Sleep training twins who share a room

Venuschild

This summer I plan on sleep training the twins, they will be 10 months then.  DH and I are school teachers and will be off for the summer. We barely get enough sleep as it is so we are not ready to tackle it right now.  Luckily they both STTN but we rock them to sleep with bottles right now for bed.  They fall asleep anywhere between 8 and 10 and sleep until about 7.  My question are how do you sleep train when they share a room? Also did you use Ferber? I think I am ok with doing CIO but obviously won't really know until the time comes.  Any advice is very appreciated!

nichellemybelle

We used Babywise and they were STTN by 14 weeks. I started on a Friday so we didn't have to get up for work the next day. They didn't really seem to wake each other up unless one got really crazy but it was easy to get them back to sleep. We NEVER rock them to sleep. If they are having problems going to sleep we might rock until drowsy and then put them in their crib. 

meldoo2002

We did it when they were around 9 months old.  Like you they were STTN, but we were rocking them to sleep.  It wasn't too bad.  We did CIO.  Instead of rocking we just put them in their cribs after the typical bedtime routine.  The first night I think they cried around 45 min... and it was less each night after that with no crying within a couple days.  We just left them in the same room.  They learned to sleep through each other.  

UsedToBeGoldie

we followed babywise and my boys (all 3) were STTN at 8 weeks... so we never had to "sleep train" at an older age.

the twins share a room-  and never wake each other when they cry unless it's close to waking up time anyway...  We keep white noise on in their room all night- i think that helps so any crying isn't such a shock to the system in a quiet room.

 

nikinikinine

Ferbered at 4 months. Separated them for the first two days. We don't rock our kids to sleep unless they wake up scared/bad dream or are sick. If they are sleeping 9-11 hrs why are you sleep training? If it's to get rid of the rocking and bottles I'd fix those issues now while they are young and more adaptable. A bad habit takes 3 days to break. One weekend should do it for you.

MagPie08

Venuschild:

We barely get enough sleep as it is

Luckily they both STTN

They fall asleep anywhere between 8 and 10 and sleep until about 7.

? 

Haven1

nikinikinine:

Ferbered at 4 months. Separated them for the first two days. We don't rock our kids to sleep unless they wake up scared/bad dream or are sick. If they are sleeping 9-11 hrs why are you sleep training? If it's to get rid of the rocking and bottles I'd fix those issues now while they are young and more adaptable. A bad habit takes 3 days to break. One weekend should do it for you.

This exactly. Kids thrive on routine, but they are highly adaptable. If you can stop the rocking, they'll do fine. The sooner everyone breaks the habit, the better.

Rangergal9

UsedToBeGoldie:

we followed babywise and my boys (all 3) were STTN at 8 weeks... so we never had to "sleep train" at an older age.

the twins share a room-  and never wake each other when they cry unless it's close to waking up time anyway...  We keep white noise on in their room all night- i think that helps so any crying isn't such a shock to the system in a quiet room.

 

Ditto all of this except we didn't use Babywise, but they were STTN by 4 months.  We also never rocked them to sleep, always put them down drowsy but awake, we swaddled, white noise, and twilight turtle.  If they cried we just went in and put a hand on them, but never picked them up.  Lily was STTN before Hannah and even Hannah crying never woke Lily up.  They will still sleep through the other one crying unless like Goldie mentioned, its close to waking time anyway.

Plus in the morning they will often giggle and talk to one another, so we can leave them in there and get another 30 min of sleep :-) 

macchiatto

MagPie08:

Venuschild:

We barely get enough sleep as it is

Luckily they both STTN

They fall asleep anywhere between 8 and 10 and sleep until about 7.

? 

I'm confused by this, too.

If they're already STTN, why are you sleep training them? (And why aren't you getting enough sleep?) You mean you want to help them start going to sleep w/o rocking? If it's just that transition I'd think the earlier you try the better, before it's more of a habit, and I really wouldn't think it would interfere with your sleep that much since it's just how to fall asleep in the first place rather than dealing with night wakings. Read HSHHC; he has lots of good advice on how to get babies to sleep putting them down drowsy but awake. We started following his advice on that when they were just 8w and it worked beautifully (no crying).

CER+MEL

I'm guessing you predict that they will cry when you put them down without rocking and that's where the sleep training/CIO issue came up. 

You'll probably just want to start a new bedtime routine, something they'll enjoy that isn't too much of change, perhaps reading a book while drinking those bottles outside their room before putting them down. We've found that having something to look forward to at each step of the routine makes things go smoothly (mine love their jammies, picking out a book, brushing teeth, turning on their sound machine and stars). You might be surprised by how well yours do.  Recently we bought those seahorses to get us through a tough time after a stomach bug threw things out of wack (one more thing for them to look forward to at bedtime) and we're good again.

There might be some crying, but I also recommend HSHHC to help you with that.  Do this when you think it's time, but I don't think waiting until the summer is necessary.  Maybe start on a weekend if you're worried about it affecting your sleep.

eyelovemascara

If your twins have already been sharing a room for awhile, I don't think you'll have any real issues eliminating the rocking habit. Definitely expect them to need to CIO, but I think at this age they'll adapt quickly and "get it" within a few days. Our girls have shared a room since birth and I think they learned to tune each other out--even if one is crying the other can sleep through it.

Venuschild

Thanks for all the replies.  Sorry if I was unclear, yes I meant not rocking them to sleep and letting them go in bed when they are drowsy and not asleep.  It sounds a lot less scary now!  When I said lack of sleep it is because I'm doing the dream feed and not going to bed until 11 or 11:30 and getting up at 6.  Thanks!