Sleep training -separate or together

zazu13 · August 2014

My babies are almost 6 months and we just did some sleep training to transition from their rocknplays and break them of being rocked to sleep They are now sleeping in separate rooms, one in a crib in the nursery and the other in a PnP in the guest room. I initially wanted them together (same room, 2 cribs) but they were waking each other and I was pulling my hair out after one baby falling asleep, the other one waking them with their cries. Anyone have advice? Can your babies tune each other out? Night sleep is going pretty well so I am hesitant to ruin it. Naps suck all around. They were in the same room before, but slept so much more soundly (it seemed) in the RnP.

Is anyone else sleep training? Separate or together?

rcnavywife · August 2014

Great thread. I'm curious what other MoM's have done. We don't physically have the space to separate the babies!

jfoster516 · August 2014

This isn't from personal experience, as I am still pregnant, but years ago when I was in college I work in an infant room at a daycare. Whenever we got new babies they had a hard time sleeping because all the noise and other babies crying, but in a short time they learn to tune it out and sleep just fine. They say learning when there young to sleep through noise helps them long term sleep better because they don't need it perfectly quite to sleep.

rachelkongsore@hotmail.com · August 2014

I separated mine at four months because they were always waking each other. Now at 20 months they still sleep separate. I understand wanting them in the same room but for us it just did not work. Both babies are strong personalities and terrible sleepers!!!! As for CIO I tried it intermittently but could never stick with it because I'm too much of a wuss :-) do what works for you and if they are sleeping better apart I'd leave them.

lc&jw · August 2014

We sleep trained together at about 4.5 months. It was absolutely awful for the first few days- I don't think any of us got much sleep, but after that it started to get better and by the end of the week they were basically able to sleep through the other one crying at night if it occurred. Even now one rarely wakes the other if there is a night waking.

Naps are a different story. They don't sleep as soundly when napping, so unfortunately, if one wakes, the other often does as well.

The first few nights of sleep training together are a special kind of hell reserved for parents of multiples, but once you get through it, it's so worth it!

twinmom1121 · August 2014

I just sleep trained my twins and read "healthy sleep habits, happy twins" book and it suggests that if you ultimately want them to be in the same room together, you should sleep train them together. They will learn to tune each other out and sleep through the crying. There are a few different methods in the book you can try. I was hesitant to let one baby cry it out because I was worried the other would wake up, but you'd be surprised how they can sleep through it. It might take a few days or even weeks but they will learn. We did the cry it out method a few weeks ago and after 3 days they slept through the night, but then started waking again and I gave in and picked them up. You really have to be consistent. I tried again about a week ago and they have been sleeping through the night ever since!! It's a miracle because I haven't gotten more than 3 hours of sleep in row in 9 months! Good luck!

KatieGummow · August 2014

We did it at the same time and together. After the first night Carter can tune out Patrick (who doesn't ever want to go down on the first try), and after Pat had been down for a while he can tune out Carter. We still do one up both up, though, which makes being in the same room and next to each other that much more convenient.

Wishing35 · August 2014

Mine have always been in the same room, different cribs. Most times at night one can be wailing and won't wake the other. It's weird because they can sleep through that but if I come in the room they both pop awake!For naps though if they don't settle they will wake the other up. We didn't really sleep train per say ,but we do let them cry for a bit when they go down for a nap or at night. It seems sometimes that they need to cry for a few minutes , other times they play for a few minutes and then fall asleep nicely. During one bad nap regression I considered putting them in separate rooms but I'm glad I didn't. I would like for the to stay in one room until they are older, I figure they have to learn how to tune out one another on occasion.

LittleLady77 · August 2014

@dtremel I read Babywise as well and I hated it. I did some digging afterwards and the book is not well received by the medical community. HSHHT is way better! I'm also reading Ferber now. It's good but HSHHT is my favorite so far.

Millimeter · September 2014

Mine have always been together. My son's crying has put my daughter to sleep before. They get used to each other pretty quickly.

My son was screaming at nap time and she slept right through it, only to wake up for a very quiet roll of thunder.

Good luck!

CNYBride05 · September 2014

We also don't have space to separate them and I want them to learn how to sleep with some noise. They do pretty well and their cribs are in an L shape and they often sleep head to head. They actually get pretty distressed if they are separated.

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Sleep training -separate or together

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