17 Month Old Twins: Client Case Study

Fraternal twins Eve* and George* were great fun at 17 months old and Mum Tracy* and Dad David* were loving the toddler stage with all the adventure that these two got up too.

Unfortunately though, after almost a year and a half these two had still never slept through the night and Tracy and David were completely exhausted.

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When they reached out to me for help, both toddlers were waking at least once, if not 2 or 3 times a night, and this was taking its toll on the family’s well-being.

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Tracy and David were ready for change.

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I assessed their situation and saw that Mum and Dad were doing really well implementing a range of sleep associations and positive habits, including using sleepsacks, keeping the twins in cots, using dummies to help settling, offering a great variety of food, and limiting their naps to one a day.

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There were also areas I could see that could be adjusted to help Eve and George reduce those overnight wake ups. I made recommendations to change the timing of their lunch meal and nap to promote night consolidation, as what they were currently doing was creating too long of an awake window at the end of the day and was pushing the twins beyond what their bodies could comfortably handle.

Longer awake times than is appropriate for a child’s age increases their cortisol and adrenaline beyond normal levels, making it difficult for them to reach and maintain deep sleep (hello, overtired night wakes!).

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Eve and George could settle to sleep on their own, but they were doing this with a bottle of milk at their nap, bedtime, and any overnight wakes.

The bottles had become a strong sleep association that was now limiting the twins’ interest in solid food and encouraging more night wakes as they looked for their bottle each time they stirred through the night.  Mum and Dad agreed it was time to shift away from bottles at sleep time to help everyone in the house sleep well again.

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Providing Tracy and David with detailed explanations on how to actually make these changes was vital to helping them feel empowered and not overwhelmed by this big change in their routine.

We started with a gentle approach over the space of a week to slowly wind back the bottle-at-sleep-time association that the twins had. Doing this made sure they were never going hungry while they transitioned to more calories from solid foods in the daytime.

Milk was switched to a sippy cup and our goal was to work towards offering milk just once a day, before bedtime but not in their cots to separate it from sleep.

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After just one week of Mum and Dad supporting George and Eve through these changes, both twins were consistently sleeping 12 uninterrupted hours at night for the first time in 18 months, and both taking a 2 hour nap at the same time in the afternoon.

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A year and a half after the birth of their twins, Tracy and David were finally feeling well-rested.

Looking for personalised plan that will actually make a difference to the sleep in your home?

Book a consultation with me.

💜 Laura Peacey

Infant and Child Sleep Consultant

- Servicing clients online and in the wider Palmerston North area, New Zealand.

Email: hello@peaceysleep.co.nz