Any parents of multiples with advice on sleep training 5 month old twins? I started doing this when they turned 4 months and things were going so well. We put one of the cribs in our room (they share a room) and started the heart-wrenching, yet effective, ritual of soothing to drowsy, put down in crib, let cry for 5 minutes, come back to sooth (but not pick up), and never had to go back more than 3 times. They were doing so well we decided to put them back in their room together, but now they're regressing a bit and waking each other up and we can't do the 5 minute cry-it-out when one is already asleep. I guess we could move the cribs around again, but I think they need to learn how to sleep in the same room. Any advice?
My babies are now 8 months old and are sleeping through the night (7pm to 6am) about 85% of the time. We decided to let them cry while they were in their separate cribs (same room) and just learn to deal! Somehow, my son has learned to sleep through a lot of my daughter's playing, crying, etc. My daughter only sleeps through when she's sound asleep, but thankfully he sleeps better anyway.
Now I'm dealing with my daughter standing in the crib, throwing her pacifiers over the edge, and crying forever until we come in and replace them. We're currently trying to just let her keep crying so she learns that we won't come when the pacifiers go overboard, and somehow my son is sleeping through this craziness, but she is REALLY stubborn and we're not over the hump yet - any advice?
btw, we only give her a pacifier for sleep times, she has never gotten it during wake times.
They are to young to let them cry it out. You don't do that until 1 year.
While it sounds cruel I know, we have had great luck with the cry it out method. We used Weisbluth's book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" on our twin girls starting at about 4 months. Now at 7 months they both sleep in the same room(separate cribs), sleep for 12 hours a night uninterrupted, and if ones cries the other doesn't even budge. Unfortunatley for the parents (you), it often means that you have to suffer through a few nights of horrendous crying for the method to work. But in my experience, it only took 3 nights for the method to work, and they woke up so happy in the morning that any of my fears were alleviated. Now when they cry a little in the middle of the night, they are able to self soothe and are back to sleep in seconds (it's amazaing!).
Good luck to you on whatever method you decide to do (being a mom of twins can be tricky!!!)
After months of noone getting any sleep and using the cry it out method we separated our twin girls. It was hard for us to do but they must have been happy because ever since we have had no issues. They both sleep all night long and if one cries out the other gets to sleep.
Good luck.
Some kids are not meant to sleep together. Do yourself a favor and do what you need to do for everyones well being.
I have 1 year old twins that have slept through the night since 5 months and they were born 9 weeks early. I read a book called 12 hours sleep by 12 weeks, and it worked. Good luck!!!
don't let them cry it out. a baby's cry is exactly as desperate as it sounds, and 5 minutes is an eternity for a baby. if it is heart-wrenching for you, imagine the pain for your child. they are only babies for a short time. listen to your heart, not the "specialists", books, or professionals.
we have 3 1/2 year old twin sons and struggled as well, especially since one was a great sleeper and the other was, shall we say, high maintenance. We ended up keeping them separated until they were about 2 1/2 years old. Folks kept offering unsolicited advice that it was "important" that they learn to sleep in the same room, but we ultimately decided that they (and we) needed sleep, wherever it happened. Once they moved out of their cribs and into toddler beds, we used that as an opportunity to tell them that big boys in big boy beds could share rooms and not wake each other up. Overall, it seems to have worked well. By separating them at the beginning, we were better equipped to deal with the tougher issues presented by our insomniac without it affecting the sleeper. Now, our insomniac is a much better sleeper, although he's still the one who will wake up if anyone does. It's just that he now understands that he needs to come and get me rather than making noise and waking his brother.
