When will my twin daughters sleep at the same time all night?

Angie - posted on 06/20/2009

I've never been a fan of cry-it-out, especially with one twin waking the other. Do either of your daughters like the swing? One of my boys had a really hard time relaxing to stay asleep. Even in the 8-10 month range, I had him sleeping for 3-4 hours in the swing in his room. It was the only thing that soothed him and kept him asleep other than me, and I just *had* to sleep at times!

Jennifer - posted on 06/19/2009

Sleeping through the night consistently together happened at about 9 months with us. We followed some of the guideline from "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" on recommendations from other MoMs. There's now a twin version! ( http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habi... ) We started around 7 months old and upped their bed time. It seems so counter intuitive that to get them to sleep more through the night you give them more sleep, but it works. As always the complete method might not apply to your fam, but some of it probably will. At this point the girls take two naps totaling 3-4 hours during the day and sleep a solid 10-12 hours at night. They are down between 6-7pm and up around 6am give or take. As a general rule. Every bout of teething, frights, or sick sends us into a tail spin of little sleep for a few days, but that's to be expected.

We also started using something like the "Ferber Method" at nap times and bed time about 7 month too. At this point we let them fuss/play for at least 15 min before we go check on them. Make sure they didn't soil their pants and then tuck them back in and reaffirm that it is indeed sleepy time for the cranky baby.

Our girls are just shy of 13 months old.

Nichola - posted on 06/19/2009

my twin daughter is a really bad sleeper well to fall asleep that is so i put her in her cot one day and put the vacumm on and with in mintues she was a sleep so for a few days i put the vaccumm on when it was nap time and she got used to settling her self..maybe you can put your girls in there cots at nap time at the same time and vacumm the hall way near there room and see what happens for a few days. when one wakes from nap time then wake the other as well so there both have the same amount of sleep! how much sleep are they gettin throgh the day as well? they should have one in the morning and one in the afternoon? then 12 hours at night! let us know how things go!

Angie - posted on 06/17/2009

If their weight is good, and they are healthy, your doc might advise to let them cry themselves back to sleep. If they are still needing to feed, you need to wake the other one up at the same time. I know it is hard to wake a sleeping baby, but that is what I had to do. It really helps/works. Mine are going to be 11 this summer. Just make sure that your doc says they weigh enough to not have to rely on the midnight feeding.

Kelli - posted on 06/17/2009

They have to learn to soothe themselves back to sleep. It is tough because they sometimes will wake the other up, but you'd be surprised at what they can sleep through. Twins seem to be able to sleep through more because of that -- they adapt. Do they have a blankie or other lovie they sleep with? My girls had pacifiers until 6 months, then we took them away, cold turkey. It took them one night to pretty much get over not having them. One of my girls resorted to sucking on her fingers and the other just had a blankie she held. My son is a thumb-sucker and has a blankie. We were up a lot when they were 6 months because they would lose the pacifier and couldn't find it. That's why they went away. Resist the urge to "rescue" them. Eventually, they will figure out how to soothe themselves. There is no reason they should be getting up in the middle of the night at this age. It isn't good for you or them. You all need your sleep. They should sleep 12 hours at night. At this point, they know you will come (essentially, you have trained them), so you just have to stop going in there so they learn you won't come when they cry. Eventually, they will learn and just get themselves back to sleep. It may take a week or two (or just one or two nights), so just try it. You may have a couple REALLY rough nights, but eventually it will get better, and it will be better for everyone in the long run. I assume they are in separate cribs? If not, that is a must at this age. Good luck!! It's tough, but you will get through it and survive. My twins are now 8 and I have a 3 1/2 year old son. You have a couple more rough years, but it is still fun, and it will get easier (It gets harder before it gets easier, though -- at least for me it did)

Jennifer - posted on 06/17/2009

Yea. I try to let them cry as much as I can...Without it waking up the other one. They dod not get up wanting to eat, they just want to be UP. IDK...And I could deal with them being up every 2 or 3 hours if they slept at the same time. Thanks

Christy - posted on 06/17/2009

We have 2.5 year old twins. At that age we had to let them cry it out one or two nights so they would sleep through. It's tough, but it works. We were also not getting up at that point for nutrition.