Expert: Susan M. Heim - 8/15/2009

Question
I have 15 month old twin boys who need to be rocked to sleep.All this time we have rocked to put them to sleep together and get our work done as me and my husband has no other help.
We don't have a separate bedroom or separate cots where we can put them on their own.They sleep on the bed with us.
Even if one is sleepy the other sibling will call him up and they both play.
We cant leave them on the bed because they play on the bed and its not safe.
This is wearing us out because my husband works long hours and he hardly gets enough sleep.
How can we put our toddlers to sleep on their own..?

Answer
Dear Asha,
Wow, this is really tough if they don't have their own beds. Is there a charitable organization through which you could have some cribs donated? Or find some families who no longer need their cribs? If you couldn't fit both cribs in the bedroom, perhaps you could put one in the living room. Obviously, you can't force the boys to fall asleep on their own. Normally, I would recommend the "cry it out" method where you put your twins in their cribs and let them learn to soothe themselves to sleep, but this won't work if they both are sleeping in your bed. The only other solution I can think of is just to wait to put them to bed when you and your husband are ready to go to bed, but that makes it difficult for you to have some "alone time" to get things done. It sounds like your best solution is to try to find some cribs, if possible.
I wish you all the best,
Susan