Bedtime suggestions when doing it alone

We have a 2 and a half year old plus 2 month old twin girls. In two weeks Dh will be traveling for work for a week. How do I handle bed time? Presently we walk or rock one to sleep every night and the other is hit or miss.Some nights she can go right to sleep on her own. On nights when she won't go to sleep on her own, how do I do it? Should I work toward getting the lower needs baby to sleep first leaving the other one to cry? Any suggestions on managing that time of day with Aidan and the girls going to bed? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
How early did you all let them CIO?
TIA
Andie

 

Can you put them in their swings to be rocked to sleep? We did CIO between 6 and 9 months of age with all of my boys(girls slept through on their own). My husband is going away on Friday for a week also. :wacko:

 

We did CIO from about the second mo (well not totally, as I am a new Mom and wanted them happy all the time) they can be put down, awake, and they self-sooth every night to sleep. Amazing that they can sleep through the others cries (with a few bumps now and again). I always put whoever looks the most tired down first or at the first sign of fatigue after they have had their dinner/bottles (ie. a yawn or rub of the eyes). My DH works late every night so it's all Me, every night, except for Sunday. You just do what you can do! The other will have no choice but to learn that there is only ONE Mommy and besides, it's good for a baby to cry now and again. I have never heard of a baby dying from crying... I use the Boppy's now on the floor side by side so I can give them their bottles at the same time and do the book as I can't hold them at the same time yet. Maybe your older one could be a helper for the week and get a special something for helping Mommy when DH is away? You will survive!

 

I also agree with using the swings to get them to sleep and moving them. I haven't had much luck with CIO at 2 months old, worked better after 4 months for us. :hug99: Hope DH's travel time doesn't seem too long. :hug99:

 

What if they cry in the swing?

 

My DH was gone a lot the first few months, and I still put them to bed by myself occasionally (like tonight!). When they were that young, the swings helped keep one entertained while I sponged and fed the other one and put her to bed. Some nights, the one I wasn't with cried the whole time, but mostly I got lucky. I always did the "easier" one first. You just have to tell yourself that the one who is crying will only have to cry for 20-30 minutes. It helps to move that one into another room - swing, bouncie, pnp, whatever you think will keep her somewhat entertained for a short time at least, and so that the crying doesn't interfere with putting the first one down.

During Dh's last longer trip, I hired a mommy's helper -
a 13 y/o neighborhood girl to come over just at bedtime (6:30 p.m. at our house, you might not be that lucky...)
I paid her $5 to hang out and entertain/rock the one I wasn't with until I was done with the first one. A real sanity saver for me.

 

I asked a very similar question last week about my 8-wee-olds and most people said they just didn't rock the babies to sleep, which was where I was running into trouble when I did it alone.

So I experimented at nap times trying to figure out when the cranky boy (it's always the same one) looked tired and putting him down quiet but awake...and lo and behold, he went to sleep on his own. So now I focus on getting the timing right with him at night. When he's quiet, he might drift toward sleep or he might drift back to crankiness. But at the very least, it buys me ten to fifteen minutes to get the easy-going guy wrapped up and in the crib. Sometimes I have to come back and soothe/cuddle/rock the cranky boy, but at that point it doesn't feel like a 3-ring-circus anymore.

All of this is happening in a very dim room with shades already drawn and the same lullaby CD playing every night...And the best advice I got from anyone was to be patient and consistent, and remember that part of what we're doing at this point is establishing expectations.

Reading the No Cry Sleep Solution gave me lots of good ideas. Pantley is very opposed to CIO, but her ideas are really helpful even if you disagree with her.

Good luck!