Expert: Elayne Glantzberg - 4/23/2007

Question
Hi Elayne, I am writing in complete desperation after yet another night of no sleep! Our identical little ladies are due to turn one later this month and have at times been average sleepers (stretching 3 - 4 hours) yet after recent colds, they are again, nonsleepers! That is, unless they are attached to my breasts! I am very committed to continuing to breastfeed until the age of two - if they want to - as I did my other two children. The girls are very picky eaters and seem to eat like birds - just grazing all day on a little bit of that and a bite or two of this. I successfully got each of my other two children to sleep better at night with  a little comfort crying and a  lot of my husbands patting - he is hugely supportive and patient!. My dilemma is not knowing how to do this with two babies who share the same room (not cots)- just off ours. We find that at night, they already wake each other. Do you have any suggestions on how we can all get a little more sleep? P.S. Only one of the girls will take a dummy - tried that.

Answer
You may want to try separating them, at least until you get them sleeping better again.  Put their cots in separate rooms so they can't hear each other and wake each other up.  It's a temporary separation, so you don't need to set up a whole bedroom; just use any other available space.  Other than that, you may just need a little patience for them to get back into the schedule they had before they were sick.  Especially as long as they are eating little solid food, it will be difficult for them to sleep too long.  They're at an age where they're starting to move around more, getting ready to walk, and they need more energy, which they'll either get from you or from food.  You might also try offering them a bedtime snack of something you know they will eat well.  That will help fill their tummies a little longer at night.