3 month old twins will not take naps?

Question

We have 11 week old twins who were born 6 weeks early. They will not take a nap during the day. They just cry constantly. This burns a lot of their energy so they get hungry all the time, which in turn makes them cry all the more. My wife can't handle this all day long. The only time they sleep is at night for a 6 hour stretch and maybe a 3 hour stretch. Their temperature is fine. We have tried putting a little rice cereal in with their food. This makes them more energetic at first but then if they fall asleep they are out for several hours. But the problem with using a little cereal is they get constipated and cry because they are hurting. Does anyone have a suggestion on how we can get them to take a nap during the day? Aren't they supposed to sleep for like 18 hours a day at this point? That's what we've been told by various sources. My wife is at the end of her rope, figuratively speaking, and we'd appreciate any advice you could give. Thank you.

They are currently being both breastfed and bottlefed. She will breastfeed them both, then offer them some formula to supplement. We give them 4oz water/2 scoops of formula (which is the ratio on the directions of the formula). Depending on how much they got from breastfeeding, they will usually take from 2-4oz of formula.

It has been recently that they have stopped taking naps. We thought they might be going through a growth spurt because they were wanting food every 1-2 hours (instead of 3-4 hours which is their norm)...they'd eat their fill...then not take anymore. Stay awake and then start crying for food an hour or two after they started. Often it will take almost an hour to feed them both...even at the same time. So it is constant for her. She can't even take 10 minutes to make herself some food before they start going crazy. Maybe that's part of the problem? If she isn't getting enough nutrition, or sleep, maybe her breastmilk has a negative effect on them?

My wife wanted me to put this up as a suggestion to other moms who might need an idea. She can't really do this right now because she is so exhausted, but I plan to take the boys for most of Saturday so she can get some rest. But she wanted me to post:

Her suggestion...take them for a long walk...mall or whatever. Feed them good, put them in the carseat and go someplace to walk. Dont worry about the noise factor, but you've got to keep moving. It's harder during the cold winter, but a walk could help. Maybe even take another person with you so you can tag-team (they sure tag team us, don't they?) them if you need to sit down and take a break...your partner can walk them while you rest. Hopefully it helps someone to calm their little bundles of...joy. =)

Answer 1

Have you tried taking them a bath in the middle of the day and letting them lay side by side in the crib. It may sound silly but maybe they miss "playing with each other" By the time they get to the night time, they are utterly tired.

Also, if you can, tell your wife to try gently scratching or massaging the top of their heads when they cry. It is almost like playing in their hair. Most babies like that too.

Also, you may want to try a little WATER with them during the day. They may be a little gassy. Most of the time, cereal is a good thing, depending on how much you use. Don't use but a teaspoon to the 8 oz bottle. It isn't much but just enough to let them taste it. Try rice and bananas...

Also, the best thing I EVER saw for babies was the soft seat...that bounces and has the toys attached to it for the babies to play with...If all else fails, try putting them both on the floor with you...one on both sides under the toy gym...and you tap the toys to entertain them. The get focused on them and they like it. Eventually, they will like it so much, they will go after the toys and try to take down the toy gym...at least that's what all the little babies I know did.

A soft blanket on the floor and a toy gym was the best that was least expensive...with this, you can still put the babies side by side so they can feel each other.

Try it. Anything is worth a try at this point.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Hi it is such a conicidence, i have 3 month old twins also and am going through almost the same thing that you and your wife are. For the last past couple of weeks my twins stopped taking long naps during the day. Now they only go to sleep got maybe 20-30 min and thats it. im going crazy. i just posted a question about this earlier but no one responded, when i saw your question i thought it was wonderful that someone was going through the same thing. Since they are up all day long they want to eat every hour- 2hrs when they usually eat every 3-4hours. this is wearing me out!! i know how your wife feels. i put my son on cereal and it helps a little but my daughter doesnt like cereal and shes starting back having colic. i dont know if its the formula or what. what formula are your twins on?? I thought maybe we could exchange ideas and help each other out. At night they do sleep for 10-11 hours from 7pm -5 or 6 sometimes 7!! thats one thing i cant complain about.

Answer 3

I haven't personally experienced this before, I have one baby and he just loves to sleep but I'm sure it's very trying on your nerves with twins. But some things I've heard to do is of course run the vacuum, maybe it's the sounds during the day, or the light that makes them more fussy... Then you are feeding them breast and bottle, maybe one or the other is making them upset.. Keep an eye on them when you give them the bottle, then whey you give them the breast and see if there is any difference.. I've also noticed even with my baby that they tend to get fussier later in the evening when everything changes.. mommy and daddy coming home, the noise from supper being made - things like that.

