AboutBill Russo Expertise My wife and I have successfully raised our triplets using volumes of self help and instructional books, but most of our success has come from within. We have been married since 1979. After 10 years of infertility (which was an education in and of itself) we have been students of high risk pregnancy, neonatal intensive care, nursery organizational skills, potty training, discipline, schooling, and most recently, Attention Deficit Disorder. We have lived in a city setting and rural suburb. We have had hired help and have done it alone. What I offer to you is the knowledge we have accumulated over the years.
Experience
Past/Present clients I have had questions from dozens of parents of multiples in eleven countries.
Question hi my name is joanie and i have twin girls ,19 months old,that will not sleep at night nor during the day time. They wake up around 8 o'clock in the morning and then take a "nap" around 12. this nap only lasts for about a half hour. then during the day they are running around and no naps at all.when i get home from work at about 830 we put them to bed. the only way to put them in is rocking them to sleep. now i know i shouldn't be doing that but i cant find a way to break that habit. i need help with that as well. after about not even an hour of sleeping they wake up screaming again. so i go get them put them back to sleep. they continue this pattern throughout the night. I've tried letting them scream it out in their room but they get to the point where they are gasping for breath because of how much they make themselves cry. i feel like a bad mother if i just sit and let them cry like that. i don't know what to do. I'm a single mother who lives with her mother and this is the first time for twins in our family so we are clueless. PLEASE HELP!
Answer Your instincts are correct. You have to stop the rocking to sleep. They are waking just to get your attention. A competition is forming between the girls for your time, especially since it is limited by your need to work during the day. Bedtime stories and music is the best way to get them out of that habit. Be sure they have a bottle of milk about a half hour before bed. A bottle of water while in bed listening to your story will clean the milk off their teeth. Try combining music in the background while you read. Don't make it too low, whisper quiet music doesn't help. You can stop reading when they fall asleep, but keep the music on for another half hour. If they wake up, letting them scream is not a sign of a negligent mother. You have to take control of things. If you pick them up while they are crying, they win...you loose. Also, try cutting out daytime naps. It sounds cruel, but 15 minutes is enough. Day time activities and plenty of outside fresh air and sunshine is essential to not only good health, but helping your children burn up all their energy and get a good nights sleep. Good Luck!
