reassure them, and possibly check for a wet or soiled diaper. You will
function as a guide, teaching them how to self-comfort. Go in to them
only long enough to cause them to stop crying but not long enough for
them to fall asleep. Your goal is to put them down awake, allowing them
to fall asleep on their own—without a transition process, such as rocking
or patting. This can be more challenging than it sounds, due to the sheer
physical effort of caring for multiples.
You need to start and finish each eat/wake/sleep cycle in a fairly
structured fashion. It takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to pick up
three babies, diaper them, and put them in their cribs for a nap. One
common pitfall for parents is to allow their babies to fall asleep in their
waketime activity chairs or swings. Parents get busy doing a household
chore, answering the phone, or trying to solve one baby’s problem, only
to find the others have fallen asleep sitting up. While it’s true they’ve
fallen asleep by themselves, they didn’t do this in the right place—their
own cribs. If this happens often, they may develop difficulty self-
comforting as they lie in their cribs. There will always be unexpected
events to contend with, but try to plan ahead by putting your babies down
awake in their cribs when you are not distracted. That way, when they do
fall asleep sitting up, it will be a rare event and not a habit.
Regarding sleep, the number one multiple question I field is this:
“The babies are four months old adjusted age. They are feeding every
four hours but not sleeping through the night. Why?” I have to console
these moms back to a rigorous three-hour feeding schedule during the day
and encourage them to push sleep at night. This usually results in a
“miraculous” call three days later to report that one or all the babies are
now sleeping eight hours at night.
Here is the first rule governing nighttime sleep. Do not be tempted to
lengthen the time between daytime feeding until your babies are sleeping
at least nine to ten hours at night. They need the every-three-hour feeding
during the day to distinguish night from day but also to make sure all
their nutritional needs are being met. A basic three-hour routine will
accomplish both.
As they continue to mature, a brand-new problem arises: Between six
nora
(Nora)
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