It also sounds to me like mom is a stay at home mom?? I hope you are taking all that hard work into consideration when you have your days off.. Let mom sleep in for a couple of hours and get some rest and vice versa.. You know babies can sense how tense you are, maybe that could be the reason they are so fussy. Then you know if all else fails talk to their Dr. maybe they have colic (I pray they don't though) Hope all this helps.. Good luck!!

Remember - No baby has ever died from crying!!

Answer 4

hello dear,
please don't give your babies anything but breast milk or formula, the serial is not going to help them to sleep, it's too early for them to have it. My son has the same "not sleeping" problem since he was born, he is 4 month old now. There were days he would go without any sleep for 12 hours and more, i learned that you should feed them more often, that way they get full and may fall asleep, but nothing else will really help, it didn't help me. You also can try to give them warm bath and try to carry them around, they seam to fell better on your arms when they feel your heart beet and they calm down when they smell you. I hope in a month or so this will change. My son still is a very bad with sleep. He naps a little during the day and goes to bed at 2-3 a.m. and only stays really asleep for 2-3 hours and since i breast feed him 99%, he wakes up to eat, but not really making any bad sounds, just wakes up, talks, once he gets his food, he nurses and goes back to sleep. The only problem is he sleeps like this until 2-3 p.m. and then the same all over again. One more thing, i sleep with my son in the same bed, that helps him to stay more relaxed and he sleeps better with me than in his crib.
I hope you can find your way what works for your babies.
Good luck, try to take turns, get some rest at least few hours a night and day.
God bless...

Answer 5

my baby done this too i thought she was amazing how she could survive without sleep!! they are likely to be overtired and then they wont sleep. my three month old will need a nap every after being awake for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. she may not look that tired but once i try and settle her she does (start rubbing her eyes etc) she'll nap every moring for about an hour and 2-3 hours in the afternoon, sometimes more. then she'll sleep from 10:30 ish to 7am. but if i didnt get her to nap then she wouldn't give in and go to sleep herself. to get her to sleep i always try and wind her down first with a teddy, not talking to her, dimming the lights, giving her a cuddle and her dummy etc. once i got her to satrt napping she seems to sleep so much now its crazy. i did read the contented little baby book, i dont really follow the routines as such but i do use some of the advice in it, its a good book. good luck!! bet your shattered!!

Answer 6

some babies sleep more than others, maybe lay them down at a certain time each day to rest, they dont have to sleep but resting will help them be in a better mood. try using those soother crib toys that hang on the side and play lullibies and have soft lights on them, my 7 week old loves his. if your wife eats alot of leafy foods like salads or what not, greens, or even spicey foods she could be giving them loads of gas which will cause lots of pain to teh babies. use mylicon drops, there safe to use at each feeding and work great!!!! they get rid of gas. bouncy seats that vibrate are really nice to have also, there soothing to babies. you just have to keep trying different things until you figure out what each baby likes because although there twins they are going to have different personalities which im sure you already know. also talk with the dr to make sure the formula there given works well with them, some babies need soy cause there lactose intoloerant. hope this helped. good luck and god bless.....also as far as the cereal, it really wont help much but its not going to be harmful either cause many many moms have to use that in bottles in babies with reflux, i know cause 2 of my babies had that and i was told by a dr to add cereal to the bottles, alternating breast milk and formula shoudl keep baby from getting constipated too

Answer 7

Have you talked to your doctor about this? There is so much more to it. Have they always done this. Have you tried givivng them naps at seperate times? Is your wife nursing or are they bottlefed? Could they not be getting enough to eat? Maybe cereal is not the answer but they may need more formula. Are you mixing it according to the directions. (My daughter did this and I was mixing formula according to the way my mom told me to, then I found out the directions said to add more formula than my mom added for us when we were kids. My daughter started sleeping all night after mixing the bottle stronger.) Hope this helps.

Answer 8

Many babies like to be held when they are asleep. try rocking them to sleep, or taking a nap with the babies on your chest. My youngest grandchild slept only when held or in her moving swing for the first 4 months. You could try the swing. the rocking motion is similar to the womb when the mother is walking, and the ticking it makes is quite like a heart beat.

Answer 9

You need to go out right now!! and buy this book:
Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth.

This book will tell you how to read your babies' sleepy signals, how to prepare them for sleep, how to get them to sleep.

It not only has information for newborns but it has additional information for each stage up to 5-7 years old. Therefore, this book is an investment and you will refer to it for many years.

Please do this for your wife and yourself. You will be soooo glad you did.

Answer 10

It will get easier twins are very hard the first 6 months are the worst then it gets better. Hang in there!