Help - CIO my twins

Good Morning All,
my name is Hala, i'm new in here..

I have non-identical twins, both girls, and they're 9 months 3 weeks old..

My broblem is i haven't taught them to sleep by themselves .. i just give them the bottle and sometimes i have to rock them to sleep.. otherwise , they wouldn't ..


so i need a little help from parents out here...

Has anyone tried CIO for their twins..

i'm afraid, if i'd do it, one of the twins would fall asleep earlier than her sis, and the one who's still awake and crying would wake the one sleeping!! :angry:


any advice.. and your assistance pelase on what should i do?

 

You should check out the "birth to one year thread" you will find some good suggestions there from mothers who are in the thick of it. I HIGHLY recommend the book "Healthy sleep habits happy child" it offers several suggestions on ways to get your two into good sleeping schedule. Take a few days to read the book and then re-read the section for a child at 9 months of age. I've heard of others reading the book "baby whisperer" but I find HSHHC book covers a larger age range.

It is worth all the extra work to read up on these ideas and I really feel the area of sleep in babies has really been studied very well lately and there are some great methods out there. Nothing of course is completely by-the-book but they sure are a great place to start.

Heather

 

Are your twins sleeping in the same room or even crib? And have they since birth?
Although mine are younger than yours we have found that they can sleep through each others crying...I think in part because they have been in the same room since birth.

Anyway, I too recommend Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. Like pp mentioned read through it then give it a go...just be prepared for a rough start but it will smooth out within a few days.

 

Hello and :welcome: to Twinstuff!

QUOTE(heathertwins @ Jan 17 2009, 04:11 AM) [snapback]1150811[/snapback]
You should check out the "birth to one year thread" you will find some good suggestions there from mothers who are in the thick of it. I HIGHLY recommend the book "Healthy sleep habits happy child" it offers several suggestions on ways to get your two into good sleeping schedule. Take a few days to read the book and then re-read the section for a child at 9 months of age.


Ditto this. Many times babies will have a rough night with CIO and not much after that. GL!

 

Mine have always shared a room and rarely woke or wake each other in the middle of the night with crying. They have learned to sleep right through it. We do have a white noise machine in their room, so that might help them.

There are plenty of Moms on this site who have done CIO with great success. I loved the HSHHC book that the other posters recommended.

As for rocking them to sleep, can you gradually put them down less and less drowsy and go from there? That might be a nice starting point. GL and :welcome: to the First Year and TS.

 

QUOTE(heathertwins @ Jan 17 2009, 12:11 PM) [snapback]1150811[/snapback]
You should check out the "birth to one year thread" you will find some good suggestions there from mothers who are in the thick of it. I HIGHLY recommend the book "Healthy sleep habits happy child" it offers several suggestions on ways to get your two into good sleeping schedule. Take a few days to read the book and then re-read the section for a child at 9 months of age. I've heard of others reading the book "baby whisperer" but I find HSHHC book covers a larger age range.

It is worth all the extra work to read up on these ideas and I really feel the area of sleep in babies has really been studied very well lately and there are some great methods out there. Nothing of course is completely by-the-book but they sure are a great place to start.

Heather


Thanks a lot Heather, i'll take a look at the book and see what can I do..
and for the thread, i already viewed it (after i posted this issue) and it helped me a lot..

thanks again for your assistance..

 

QUOTE(Hsuter @ Jan 17 2009, 08:07 PM) [snapback]1151065[/snapback]
Are your twins sleeping in the same room or even crib? And have they since birth?
Although mine are younger than yours we have found that they can sleep through each others crying...I think in part because they have been in the same room since birth.

Anyway, I too recommend Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child. Like pp mentioned read through it then give it a go...just be prepared for a rough start but it will smooth out within a few days.



hi Hster,
Yes my girls sleep in the same room and in different cribs.. since birth..

the problem is, yesterday i've started the CIO but their dad was like: how harsh you are to leave them crying..
i was like, they have to learn..

they were already well fed, they didnt' want to drink milk, the room temp. is fine, dark enough.. and diaper is clean..
so they were just crying to be carried that's all. nothing was wrong..

and then he carried both and rocked them to sleep, messing all my plans :angry:

 

QUOTE(DATJMom @ Jan 18 2009, 06:07 AM) [snapback]1151476[/snapback]
Mine have always shared a room and rarely woke or wake each other in the middle of the night with crying. They have learned to sleep right through it. We do have a white noise machine in their room, so that might help them.

There are plenty of Moms on this site who have done CIO with great success. I loved the HSHHC book that the other posters recommended.

As for rocking them to sleep, can you gradually put them down less and less drowsy and go from there? That might be a nice starting point. GL and :welcome: to the First Year and TS.



Thanks DATJ Mum for your assistance..
well, i'll try to rock them a bit and but them in bed while they're still drowsy.. and see what happens tonight..

 

QUOTE(Hala @ Jan 17 2009, 08:59 PM) [snapback]1151608[/snapback]
they were already well fed, they didnt' want to drink milk, the room temp. is fine, dark enough.. and diaper is clean..
so they were just crying to be carried that's all. nothing was wrong..

and then he carried both and rocked them to sleep, messing all my plans :angry:


Good for Dad! Hope you dont find that offensve! I personally am not a CIO mama. Are they teething? are they hitting a new developmental milestone such as crawling or pulling up, walking etc? Are they learning new words? Are they going through separation anxiety? do they get thirsty during the night? Are they scared of the dark? Theres just so many things!

I do like the HSHHB book. I use the "kinder, gentler" methods such as placing them in their cribs drowsy but awake. Back rubbing, shooshing, playing a classical music CD with white noise machine and a small night light. I do let them fuss but not full on cry. Ive found if we stick to a schedule/routine and I give them a few minutes of individual attention right before bed they do well.

Is there a reason you want to use CIO? If dad wants to rock them to sleep everynight is there something wrong with that? They are only babies for such a short, short time!!

GL in whatever you and your husband decide to do. Whle Im not a CIO mama I know it works great for lots of families and in the end you have to do what works for your family!

 

Hi!

Just wanted to recommend another book: The No-Cry Sleep Solution to anyone looking for an alternative to cry-it-out (and it sounds from your posts like you are unsure and their dad is against it). What I like most about it is that it gets you to make a plan specific to your babies/family, it's not a one-size-fits-all solution. I will say that the book is written from a slightly attachment parenting point of view, but it's not pushy about it or anything.

Good luck, I hope you find something that works for you.

 

I´ve not done CIO but my 2 have been STTN since they were about 4.5 months - lucky I know!

I´m one of those people who liked The Baby Whisperer book by Tracy Hogg. I used her methods for teaching mine to sleep, though not strictly, and found them to be very effective. My two don´t always sleep too well during the day but they are great when I put them down at night.

GL with your two and I hope they STTN very soon!