Cry it out?? Advice PLEASE

jamalina

My twin boys are 9 months. The last week has been rough! They wake up during the night as they always have but they want to be held for 45 minutes to an hour before I can put them down. This was never the case unless they weren't feeling well. I try to put them down and they cry and stand up in their crib until I pick them up. They will be asleep in my arms but as soon as they realize I put them in the crib, they flip out. I pick them up instead of rubbing their back and letting them cry because the other twin is soundly sleeping and I don't want 2 screaming babies. I'm really not sure what to do. Do I separate them and let them cry it out? Do I keep them together and cry it out? They are also teething right now so I feel bad. Does anyone have advice??

JodiAriel

We let them CIO together.  For me it was torture but it took 3 days and now they sleep 11-13 hrs a night.

jamalina

I'm upset just thinking about letting them cry. I guess letting them cry together would be best. Wow, 11-13 hours is amazing! How old were they when they CIO?

ShopperKristi

We did CIO around 6 months and it worked great but within the past month one of our guys has really been struggling and wakes up in the middle of the night wanting to be held.  CIO isn't working for him this time.  We have to go in and rock him.  Usually if we do that for 15 min or so then Put him back he just cries for a bit and then goes to sleep.  If I try to put him down after 5 min or just let him cry he will go on and on and on, his voice gets hoarse.  So long story short, we haven't found a solution and are hoping it is just a phase that passes soon.  He is cutting a tooth and has recently learned to pull up so I think that might be part of it.  A couple nights we gave him ibuprofen and he slept much better but I hate to make that a habit unless I know for sure it's the teething bothering him. Good luck I hope it gets better for you soon!  I just keep telling myself it is still better than the newborn phase!

fanofanne

i remember trying to do the cio method when our twins were around 6-7 months, but giving up.  like you, one twin would wake the other, and instead of dealing with one screaming baby we were dealing with two.  and I couldn't bear to hear my kids wail, so revisited the cio method when they were 11 months, and now at 15 they sleep fabulously.  we ended up separating them.  obviously do what works for you...a good friend of mine with twins kept hers together and if one woke the other, oh well. and if both were screaming, oh well.  I couldn't do that, upon our Pedi's suggestion, we moved cribs...one stayed in the nursery and the other we moved into our room.  our pedi (who also has twins) said they had to move a crib into their kitchen.  I hope this helps!

BananaPancake

We trained them together at 6m and occasionally have to do a refresher here and there. I have a long blog post about CIO if you're interested, but don't want to presume you want me to post it, so let me know if you're interested! 

turtle_1278

We did it.  I still have one who will occasionally wake up at night screaming bloody murder (more for attention than anything), but her sister sleeps through it all like a champ right across the room!

ppants

We had to CIO around 9 mo also.  I read HSHHC before and figured we may have to use CIO sometime.  One night, after trying to get the kids to sleep for an hour with rocking only to have them wake up when we laid them down, we did CIO.  I'll be honest.  It was very difficult for me, but after 3 days, they did much better and were able to get to sleep themselves.

They started STTN around 6 mo old.  It was just the getting to sleep part we needed to work on.  I tried to go in to comfort them (not picking up) a few times, but it upset them more so we wouldn't go in once we put them down. Whatever you decide to do, stick with it. GL!

jamalina

Thanks for your comments everyone. I am interested in your blog, @BananaPancake. Please post.

BananaPancake

https://www.plantedandblooming.com/2013/07/the-zombie-parents-guide-to-sleep.html

jcath

We CIO'ed about 5 mos and let them do it together.  The first night I wore ear plugs but have the video monitor so we could see they were fine.  They have generally slept 11 to 12 hours a night since then but they wake up crying occasionally and I look at them but almost never go in their room. Lots of time they are crying but still laying down and eye's closed.   

JodiAriel

We did it at just after 6 mos once they started solid food.  They now go to bed at 7:30 and most days wake up around 7.  Yesterday they slept til 9:15 but 2 days last week they got up at 6:15.  The wakeup time varies.

KDR1979

I put my kids in separate bedrooms when they were 8 months old. That helped DS start sleeping a lot better. But, we still had many nights where we were up several times at night. I would end up bringing them to our bed and nursing them b/c it was the only way I could sleep at all. One night at 11 months, DD fell out of our bed. She was fine and it was more scary for DH and I, but it was a wake up call that we had to do something b/c we were so tired that it wasn't even safe.

We started letting them CIO pretty much the next night (I seriously turned the monitor off and my fan up b/c DH needed sleep). It didn't take long at all and I wish we had done it sooner. Their naps even got better once we let them CIO. I had been struggling with day and night sleep for 11 months. It was soooo hard. We still have nights where one is up, especially during teething, but usually it's just one baby, one time at night.  

Our pediatrician told me to do it at 9months and to get earplugs, but I wasn't ready until the scare at 11 months.

Good luck!