We're contemplating doing our version of CIO to get our boys to STTN. My question is, for those who have done it, did you do both twins together or separate? I just think it sucks for the twin that WOULD be sleeping to listen to the other wailing away. Do I separate them for a few nights & do CIO with the one in his crib, then flip flop? What are your past experiences? My boys wake each other pretty easily.....
We did it together, in the same crib even. They really didnt seem to wake eachother, they were pretty exhausted from all the wailing by the time they decided to give it up for the night. And I think the experience made them learn to "tune things out" a little better.
I would highly suggest to do it together. We had no choice since we have a 2 bedroom house. I had the same concern as you do but to this day we are amazed how they sleep though if one wakes. Here are some CIO stories from TS members.
I have not done CIO yet as my boys are too little, but I have found that no matter how much one boys screams the other is rarely affected by it. It is so weird to me!
Man, reading all these really made me jealous. We separate b/c ours totally wake each other. We have been Ferberizing for almost two weeks ... so so so hard ... and one is in the PNP in the study and one in her crib. We have white noise and humidifiers for each. Sometimes they STILL wake each other up ... even though they are in separate rooms!!!
Well it sounds like there are a few success stories...I had never thought it may help them sleeping through each other! Traci makes me worry that we may end up like her...still no luck after 2 weeks! I have 3 days off later this week, so mine need to learn THAT quickly!!!!
I kept my girls in the same room because I figure if I separate them, I'll always have to have them apart. I have one strong crier, and one more tolerant. The more tolerant one slept through her sister's crying. I figured if I trained them this way, then they would sleep through each other cries in the future, and they do.
my dd will often wake when ds cries but since we did cio together, she wakes but basically "ignores" him. She been pretty good about just rolling over and waiting for him to stop.
We keep them together, DS will sleep through DD's cries, DD will not sleep through DS's, but luckily DD is typically the only crier!!
I feel the same way that you do. I FREAK about the one who does go to sleep being kept awake from the other one who's WAILING. I have come to the conclusion however- that they are going to have to learn to live with it eventually so if not now- when? It is not fun tho! And mine wake each other up ninety percent of the time!
QUOTE(MichelleL @ Jan 15 2008, 06:20 PM) [snapback]574025[/snapback] I kept my girls in the same room because I figure if I separate them, I'll always have to have them apart. I have one strong crier, and one more tolerant. The more tolerant one slept through her sister's crying. I figured if I trained them this way, then they would sleep through each other cries in the future, and they do. This is exactly our situation too.. Meara cries and Ana just lays there sucking her thumb and falls asleep. DH and I disagree about keeping them together, but in the end I won and they've learned to sleep in the same room even if one is fussing.
Well, we've decided. We're going to try CIO Thurs-Sat nights & see how it works for us. I know it's going to be hard. I'm taking Thurs, DH is taking Fri, & we'll decide then on Sat. I feel like I need to start mentally preparing for this...I just HATE to see them cry & then I get all these people who are telling me that 12 hrs is WAY too long for a 6 month old to go without eating...ugh. If only my guys went to bed later, but 7pm is MAX for them. Last night Conner went to bed at 6:30pm, ate at 4am, & was WOKEN up when I got home from work at 6:45am! His 4am bottle was only 4 oz, so I'm pretty sure he's ready to make it all night. DH said he was up "playing" with Aiden around 4-5am, so isn't sure when he fell back to sleep because he just turned the monitor off . Aiden, on the other hand, ate full bottles at 12:30am & 5am (and was also woken up). Now this kid is CHUNKO...almost 95th percentile. I was sooo mad at my husband for feeding him TWICE! His response...."It was easier; feed him & he goes back to sleep." So we had the chat to ensure he's on my side for this CIO business (it was his original idea). He's going to be our tough one (Aiden, not my husband...well, maybe both!). And being that my boys feed off each other, I have a feeling they're both going to wail & wail & wail & wail...ugh.... WISH ME LUCK (and keep the success stories coming to ease my mind)!!!!!
Guess our CIO plan is going to get pushed back. I work night shift, so the boys go to daycare while I sleep a few hours in the morning. I just got a call saying they've had a rough morning...lots of fussing/crying, not much sleep, & they've each only taken in like 6-7oz TOTAL! Obviously something is up, so I'm presuming now is NOT the time to work on CIO to STTN. I checked out the 6 mo old schedules in the sticky on here & a LOT of people mentioned a middle of the night feeding. I feel a little better knowing we're not the only ones! This morning, they were in there playing around 4am & fussed on & off, but always settled themselves. We're wondering if they're not TRULY needing that middle of the night bottle, since they can fuss in the middle of the night & soothe themselves back to sleep (along with going down at night & for naps on their own). Do you still think they could eat out of habit once a night when they self-soothe all the other times? I'm so confused on all this. I'd LOVE to sleep, yet I want to do what's best for my boys! And I really want to know what's up with them today! Don't you wish they could just TELL YOU????
Argh. I remember that frustration so well! FWIW, DH and I decided to slowly decrease their night feedings little by little...eventually they started skipping it. We'd decrease their normal amount an ounce for three days, go another three days etc. That worked out GREAT! The trick, however, was getting them to sleep through the night and self soothe. We didn't have the guts to do CIO until way late - like 9 months. DH insisted he thought it would be better to separate them at night to "teach them how to sleep." It was fine and worked out, but once we put them back together in the same room, we had to do CIO all over again. At any rate, I say do CIO when it's right and comfortable for you...it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I think having several months of not eating at night helped. Good luck! :hug99:
