from cosleeping with twins to sleeping through the night in their cribs: 8 month twins sleep story
8 month twins, co-sleeping to crib sleep
From cosleeping to sleeping through the night in crib!
Yes! We work with twins! Yes, we work with families who are cosleeping and ready to transition to crib sleep.
What is more difficult than one baby that does not sleep? Two babies that do not sleep well!
Let me introduce you to the story of 8 month twins that went from sleepless nights to life-changing sleep results. Nothing is more important than feeling well-rested as a twin parent.
Quinn & Kellan’s twin story
Quinn & Kellan were sleeping in their parent’s room, each waking up to 3x per night for feeding, needing a pacifier replaced, or comfort.
On top of their frequent overnight wakes they were both waking as early as 4:30am which led to starting their day by 5 AM.
Needless to say, parents were working double-time all throughout the night and reached out to us for more support.
Out of desperation to get any sleep in the first few months with the twins parents had resorted to cosleeping as it allowed parents to get 2, 3, and 4 hour stretches of sleep at a time.
But over time, a couple of overnight wakes turned into more frequent wakes, needing a feed or pacifier replaced multiple times to resettle, and more time and effort to get them to fall and stay asleep.
Both babies relied on being held and co-sleeping to fall asleep and stay asleep. If they felt the absence of physical touch from a parent or even a caretaker at daycare, they would wake.
For some parents with only one child, this might seem manageable. But for a parent of twins or a parent of more than one baby, it was unsustainable to continue this sleep type of routine.
Transition from cosleeping to sleeping through the night in crib and own room
The first step with Quinn & Kellan was getting them acclimated to their new, shared room environment where they transitioned on night 1 of sleep coaching. Parents were naturally anxious about having them sleep in the same room and how this would affect sleep training.
The good news is that twins will learn to sleep through each other’s noises, protests and cries over time.
It took a few nights to adapt to sleeping in their cribs. However, by consistently implementing a research-based method at bedtime and during all wakings, the twins learned to fall asleep independently and sleep 11-12 hours overnight within a few nights.
Just know…It’s never too late for your baby to learn a new sleep routine! Using a consistent approach is essential during this transition.
Weaning feeds & adjusting daytime schedule
Mom shared that both twins daytime appetite was not great. She could tell that they were grazing and not as hungry as they should be during the day and understood that the overnight feeds were directly impacting their daytime appetite.
This pattern is known as reverse cycle feeding and is something we work with daily when providing sleep coaching support.
We knew it was time to wean the 1-2 overnight feeds. As we weaned and removed the overnight feeds, their daytime feeds increased and became more predictable along with their routines & schedules.
Establishing a consistent desired wake-time (past the early morning hours between 4-6am) also helped create more predictability with their daytime feeding and nap schedule.
more predictability and “Peaceful” bedtime
On day two, Mom shared “
If you are looking to turn your child’s resistant bedtime, overnight sleep and daytime schedule into a more peaceful experience, we will support you along the way!
Mom’s Testimonial: From cosleeping to sleeping through the night in crib
Sleep Resources to help your family
We supported Kari’s family with our 1:1 Ultimate sleep plan. We provide a personalized sleep plan, track feeds and sleep in an app that we monitor daily, and provide daily email check ins for support, guidance, and accountability. 1:1 personalized sleep coaching is available to families worldwide starting at 3 months of age up to 4 years!
Looking for a customizable and self paced approach? The Well Rested Course will walk you step-by-step through a completely customizable sleep training experience. The Well Rested course includes my expert methods and tips that I have used with 1:1 coaching over the past 5 years but allows you to take it at your own pace. A step by step approach to teach your baby to fall asleep independently, wean overnight breast and bottle feeds, sleep 11-12 hours overnight, AND you’ll have a plan to navigate any future regressions or bumps in your journey. I’ll also help you set up a daytime routine and nap schedule that fits your family’s lifestyle and values. And you’ll get age-specific guidance to meet your baby right where he or she is developmentally at every stage from now until your baby turns 2.
