Using Ferber Method with Twins?

:headbang: Is it possible to use the Ferber Method on twin babies? I have 11 1/2 month old twin baby girls, and they used to be able to just be put in their cribs sleepy and would put themselves to sleep and sleep through the night. Now they HAVE to be asleep BEFORE we put them in their cribs (sleep in separate cribs but same room) and they are now waking up several times a night. I'm getting hardly ANY sleep! :wacko: HELP! How do you use the Ferber Method with twins? Does it work?


Thanks in advance for your advice on this. :help:

 

We didn't really do Ferber, because (IIRC) he says to go back and check on them, but just at progressively longer intervals. That would have driven me absolutely insane. We just did "extinction CIO" -- let them cry until they fall asleep. At 11 months I'm not sure I could have done that (because they have so much more stamina), but at 5 months it worked pretty well. They cried kind of a long time (around an hour) for the first couple of nights, but then it diminished a lot.

So, you can totally do it, but if you're going to, do it soon -- the older they get, the worse it will be (both in terms of how much they cry and how much it hurts you). Don't wait until they can say "Mama! Mama!" because you'll never be able to withstand it. :cry:

ETA: I realized I didn't really answer your "with twins" question. We separated them for the first few nights until they were sound asleep. Sarah went in the Pack & Play in the living room and Amy in the crib (because Sarah was less likely to wake up when we moved her). After that, we put them back together and always found that one could fall asleep while the other was still wailing.

 

Minnette, thank you so much! They are already saying, "Mama, Mama!" Oh, I also forgot to mention that I am having to bring Zoe into my bed (Daddy has been having to sleep on the couch due to shoulder injury) not too long after I go to bed myself. Either then or around 2am-ish. It isn't too bad, but a bad habit to keep up. We just really need to get this sleeping issue resloved altogether.

Looking forward to more input! Thanks!

 

We did extinction CIO as well, in the same room (actually in the same crib). It worked just fine & they were getting themselves to sleep within just a few days. As for bringing them into bed with you, I did the same thing and, while I don't think it's a horrible thing to do & I actually love snuggling & sleeping with them, my two are 3 now & are still coming into my bed in the night. So just a warning for you that it is definitely a habit that they get used to. Now, my daughter Tess did the same thing & she quit coming into my bed by the time she was 4, so they do stop on their own eventually, but you might want to keep in mind that it can last quite awhile!

 

I do the ferber method and it works for us. My girls share a crib and a room though so I can pat their butts at the same time. I don't time it exactly, I just do what I feel is necessary, but never more than 12 minutes at a time. I think it will be harder for you since your twins are older though. My pedi recommends extinction CIO because he thinks it works better and is overall less traumatic for the babies. I think that it definitely can work for some families and it may work for mine, but not at this current time. I also wake them up at 2am for a middle of the night feeding and will continue to do so until they are at least 15 lbs (they are 12 now). Now when they wake on their own in the night and it isn't their feeding time, I just re-binky and pat butts.