Putting twins in their crib

The way our house was built the whole upstairs is the master bedroom (our room) and the kids bedrooms are downstairs. I liked it when we first moved here (only a 4 year old boy) but now we have twin girls. Well when they were a few months old they were sick so we had them in bed with us because we were afraid we wouldn't hear them if they choked (I know...big mistake) They are now 13 months old and it is PAST TIME to get them downstairs and in their crib. I have been trying for the past few nights but they are waking up in the middle of the night freaking out. Now it would be easy if it was just one, as you all know, but with 2 you don't want to leave them crying because they will wake the other one, and before I know it I am sitting on the couch with both of them sleeping on me. I haven't slept in 2 days, and I am not sure how to do this.....If anyone has any advice I would GREATLY appreciate it.

 

Welcome to TS! I think that you need to let the cry it out. It will be hard for a few days, but they should get the idea after that point. As for the waking each other up, ours quickly learned to sleep through each other's cries.

 

Sorry that I don't have any advice for you. Our girls always start out in their cribs but by the end of the night are sleeping with one of us!!

 

I would try CIO, it's going to take a few nights. And normally one DD doesn't wake the other at our house, they've grown used to the noise I think.

Mine have slept in their cribs from 3 months on, but when they are sick they get in a funk of waking up at night and once they are better it takes a little CIO to get them back to normal sleeping.

 

Our mistake with helping our twins learn to sleep through the night was getting one because they might wake the other. They might sometimes but if they get used to it, they rarely wake each other. We now let the girls fuss quite a while before going in. They need to learn a new habit - it will take time, patience and a lot of lost sleep.

 

I would do the crying out method too. That is how we got dh to sleep in a crib at three months, and then a bed. It only lasted a few days. The first day was the hardest, but after that, he realized he would see us again. I don't know if this will work since they are older, but i read for infants you should put something like a shirt or something that smells like you. I did this with ds and it worked so well, he still has a shirt. Now I don't have to wear it and give it to him, but he has to have a blue shirt. I know, another issue.

But maybe if there is a comfort item or some music they like you can play for them in their room and make sure you have a night light they like. DS listens to the same cd he has for the past two to three years.

 

If you don't think you can handle letting them CIO. I would recommend the pick up/put down method by the Baby Whisperer. I read about it in her book, the baby whisperer answers all of your questions. It is more for parents starting the methods later. My husband and I would do it together so we each had only one kid to worry about it. We used it to get them to go to bed at night on their own and when they would wake up in the night. It took us 20 minutes the first night, 10 minutes the second night and the third night they laid right down at bedtime and said nite, nite. For during the night wake ups, we tried CIO but I only lasted 2 hours and one would cry while the other would rest and then switch. Pick Up/Put Down just worked so quickly (10 minutes that nite after 2 hours of CIO). We now let them CIO (they are now two) and it has never lasted longer than 30 minutes. If it did, we would go back to Pick Up/Put Down. They wake each other up but it basically is just the one sleeping rolling over and looking at her sister with a look of shut up and go to bed.