Sleep Training

lauralew

Hello.  Lurker here.  My twins were born at 35w6d.  My 40w due date was 2/13, so next week they will be full gestation.  I am reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins to get some tips for sleep training.  As of right now they usually sleep after feedings (usually every three hours, sometimes less, sometimes more).  Each of them will have one or two wakeful times after a feeding, but it's usually at different times during the day.  I would love any tips you are willing to give me to help cultivate good sleeping habits.  Thank you!!

Lilystar82

Welcome! Personally, I wouldn't even think of actual sleep training until well over 6 months. I also had preemies, and we just let them find their own schedule for the first 8 months. We did however cultivate good a good bedtime routine which I think helped immensely. We did tubs, lotion, bedtime bottle and snuggle, book, crib every night (and still do minus the bottle!). I think building those kinds of routines now are way more important. Congratulations on your babies!  

UsedToBeGoldie

there are many kinds of "sleep training" - many people think it means "cry it out" but that is not the case at all...and you CAN begin sleep training right away.

we followed Babywise from day 1 (our boys were born at 38w... our singleton at 36w) and all 3 of them were STTN at 8 weeks and are still great nappers and sleepers.

babywise follows a flexible routine of sleep/eat/play about every 3 hours.  The idea is to NOT feed them to get them to sleep b/c then they rely on that when they wake at night, too... around 8 weeks a baby does not need to eat at night (unless baby is underweight)... so this method helps train a baby to learn to fall asleep without needing food, etc, so babies can go back to sleep on their own easily.... and not need to CIO either.

 

rachelle2824

I was all ready to do babywise when my twins were born and we do to some extent but modified it to our babies needs. We always eat, play, then nurse again then sleep. We understand why not to nurse before bed but it has worked for us and our babies aren't dependent on it. We were having a tough time getting the babies in a nap schedule and napping during the same time between 2 and 5 months (they didn't nap together for more than 10 minutes for those 3 months!) We continued with a good predictable schedule and now when it's nap time we go into the bedroom, turn on the sound machine, give them their lovies, nurse and they go right to sleep. Taking them into a quiet, calm environment and following the same routine every time has made all the difference. They now nap together and we get 2, 2 hour naps a day within about 30-45 minutes of their "schedule."

Sorry, that got long. I loved the "No Cry Nap Solution" FWIW. Good luck! 

GeauxTigers82

UsedToBeGoldie:

there are many kinds of "sleep training" - many people think it means "cry it out" but that is not the case at all...and you CAN begin sleep training right away.

we followed Babywise from day 1 (our boys were born at 38w... our singleton at 36w) and all 3 of them were STTN at 8 weeks and are still great nappers and sleepers.

babywise follows a flexible routine of sleep/eat/play about every 3 hours.  The idea is to NOT feed them to get them to sleep b/c then they rely on that when they wake at night, too... around 8 weeks a baby does not need to eat at night (unless baby is underweight)... so this method helps train a baby to learn to fall asleep without needing food, etc, so babies can go back to sleep on their own easily.... and not need to CIO either.

 

I couldn't agree more! You can start sleep training from Day 1. The name is sleep "training," which to me, means something that takes time. Just because you're "training" them to sleep at an early age, doesn't mean they are going to do it at 1 month, and that you're going to let a 1 month old scream for hours! It just means you are starting the process of teaching them how to sleep on their own. That doesn't have to be a negative thing. Just like potty-traning, it's a long process, and you have to tweek it to meet your babies' needs.

All 3 of my babies were preemies, and were all STTN by 3 months (2 months for singleton).

I don't really follow any specific method., but I do similar to the above method. I start from Day 1 (home from NICU), with a strict bedtime routine. We bathe, then eat with all lights out, quite room, etc., then staight to bed (preferably before they fall asleep, but with little ones, that's hard to do). We do this everynight, and as they get older, we just adjust the routine to meet their needs. There were many times when I was tired, and didn't really want to do the whole bathtime thing, but I did it because I think it's a very important part of the rountine. For us, it's a "cue" for bedtime. I think the 2 biggest things of sleep training are rountine, and the ability to fall asleep on their own. As tiny babies, they slept next to me in bassinets, but I wasn't afraid to let them "fuss" a TAD when they were put down after the bottle. By "fuss," I mean something along the lines of whining, grunting, squirming, etc., NOT crying or screaming! I believe that just because they are fussing a little bit, doesn't necessarily mean they want/need someone to hold them. It just means they don't know what to do with themselves. If they are tired, they will eventually learn to fall asleep. I used to leave the room for a few min. and they would fall asleep. If you are not comfortable with that, you could lay next to them, but I would make sure they can't see you. I believe since they were used to this as newborns, it was just easy for them to fall asleep when they got older and more aware of what was going on. If you wait til they're older to put them in bed awake and alone, they are more aware that you are not there, and yes, then they are going to cry/scream. Once they are comfortable with going to sleep on their own, they are easily able to put themselves back to sleep when they're older. I also didn't wait too long to put them in their cribs (around 3 months). I don't know if it matters, but I was worried they would be used to the bassinet and have trouble changing to a different bed. But, they sleep in beds on vacations, etc. with no problem, so it probably doesn't matter. I was just paranoid, and didn't want to take any chances!

I just want to reiterate that I would NEVER let my newborn or small infant scream and cry it out. It's hard to get your words across on a message board, so I'm sure I'll get some flack about this. I believe that you are their mother, and I think you will know what's appropriate and what's not.

Good luck! I think you are doing good to start thinking about this now.

GeauxTigers82

I just realized your post had some concerns about daytime sleeping. This is much trickier because it takes longer for a baby to be able to follow a scheduled naptime. This was hard for me because I just wanted some kind of schedule and it seems like it takes forever for that to happen.

I think (and could be wrong) that babies usually begin to take a regular morning nap around 4 months, and a regular afternoon nap around 6 months. Some people even have a 3rd nap too. This is just a general idea of what some babies do. We choose to put them to bed for the night earlier, instead of a 3rd nap, but it's really whatever works for your lifestyle. Anytime before this, their rhythms just aren't in sync. Before this time, they tend to sleep a little more on demand, which is really hard with twins!

I would still follow the same ideas of sleep training at naptime too. The whole drowsy, but awake thing. Your babies are still so young though, it's hard to do that! It seems like they fall asleep so easily!