Multiples and More QOTW-Do you believe in CIO

How do you feel about CIO (cry it out)?
Well if you would have asked me 2 years ago what I thought about it, I would have been totally against it. I would never have thought that I would let my baby just cry. Well when I had DS#1, I changed my mind. He was an easy child. I didn't have much problems when it went to getting him to sleep. Until he hit about 7 or so months. When I would put him down, he would just cry because he didn't want to go to bed or that he just wanted to be near us. I had made sure that I had fed him, changed him, and made sure that he was tired before I layed him down. He just would cry. So I would wait about 3-4 min and I would go back in his room and reassure him that everything was ok. If he would cry again, I would wait a little bit longer before I would go back in there, say, 8-9 min. I continued this if he kept fussing. After 3 or 4 days, I didn't have to go back to his room because after about 5 min of him fussing or crying, he was asleep. Since then, we haven't had any problems getting him to sleep. Same thing, we make sure he is fed and dry, we then put him in bed, pull the covers up, turn on the radio and we walk out. Thats it! People are amazed on how well he goes to bed.

Now with the twins, it's a different story. They are still in our room. They share a crib. So these are factors that play into our sleeping in our house. Until the twins were about 3 months old, if one got up to eat, I got the other up to eat. It was better on my sanity. I couldn't be getting up 4 times a night. I would have lost my mind. Anyways, at about 3 months, they started sleeping through the night. Mommy was in heaven (It didn't make that much of a difference to daddy because he didn't get up with the babies at night.) Well a short 4 weeks later, they hit their 4 mnoth growth spurt. They were getting up once, maybe twice a night each! EACH!! I was so exhausted for the next 2 months. Its not easy to used the CIO method with twins who are sleeping in the same room as each other, and also in the same room as another adult who has to get up and go to work the next day (not including mommy who has to work 3 days a week outside of the home.)

Do/Did you use this method for sleep training?
Unintentionally I did with DS#1. I didn't realize it was a form of CIO that I was doing, but it worked. Now with the twins, they are somewhat sleeping through the night. Just this past week (a few days after they turned 6 months) they started sleeping better. I don't know what it was, but it has been a world of difference. I don't think that this method is good for us right now, seeing as that they sleep in the same bed, and in the same room as their dad and I do. I am just afraid that if I let one cry until they go back to sleep, then they will wake the other up and I will just have to start all over again. Oh well. We will find something that will work for us. I have even thought about putting one of them in the dining room and keeping one in our room just to see if they slept better apart. Since they aren't doing bad, I will just keep doing what I am doing now. Nothing. Just changing and feeding them right before they go to bed. We do try to keep the room pretty quiet, either no noise, or just the tv turned down pretty low. I try to keep DH quiet too. He doesn't have the quiet gene. It's either loud or louder. Oh well.

How well do your multiples sleep?
Well as I stated above, they have been doing better, but still not STTN all the time. I just hope for my sanity and for their sleep patterns, that they sleep better forever!

Do you think that you were/are more likely to allow your child to CIO because they are multiples?
No. I think that them being multiples and cosleeping with each other makes it harder to let them CIO. Like I said before, if things aren't great in a few months, I might separate them see if CIO works. (well mommy and daddy might be moving our bed to the basement to let the twins have their own room since we only have a 2 br house.)

What instances do you think it is appropriate/inappropriate to let a child CIO?
Honestly it depends on the child. If your child can be self soothed, then I think it would work. If they are only soothed by parents holding them or nursing, I don't know how it would work. It would be inappropriate when the child is too young. A 2 month old doesn't need to CIO. I think there is an appropriate age for all kids when it comes to this sort of thing. It is up to the parents though. They are the only ones that know for sure if their kids are ready for some sort of sleep training. All of the child's needs need to be met before they should be allowed to CIO. They should be changed, fed, and in a safe environment.