Putting babies to bed by yourself?

mandybeth01

My husband works nights so I have to put both the boys to bed by myself. I'm wondering if anyone else has to do this and if you have any tips for when they are both fussy. It is so hard because you can't let one CIO when they other is sleeping. I want them to get used to falling asleep in their cribs, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do that so they don't wake each other up.

cands

I don't always, but a few times a week I put the girls to bed by myself when my DH goes out or works late. .  I decided to not worry about them keeping each other up.  I just put them both down to sleep at the same time.  I've been amazed at what they can sleep through.  We did let them CIO a few times to get them in a sleep routine.  But after that, they started being pretty good about going to sleep, or at least only babbling and jumping in their cribs, not actually crying. When we were CIO, often one of them would be sound asleep while the other one wailed, so they can definetly sleep through a lot.  I actually found that I was more likely to wake them up going into the room to comfort the crier than they were likely to wake up from their sister crying (my girls aren't that compassionate apparently).

mandybeth01

Thanks for the tip. I want to try and put them to bed together when they are sleepy and see what happens. It could be a catastrophe or it could work. *fingers crossed*

 Couldn't be much worse than both of them having me up until 12 last night!

kyluvsaj

I don't always have to but have on occasion.  I watch the babies really closely so I don't miss their window and they go down pretty easy.  When they don't then I seperate them and leave one in my room with me.

Luckily they haven't both done it at once when DH isn't home.

Dsugaree

My Dh works nights also - I get home from work, pick the girls up and do everything on my own at night. I do put them to sleep in the same room and we did CIO with them sleeping together in the same room also. Even now my one DD gets fussy (I think molars are coming in) and she is up a few times a night crying and my other DD doesn't move an inch - snores through it all. One also falls asleep sooner than the other and the other reads and sings to herself in her bed. They will get used to each other noises and all really quick and I will not seperate them for bedtime because we only have a very small spare room as a quest room and I want to keep it that way! I do seperate them at naptime (1 goes into a PNP in the spare room) because they would play all through nap if I didn't!

LilSurferGirl

I oput mine to bed alone 3 times a week when DH has class.  Like the pp I started early establishing a bedtime routine and I watch closely for their signs of tiredness so I don't wind up in meltdown zone. 

When I'm by myself I feed them their solid dinner when I get home from work at 5:00, then we have play time until about 6:15 when I start winding them down for bed. I do either bath or a wipe down of face and hands depending on the night, then pj's, a story and a bottle. I put them down about 5 minutes apart (they each get a few minutes of cuddle time and a song with Mommy in the rocker)  and usually the first one is asleep before I bring the second one in.  If not, I do let them CIO and they're usually both out in about 10 minutes.  I go in after 5 minutes to replace paci's or put my one DS who stands back down on his back.  They are usually both asleep by 7:15.

mwilson44

With my job DH has to put the boys down on his own a few nights a week and we let them CIO so they get used to it.  Like the PP it's surprising what they can sleep through and get used to.  Good luck!  I'm not sure this was much help!