Lynn writes
I have twin 10-month-old girls who have always been challenging sleepers, though recently things have started to really improve. The girls usually take 2 naps during the day, 1-2 hours each, which is a huge improvement from the 30-40 minute naps they used to take. And even better, their nighttime sleep has improved too. Most nights we’re down to one waking per baby, and some nights they even sleep through. My question has to do with getting them to sleep. When they were younger I spent a couple of months trying to get them to fall asleep on their own but since I don’t want to let them cry it out and most gentle sleep training methods don’t seem to work for twins, I gave up and have been rocking them to sleep which is usually a much faster, easier method. I’m okay with the current system, but sometimes I worry about the future. I’ve never heard of an 8-year-old being rocked to sleep so I’m figuring we’ll transition out of the rocking-to-sleep at some point. But how? Does it always have to be a painful process? Does it ever happen naturally the same way their sleep has improved naturally?
Hi Lynn, I’m glad the sleeping has improved for you lately, you’ve got double trouble on your hands already! What I tend to think about methods of getting kids to sleep is that you do what works until it no longer works. That’s what happened to us with rocking to sleep and feeding to sleep. We rocked and fed and rocked and fed to sleep, and then one day those little eyes just didn’t want to close. So we had to figure a new way to do things.
These days, we have a cuddle, sing a song and put the Imp into his cot and he’ll mumble for a bit and drift off. What a dream! I can’t really say how we got from rocking and feeding to this point, it was such a gradual change, but I really feel as they become more confident in themselves and understand more of the world, they gain the independence to do such wonderful things and put themselves to sleep.
So I guess my advice is to do what you need to do to get them to sleep (at least they seem to be staying asleep for the most part which is 9/10 of the battle), and as they grow out of this stage, you will find new and innovative ways of getting them to bed and to sleep.
love SIFTW
Sleep Is For The Weak 
We just went through this… the rocking and feeding being a requirement to get 10 month old DS to sleep. I didn’t mind it so much during the day, but it really messed up the nights because every time he woke up, which was about every hour or so, he expected food and rocking. The peds had been after me to do CIO at 4 months but I thought it was reflux or something else and continued the rocking/feeding/getting up up to 4-5 times a night. I switched practices (for other reasons) and something the new ped said clicked with us and we did CIO. I was desperate because recently he started to hate the rocking and feeding before naps too.
We’re on day 4 with it and while he cried pretty ferociously for 18 minutes the first night, we’re down to minor grumbling and him sleeping 9 hours at night.
I don’t know how that works with twins but I say do what works until it stops working. I don’t think you’ll be rocking them to sleep when they are 8 😉
This is what I am wondering too….my 13 week old is becoming less interested in feeding to sleep, and walking and shushing or ergo-ing works now. But my baby seems really off this past week or so. I’m wondering if I should only feed to sleep at night and try to walk/rock to sleep during the day…I also co sleep, but wonder if I should put him in his cot during the day? Ahhh if only we knew the ‘right’ thing.
I just wonder when eventually (I will go as long as I can) he HAS to stay at his grandparents, HOW on earth he will sleep at night time…or in their specially prepared cot….eek.
Amazonki…
[…]10 month old twins and rocking to sleep « Sleep Is For The Weak[…]…
i have 10 month old identical twins girls, and they sound astonishingly similar to your girls, with their sleep patterns anyway. they slept through the night and stopped night feedings all on their own, by 3 months. then they started to take 30 minute naps during the day but slept great at night. then the TEETH came in, naps were rare and difficult, nights were worse, each waking more and more frequently until 9 months they were up 8 to 10 times a night each for about a half hour every waking. and only to perplex me further, they began napping during the day, two 1.5 hour naps a day, usually. and now, seemingly out of the blue they are waking less and less every night, but it has only been 4 days that they have been improving. since they were born i have been rocking them to sleep for naps and bedtime. i was starting to worry that i would be rocking them to sleep forever! two days ago they started to fight me when i began to rock them. i think that mine might have naturally decided that they are ready to start putting themselves to sleep. am i ready, maybe not. but i will keep u posted. maybe a natural transition is possible!