Sleep training twins, how young and how successful?

butterfly2

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 12:18 am

What method have you used to sleep train your twins?
How young were they and was it successful?
What about the book 12 hours by 12 weeks? Anyone tried that?

amother

Gray

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 12:45 am

Yup, my twins are 15 months kh, theyre sleep trained since about 14 weeks old w the 12 hr by 12 week method. My nurse did it for them but it works amazingly.

butterfly2

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 12:53 am

I have a nurse and I want to do it. How long did it take for them to train? And how many ounces were they drinking at each feeding once they were trained?

TwinsMommy

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 1:04 am

what I did was the first peep I heard from either twin (usually the boy), I woke the other twin too and diapered them both and fed them both at the same time. That way I was awake for as little time as possible. People disagree with waking a sleeping baby but I thought it was a whole lot better than traditional "sleep training" where babies cry themselves to sleep. I diapered them, fed them, and then they went back to sleep with no crying or screaming generally because they were dry and fed.

Also I did night-time cluster feeding when they did start to sleep through the night so bellies were super full at bedtime and they had nice productive burps before bed too. Smile

Israeli_C

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 1:27 am

Does breastfeeding make this whole process a lot more challenging (if not impossible...)? Anyone have any experience of exclusive breastfeeding with twins?

amother

Pewter

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 3:12 am

I did exclusively nurse my twins till over a year (started solids at 7 months).

The trick is to learn to nurse both at the same time while lying down. I swaddled both and stacked them like bricks, propping them and me up with pillows.

Of course you need to be able to nurse them both at a time sitting up, but that's easier.

After getting them both to sleep, I put them on either side of me in a king size mattress on the floor, and rolled from side to side to nurse them during the night. This gave me maximum sleep.

Although DH had to sometimes wake me up because I'd be nursing a sleeping baby, while half asleep, and wondering why the baby was still crying! (Obviously the other twin had woken up...)

The no-cry sleep solution worked well for them, but I didn't really "do" it until they were older - my first priority was survival in the moment, couldn't think beyond the moment at first.

amother

Maroon

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 3:32 am

amother wrote:

The "no cry sleep solution"
It's the only humane way

It's a book.
She outlines a method that is very effective, and is not cruel to the child. It saved me.

SS6099

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 5:39 am

From the very beginning, I made sure to feed them at the same time. If one woke up in the middle of the night, I woke the other.
As they got a little older, I tried to get them to sleep stretches so dh and I would take turns for feedings and we didn’t wake the other up.
Good luck! My twins are almost 4 and boy I don’t miss those days 😀

amother

Gray

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 7:44 am

emcee wrote:

I have a nurse and I want to do it. How long did it take for them to train? And how many ounces were they drinking at each feeding once they were trained?

It took my nurse about 3 weeks to get them to sleep thru the night. Theu don't get food for 12 hrs. And they used to get a 6 oz bottle every 4 hrs. So that was 4 feeding every day. It was great. We still follow that schedule but now they eat reg meals already. And no I didnt breastfeed them

amother

Plum

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 7:55 am

I have 4 month old twins and am in the middle of doing the 12 hours by 12 weeks. I modified it a bit like I feed them every 3 hours by day , 5 times a day. I am still in the process. But I am seeing progress, although verrrry slow. I'm tired! But I hope to be over soon!! You gotta do what you feel comfortable with. My babies get 4oz bottles per feeding and don't always finish. They were always little eaters. If you have any questions I'll try to answer.

butterfly2

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 8:17 am

amother wrote:

so you started sleep training them at 14 weeks or they were sleep trained by then? Also, how much did they weigh when you started doing it?

amother

Gray

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 9:28 am

emcee wrote:

so you started sleep training them at 14 weeks or they were sleep trained by then? Also, how much did they weigh when you started doing it?

I got a very determined nurse when they were 10+ weeks old. She read the book in 2 days and started right away. I dont remember their weight but they were less than 5 lbs at birth

tryinghard

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 11:04 am

My sister became a sleep coach after going through this with her twins. She works out a plan with you individually and works through the entire process with you - but not in person, so it's pretty affordable. www.babysleepmaven.com

butterfly2

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 11:13 am

amother wrote:

I got a very determined nurse when they were 10+ weeks old. She read the book in 2 days and started right away. I dont remember their weight but they were less than 5 lbs at birth

so my twins are 9.5 weeks old and we are working on getting them to eat more per feeding so that we can start training them. They are now getting used to 4 oz bottles and slowly stretching time between feedings. Any idea how much yours were drinking when you started?

amother

Gray

Tue, Jan 01 2019, 11:17 am

emcee wrote:

About 3 and totally not consistent. My first nurse had no idea how to even start sleep training. 9.5 weeks is a perfect age to start and get it done quickly. U slowly increase the amounts and spread increase the time between feeds . it can get difficult if the babies have reflux. My babies dont have reflux so it was pretty smooth bh.

butterfly2

Wed, Jan 02 2019, 7:50 am

amother wrote:

did they gain as nicely as before once they were trained?

amother

Gray

Wed, Jan 02 2019, 8:14 am

emcee wrote:

did they gain as nicely as before once they were trained?

Sure, they ended up eating the same amount but bigger feeding. They had 24 oz a day. That's what's recommended for that age.