We started sleeping training on a Friday night. I'm lucky enough to have Mondays off from work, so we had three nights to get the ball rolling and hopefully have the twins sleeping well before I had to get up for work on Tuesday morning.
Night #1 Wait times 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes:
Dr. Ferber suggests putting the babies down to bed a little later than their typical bedtime so they will be tired and ready to fall asleep. Normal bedtime for us is 7:30, so we were shooting for 8 PM the first night. The twins had solid foods at 6:15 and then we played until 7:15. It was then time for baths and warm PJ's. We read two bedtime stories and then gave the twins their final bottle of the day. Remember, we had been doing a 10 PM dream feed so this was our first time completely eliminating that feeding. The twins were very sleepy while drinking their bottles, but we made sure they stayed awake. At 8 PM, we carried the babies to their cribs and laid them down. We said "good night, sleep well, we love you" and left the room.
There was a few minutes of quiet as the babies both rolled around in their cribs. It seemed as though they didn't believe we were serious. After about three minutes, Owen started to cry and Teagan, very surprisingly, was cooing. She has always fought her sleep, so this was not the reaction I was expecting. At the 3 minute mark of crying, I went in and comforted Owen briefly, but did not pick him up or give him his pacifier. Naturally, it did not stop his crying. After another 5 minutes Owen was still crying, but it was slowing down and Teagan was still cooing and babbling. I went in again, comforted Owen briefly and left the room. After 10 minutes of consistent crying Owen calmed down and fussed on and off for another few minutes. He fell asleep 15 minutes after being put down for the night. Teagan fell asleep 20 minutes after being put in her crib and never cried once. It was hard listening to little Owen cry, but overall we though this was a great start.
At 10:30 Teagan woke up for the first time and decided to make up for her initially tolerant reaction to sleep training. She started crying hard right away. Sean went in at 3 minutes and this only intensified her crying. Owen woke up when he heard Sean in the room and was fussing a bit. After another 5 minutes I went in to let them both know we were still here and we loved them. Once again, Teagan wailed when I left the room. Dr. Ferber wrote that this is to be expected because they are not getting want they want (i.e their pacifiers and being picked up). Owen fell asleep before the 10 minute wait time. Teagan was still crying pretty consistently, so I went in for another quick comforting. As we approached the next 10 minute mark, Teagan was finally starting to slow down. She would cry for a minute, start to fall asleep, but then startle hersef and cry again. I did not go in the room when the 10 minute alarm went off because our visits only seemed to wake her up. After a total of 35 minutes, Teagan was truly asleep. It was just after 11 PM and we didn't hear either one of them for the rest of the night.
Night #2 Wait times 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 12 minutes:
We didn't do naps in the crib on Saturday, mostly because we had plans to go to the aquarium with friends in the afternoon. Teagan and Owen were exhausted by the early evening after having so much fun on our outing. We did our new nightly routine and by 7:30 the twins could hardly keep their eyes open. However, they knew what was happening and began to cry as soon as we put them in their cribs. At both the 5 and 10 minute wait times (so 15 minutes total) Teagan and Owen were crying consistently. We went in after each wait time, but it certainly did not settle them down. I really started to doubt our plan at this point and wanted to go pick up my babies and soothe them. I managed to stay strong and distracted myself by preparing dinner with Sean. After about 20 minutes, Owen started to quiet down and would fall asleep for a minute before waking up and fussing again. Teagan had not yet settled, so I went in for the final time after the first 12 minute wait (27 minutes total). Owen fell asleep just a few minutes later, 30 minutes after being put to bed. Teagan cried on and off for a little longer, finally falling asleep for good 37 minutes after being put to bed. Owen woke up for a few minutes at 10 PM and Teagan at 10:30 PM, but they both fell back to sleep on their own.
Night #3 (and Day #1 of naps) Wait times 10 minutes, 12 minutes 15 minutes:
Sunday was night #3 and during the day was the first time we tried doing naps in the crib. I tried putting the twins down for a nap 9 AM (they were up for the day at 6:30) and Owen fell asleep in after 5 minutes of fussing and Teagan after 10 minutes. They napped for less than an hour. The second nap of the day was later in the afternoon and was much of the same. They were asleep in under 10 minutes, but napped for less than an hour. This made for two tired and cranky babies at bedtime. Owen was asleep just 8 minutes after being put in his crib! Teagan fussed a little longer (there was no full blown crying from either baby) and was out 13 minutes after being put to bed. Since she was settling herself down pretty well, we did not go in at the 10 minute wait time because we didn't want to agitate her. This was a huge improvement and a clear sign that sleep training was working.
