for my babies but not sure how else to go about it. I would really appreciate help from experienced mums out there.

not i, nor anyone i know had babies sleeping thru at that age....

I have not tired that book but have had friends who loved it. Personally though I think that if it's not working for you then just go back to doing what you were doing. My DD1 didn't sleep through the night until 8weeks but that was only sleeping through 1 feed so about 6 hrs solid.

Do what you feel comfortable with to create a routine that works for you. If you like some of the things in the book then maybe try a few of the ideas and use it as a guideline and not stick to every rule.

Hope that makes sense. smile

Goodluck

I have a similar problem. I have a nine month old. I made the mistake of letting him fall asleep while feeding and/or rocking him to sleep. I heard about Save our Sleep so I have been trying the 9 month old routine and even though the night time self-settling seems to be working (as he slept from about 7:30pm to 6:30am) the day-time naps are a different story. For how long are you meant to persist with the self-settling. If I put him down for his nap at 9:30am and he doesn't fall asleep by himself do I just keep going and going? If I do he will miss his morning tea at 11am and lunch at 12pm (as suggested by the routine). I don't understand.

I hated Save Our Sleep, though I know many people swear by it. 11 weeks is far too early to be trying to make them follow routines and self settle IMO. With my DD (granted only one of her!) I fed on demand (bf) right from the start. She didn't sleep through until 13 months, when I stopped bfing her and taught her to self settle slowly, without controlled crying.

I know it is very tiring, but it isn't forever. As they get bigger it won't be several times a night, it will be twice, then once, then they will start sleeping through. Good luck, I hope you find something that works for you smile

hi sorry to hear not going so well.
everybaby is different.
I am reading heaps of books.
contented baby we are on.
but every dam day is so different....
just when you think you have them worked out it changes.
I would go with lots of feeds in the day.....so your babies can sleep longer at night.
maybe just try letting them set the pace for a bit , but keep up feeds in day.. better to get babies back to happy then try to change a little bit by bit.

They are really little, I wouldn't be putting them on any strict routine at such a young age.

Hi, my twins didn't fit the SOS routines either. they simply were not able to stay awake for 2 hours waiting for their first nap then the entire day turned to an overtired nightmare. at 12 wks we went to sleep school (they were 4wks premmie so 8 wks corrected). I was told to put then to bed at the first sign of tiredness that occured about 1.5hrs since they last woke up. this helped me tell which cry was the tired one. for settling, they said try to do it them selves first, then thry everything to get them to sleep IN THE COT - patting shushing lullabying, they even recommended i use the dummies i was trying to wean them off because a twin mum simply does not have enough hands to train 2 babies to sleep (the first time i was made to not feel guilty about dummy use!!) only pick them up if they're hysterical and put them down again when they stop. not when they fall asleep on you.
if after an hour they're still awake, leave the room for a minute then go in happy and get them up as if its wake up time and praise them for trying and play, eat etc until the next tired signs and try the whole process again.
also try every feed for 45 minutes. don't give up if they stop for a break for 10 or so minutes.
the girls are 6mths old, never cry when being put to bed, sleep 4 hours a day, go to bed at 7, wake 1-2 times each during the night, then get up at 5.30-6am. they roughly fit the SOS routine now, but i honestly think not every child can be that textbook perfect.

Hi, i dont have twins but i did have a 7wk prem. I found sticking to the routine the hospital had her on the best and followed her queues. The book is all about routine, which your twins are already on one, health nurses suggested i change DD routine to 3hr feeds, and it made my life hell. The four hourly worked best, and when she did start sleeping thru it was because she was ready to do it, they are prem and need more feeds to help gain the weight.

But i will admit I have been reading the book save our sleep and getting some useful tips, when i started solids i was all over the show and not sticking to a regular feeding pattern. Now im setting times for feeding and solids and 7pm bed time all is going smoothly again.

So my suggestion, stick to a 4hr feed routine and slowly stretch the feeds to 5hrs at night, and use the routines in the book for when you start solids.

I agree with most of the posts.
just wanted to add that "sleeping through" in health professional terms means sleeping 5 hours straight at night. I had heard of heaps of babies sleeping though and I was like man 12 hours that's awesome at that age but no they were doing 5 hours straight.