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Sleeping Issues With 6 Month Old Twins

by Elizabeth R
(Fargo, ND)

Trying CIO with twins. They are 6 months and have not slept through the night consistently for 4-6 weeks. Baby M I know has gotten used to the bottle and will only drink 2-3 ounces (with me queuing her) and will go right back to sleep.

So, last night she went to bed at 7pm and was crying @11:30 so I checked on her the 3-5-5 minutes but she was just getting more and more upset. Well, what if she really is hungry? So, I gave in and fed her 2 ounces and she took it all. She was not completely out but I laid her back in her crib anyway. She did fuss for a while but did fall asleep. Thinking she would be out for the night...no no no. She woke again @4am and cried till aroung 5am. It was hard. I did check on her but that only seemed to make it worse. Should I have given in? Do I do the same tonight?

And, with Baby L, she was a trooper. She also went to bed @7pm woke up @around 3am. Let her cry for 5 min, but she usually eats 6 ounces so did get her up and fed her 4 ounces. She was not happy with 4 and was fussy when I laid her back in her crib, but she did go back to sleep after 15-20 min. So, do I do the same with her? What if she gets up twice tonight, do I feed her 4 ounces twice? please help!!

Comments for Sleeping Issues With 6 Month Old Twins

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Nov 07, 2012
 Sleeping
by: Anonymous

My g/g twins are nearly 6 months now. They've been sleeping through the night since 3 months. Around 12 pounds give or take a baby is biologically capable of going 5-6 hours without needing food. If you've done sleep training from the beginning (we started at week 3 with a bath/bedtime routine and they were sleeping well with one nighttime waking at 6 weeks), you should be able to simply replace the middle of the night bottle with whatever comforting technique you choose. We chose binkies and I wish we'd have chosen simple comforting such as rubbing the back or head, because the binkies are now becoming a crutch that will need to go here soon. Not looking forward to that.

As far as CIO goes, I've never heard of an accepted CIO method that instructs you to leave your infant to cry alone all night long without responding to it. Most CIO methods instruct you not to even begin until 4 months of age, and when you do, you begin with small measured doses of crying - start with allowing the infant to cry for one minute before going to respond. Do that a few times and if it doesn't work up it to two minutes, each time making sure that you're taking the time to calm the infant when you do go in.

No responsible adult with any common sense would leave their infant to cry alone through the entire night without responding to it. CIO is not the devil. That being said, it's not for everyone and it's not for every baby. You need to find what works for you and go with it. I personally feel that 4 months is too young to do a formal CIO, but I have resisted the urge to run to their side every time they whimper and it's resulted in two happy, well adjusted and well rested babies who are able to soothe themselves and fall asleep in their cribs without relying on me to rock them to sleep and silently sneak them into their cribs.
Dec 27, 2010
 sleeping issues
by: Anonymous

my twins boys ae 11 months and still not sleeping through the night. they wake up 3 to 4 each to nurse for about 5 minutes before they fall back asleep.
What can i do to help them sleep through the night.
May 21, 2010
 irresponsible parenting
by: Anonymous

The CIO approach to sleep is one of th emost idiotic things male minds have been able to come up with in the 70's. I would really like to meet parents who, for their own comfort and convenience, allow their children to scream for hours in dark rooms so as not to be bothered. Parents who expect babies to adapt to their needs rather than vice versa are the epitome of selfishness. My heart breaks for all the babies who cry alone at night wanting their mother's arms and get nothing but cold silence. Enjoy your sleep mothers! Word of advice: If common sense isnt enough to tell you that its desastrous for young babies to be left alone to console themselves (!), while they are of course, developmentally UNABLE to do so, then at least READ INFANT PSYCHOLOGY. Read the research that will shed light on how you are destroing baby's sense of trust and self-worth.
Aug 07, 2009
 A Sleeping Question
by: Andria

I have 5 mo twins that share a room and I have tried to somewhat let them cry it out but how do you do that when they share a rm? It wakes the other baby up, then you have to deal with 2 screaming babies!!!! I have another set of twins that are 2 now and the crying out method did not work for them. 1 would sleep thru the night f/ 8pm till 6 but the other would get up at 2 like clockwork. Eventually around 5-6 mo he just grew out of it and started sleeping longer and longer until eventually he was consistently sleeping through the night.
Jun 28, 2009
 Let them cry it out...
by: Anonymous

I'm pretty sure that twins should be sleeping through the night by 6 months. I don't even remember it taking that long for my twins, but they're much older now and my memory is a bit fuzzy lol. My pediatrician gave me the best advice back then, saying, "You're giving them 5 star resort treatment and you need to be giving them Motel 6 treatment if you want them to learn to sleep through the night"! Pretty funny analogy, but I think the jist of it was that your children are not going to starve if you fed them before bed. They simply need to re-adjust to NOT having feedings through the night, and sometimes that requires letting them cry it out.

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