Author Topic: Twin trouble! Help with sleep trouble!!  (Read 693 times)

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Offline jgeise

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Twin trouble! Help with sleep trouble!!
« on: July 06, 2015, 19:05:38 pm »
I'm dying here!! Please help!! My twin girls Evelyn and Charlotte are 23 months old, one month early, and have been sleeping through the night for over a year. They have one two hour nap and sleep at night 11-13 hours. Unfortunately, this week Charlotte got sick with a poopy virus and now won't sleep. When we originally sleep trained them, going in to check on them just riled them up and made them cry much worse and longer, so we ended up doing full cry it out. It was a good fit then, but it isn't working now. She won't take a nap at all, crying the whole nap time. Then, at night, she cries until we go get her and then falls asleep on me. Then, she wakes up once or twice in the night as well. One night I let her sleep with me and for the past few days, I've been able to transfer her to her bed once she's asleep, but I'm worried that I'm giving her bad sleep habits. Should I be doing this because she's sick? How do I get her back on track when she's better? How long is too long to let her cry? Advice appreciated!!

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Twin trouble! Help with sleep trouble!!
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2015, 19:35:51 pm »
Hugs for the illness, it can really mess with routine :(. Is she better now or still unwell?  If she is still ill I would give her all the comfort she needs and then see how things stand when she is better.  Most independent sleepers will go straight back to normal once the illness has passed :) have you tried an earlier nap and/or earlier bedtime to give her chance to catch up on missed sleep?

You may not be aware but here at BW we do not support any type of CIO methods as Tracy Hogg (author of the BW books) believed that it could damage the bond of trust between LO and caregiver.  I've linked a couple of posts below for some further information.  I guess our answer to your question about how long to allow LO to cry is to say that if LO is crying for you, that should always be responded to so that LO knows you are there.  That doesn't mean to say you should give in to any and all requests, the response could be as simple as a 'it's night time, lie down and go to sleep', but to ignore a child's expressed need for you is not something we support at any age.

Research on why 'cry it out' and 'controlled crying' is NOT recommended!
Kara & Alexandra's Story


Offline jgeise

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Re: Twin trouble! Help with sleep trouble!!
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2015, 17:48:56 pm »
Like I said in the post, we aren't doing cry it out at this stage, but unfortunately, nothing else has worked either. When I go in to check on her and comfort, it riles her up even more. Then, her sister wakes up and I have two crying babies on my hands. She's not sick anymore.  Right now, she has ended up cuddling with me to sleep and then I transfer to her bed, but then some nights that doesn't work and she ends up in bed with me. Ugh. Everyone in this house is getting terrible sleep right now and I don't know what to do to comfort her and help her sleep. She starts crying at bedtime before she's even in her bed because she knows it's almost time for bed. :(
« Last Edit: July 09, 2015, 17:52:05 pm by jgeise »

Offline jessmum46

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Re: Twin trouble! Help with sleep trouble!!
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2015, 03:25:29 am »
Could well be developmental as they are close to birthday time, or a change in sleep needs/needing a shorter nap. Did you want to post a few days of your routine?