Friday, February 20, 2015
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Sleep Training 6 Month Old Twins; Prologue
I'll start by saying that the decision to sleep train is personal one. There is a lot of controversy around the subject and what works for one family does not necessarily work for another. Sean and I talked about sleep training for a month before we decided to bite the bullet and give it a try.
We chose the Progressive-Waiting Approach and I read Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber in preparation. If you are planning on sleep training using this method, read the book first. This is so important. It was helpful to learn the specifics about infant (and toddler) sleep cycles and it gives all the information you need to help determine why your child is not sleeping through the night.
After reading the book, I realized that we had created negative sleep associations for Teagan and Owen. They were falling asleep on their own at night, but not in their cribs. They started off the night sleeping in their swings and then at 10 PM, we would take them out, wrap them up in the sleep sacks and then do a bed time bottle feeding. Once they finished eating, we put them in their cribs for the night. Owen would then wake up two or three times during the night and Teagan once or twice. They would wake up crying and we would run in and give them back their pacifier to settle them back down. Neither baby was awake for more than a few minutes, but Sean and I were up several times a night and we were exhausted. I learned from reading Dr. Ferber's book that all of us, including infants, wake up slightly as they transition from REM to Non-REM sleep. We use this brief period to check our surroundings, make sure every thing is the same as when we fell asleep and then settle back down. Generally we do not remember these brief periods of wakefulness. For Owen and Teagan, they remembered falling asleep in their swing, so when they woke up in the crib, it was different and upsetting. They were also dependent on their pacifiers and were not soothing themselves back to sleep. So these were the two issues we had to fix. We also decided to stop swaddling because both babies were starting to fight their swaddles and trying to roll over in them.
We did make a few changes prior to starting sleep training, hoping that it would make things easier. We started putting the twins to sleep in their Rock and Play Sleepers as opposed to the swings so they did not have the constant motion keeping them asleep. We also slowly reduced their bedtime feeding. They were taking 4 to 5oz at night, so we reduced by 1/2oz every few nights. Once they were down to an ounce and a half, we were ready to start.
We chose the Progressive-Waiting Approach and I read Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Dr. Richard Ferber in preparation. If you are planning on sleep training using this method, read the book first. This is so important. It was helpful to learn the specifics about infant (and toddler) sleep cycles and it gives all the information you need to help determine why your child is not sleeping through the night.
After reading the book, I realized that we had created negative sleep associations for Teagan and Owen. They were falling asleep on their own at night, but not in their cribs. They started off the night sleeping in their swings and then at 10 PM, we would take them out, wrap them up in the sleep sacks and then do a bed time bottle feeding. Once they finished eating, we put them in their cribs for the night. Owen would then wake up two or three times during the night and Teagan once or twice. They would wake up crying and we would run in and give them back their pacifier to settle them back down. Neither baby was awake for more than a few minutes, but Sean and I were up several times a night and we were exhausted. I learned from reading Dr. Ferber's book that all of us, including infants, wake up slightly as they transition from REM to Non-REM sleep. We use this brief period to check our surroundings, make sure every thing is the same as when we fell asleep and then settle back down. Generally we do not remember these brief periods of wakefulness. For Owen and Teagan, they remembered falling asleep in their swing, so when they woke up in the crib, it was different and upsetting. They were also dependent on their pacifiers and were not soothing themselves back to sleep. So these were the two issues we had to fix. We also decided to stop swaddling because both babies were starting to fight their swaddles and trying to roll over in them.
We did make a few changes prior to starting sleep training, hoping that it would make things easier. We started putting the twins to sleep in their Rock and Play Sleepers as opposed to the swings so they did not have the constant motion keeping them asleep. We also slowly reduced their bedtime feeding. They were taking 4 to 5oz at night, so we reduced by 1/2oz every few nights. Once they were down to an ounce and a half, we were ready to start.
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