In Need of SLEEP! - Auburn,AL

Wow, I feel for you I am a mother of 6. I know your pain. Even though the girls are twins they will grow differently. They won't get teeth at the same time. Good rule of thumb make sure before bed you bathe her and feed her maybe even more than the other girl. Ck the temp in the roon and adjust for her also make sure she is dry and has burped. Some sothing music real low in the room has helped at times. At this age you can also put a small toy or stufed animal, so if she wakes and is not hungery she can entertain her self. She also can be rechecked and then put down before falling back to sleep,and the toy will keep her company. If any of this helps, Let me know or If you have more questions I'm glad to help. I have three grand children and one on the way. D. ###-###-####

Just to echo a couple of the other moms, I LOVE Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. I have 18 month old twins and getting them sleeping was obviously really important to my sanity. I read that book when they were 6 months and it absolutely changed our lives!

If she normally slept great and could sleep on her own and is just recently waking many times, it sounds like an ear infection. I would have her checked to make sure. That is the only way to tell sometimes (frequent waking) because it only hurts when they lay horizontal and try to sleep. Also, teeth often hurt before they come in, especially that last bit before breaking through. 9 months is old enough for Motrin, which works better than Tylenol.

"Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth is an excellent book and covers any sleep difficulty you may imagine, including twins and colicky kids. I do not have twins, but our two boys are 18 months apart and we live in a small house. At 4 months, we put the younger child in a playpen in the living room and let him cry it out, so it would disturb the rest of us less. Once he was sleeping better at night (about 1-2 weeks; this was our colicky kid), we moved him into a crib in his brother's room. I worried about the older boy waking up at night, since he's always been a light sleeper, but since his brother came, he's become a deep sleeper and doesn't wake up, even when the baby cries in the night for a feeding. We do still put the baby in a playpen in our office for daytime naps, so our two-year-old can play with toys in the nursery, but otherwise they share at night and enjoy it. I hope this helps! Sleep deprivation is NO FUN!

i have identical twin boys they are almost 7 and a 2 yr old son i know what was i thinking lol...my twins would have issues sleeping when they were really little finally we figured out if we put them in the same crib they both slept wonderfully they still share a room and have bunkbeds but still somewhere in the middle of the night one ends up in the others bed and they are sleeping peacefully when i wake them up for school. i think you should try putting them in the same bed for a while its a bond that is very comforting and when they turned 1 we put them in their own beds but they were right next to each other good luck sleep is very much needed when you are a mommy of twins!

I know you won't believe this, but my friend has twin girls in the same situation. They let the girl cry it out in the same room and the other twin never moved. She got used to this and she never awaken when her sister would cry. Or you could put them in seperate rooms. Whatever you do, you need to do it soon b/c they are at an age when they know that you will come and get her. She needs to learn to self soothe and now is the time to do it. My prayers are with you.

Hi W....I have twin 7 month old girls! A few things to try would be separating them at night temporarily...we did this when we had to let one daughter cry it out at night b/c she was becoming inconsolible even in my arms at night. It took about 3 nights, but now she is a great sleeper...splept through the night completely for the second time last night. Once she got the hang of sleeping better and soothing herself, we moved her sister back in the room (We temporarily put her in my bedroom in a pack-n-play). You can also try letting her cry in the room with her sister. Usually my girls sleep through each others cries at night.

Also, if you don't have one, I'd suggest a support group for twins. I'm a memember of www.twinstuff.com and love it. The forums are great support and I'm sure you'd find lots of other advice from mom's that have been in your same shoes!!

I like the book Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child by Weisbluth...and I know he has a book out geared towards twins now too, although I haven't read it.

Good luck - here's hoping you get that much needed sleep soon :)

Hi W.. I'm so sorry to hear about your sleep deprivation! You could try putting them in separate rooms, even if that means putting one in the den, guestroom or living room to get them to sleep. You could either move the crib or just set up a playpen in the other room until she learns to self soothe and put herself back to sleep. Once the cycle is broken, put her back in the room with her sister. My first daughter always slept in a playpen comfortably due to lack of room for a crib. I just got a mattress pad, cut it to size and put crib sheets in and she slept fine! Let me know how things work out for you! Good luck!

Congradulations! I have 9 year old twin girls,(and a 3yr old son), and are they fun! One is independent and the other requires more emotional attention, although she seems to be growing out of that. Up until they were 5, I let the girls sleep together. They slept better and longer together. I think that by using their bond to each other, it made things easier for me. They seemed to need other things at the same time,(changing, feeding, etc.). Then at five they started to get independent of each other. This has only been my experience, yours might be different but I do suggest you try letting them sleep together.
Life is busy-busy with twins but I try take the time to treasure those special moments that only twins can bring.
Enjoy every moment with your girls...they sure grow up fast!

Wow !!! You poor thing. It sounds to me like an ear infection. At least, that's what I would be concerned about. My little boy always had ear infections, and had tubes when he was two. He still has problems sleeping due to enlarged tonsils - he is now 4. He still sleeps in my bed most nights. He falls asleep in his, but always comes to my bed in the middle of the night. But, the ear infections started when he started daycare at about 9 months old. I would probably start with having her ears checked. Good Luck :)