Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins: A Step-by-Step Program for Sleep-Training Your Multiples

My daughter and her 8-month-old twin boys moved in with my husband and I on a moments notice. I don't regret it for a second, but the first few nights were hard. I love those little guys fiercely, but no sleep can make even the most doting grandma a "Grumpy Gus!" My daughter texted me the link to this book, saying "You should really read this!" I said, "Why? Is it good?" "I don't know" said she. I can't stay awake to read it! Will you read it and tell me what we're going to do?" So I did, mostly overnight rocking one of the boys. And we set to work following the guidance in the book. I'm over-the-moon when I say they have slept 10-12 hours nearly every night since that first week. No lie. They are happier and more playful during the day. Some small "tics" they had before they were sleep trained have disappeared. I tell EVERYONE about this book and it's companion for singletons. It quite literally saved our sleep sanity. Read it. Do it. Love your sleep again!

Weissbluth--For allWeissbluth--For twins http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Twins/dp/0345497791I have this twin book which is only ~180pages including 20 page appendix & index. Big font. Quick read. He even says to skip the first 30pages (WHY sleep is important vs. HOW to train) if you need to.His other book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," is about twice the length. I have not read, just saw it at someone's house. I assume it has more detail.This twin book really didn't say much twin-specific except (1) don't worry about the babies waking each other up during sleep training. One or both just get used to the other, (2) some sleep training techniques are less practical for twin parents and you just need to make your own decision about what works (duh), and (3) in his research on twin moms, they are less depressed once their babies sleep more (duh!).The main authors of baby sleep books are: Ferber, Weissbluth and Hogg. Ferber & Weissbluth are doctors. Hogg is a nurse. When I searched on [...] , I found Weissbluth has published a lot of his own sleep research in peer-reviewed journals. Hogg no publications found. Ferber had a few publications, but I only found him has primary author on one (sleep apnea-related). I decided Weissbluth must know what he's talking about.I did read Hogg's short $3 e-books: Sleep: Top Tips from the Baby Whisperer: Secrets to Getting Your Baby to Sleep Through the NightMany of the general concepts the same (put baby in bed sleepy, but not asleep, etc). The two authors give some different practical hints, so its not a waste to read both. Hogg also talks about a routine with suggestions about when to feed them AND when to put them to sleep. This book is all sleep. A big difference is that Weissbluth outlines several techniques to try for sleep training (not just CIO) while Hogg has her own method (Pick Up/Put Down--not practical for twins if there's only one person putting them to sleep) and makes you feel guilty if you've used another method, let your babies stray from their routine, or do other things that she calls "accidental parenting."One complaint: this book isn't explicit about what to do if the babies wake up in the middle of a nap or the night. Talks mainly about how to put them to sleep. Anyway, I ended up just letting the babies CIO anytime they needed to go back to sleep. Throughout a couple of weeks, they got better and better about sleeping with only two really torturous days. They were 9months and had been held until they slept until then. Should be easier if you've been encouraging more self-soothing all along.

This was recommended by a physician who had twins so I bought it and found it super helpful.

Cannot recommend this book enough! If you want to sleep as a parent of babies and small children, BUY THIS BOOK!!!! Wonderful advice!

The follow-up Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins is a good resource to a parent of twins, offering practical advice for handling your multiples with a nice balance of confidence and humility.I had a singleton first, and we used the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child book to sleep train her. (Sleep train is a harsh description as it invokes images of a screaming baby and stressed parents but this is NOT how I'd describe this method) Because I had previous experience with the Weissbluth method we had an advantage in sleep training our twins. I found while the twins' book offered some practical detail about twinfants, and dealing with common concerns related to prematurity, it lacked the detail of its predecessor, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.The Weissbluth method focuses almost entirely on the premise that rested babies sleep better. You need to toss out the age old notion that if you keep your baby up, they will sleep longer and better at night. This simply is an old wives tale not unlike putting cereal in your infant's bottle. Weissbluth focuses on preventing bad habits from starting and getting your baby down in their crib sleepy but awake and allowing them to drift off to sleep by themselves. I was skeptical at first, particularly because he says that babies can't comfortably stay awake for more than 90 minutes. BUT ITS TRUE, after 90 minutes all of my children reach a state of irritability, where they seem to want to nurse and be cuddled. With my first child I mistook this cue to mean that she was hungry. I was nursing her every 90 minutes when I should have been napping her.All in all I HIGHLY recommend the Healthy Sleep Habits method, but I suggest the parent of multiples buy the original book, Happy Child, and skip Happy Twins. It just didn't have the detail and step by step instructions like Happy Child had and I still use my Happy Child book as quick reference when one of the kids hits a funny sleeping stage.FAQ's about being a mom of multiples.- Yes, my twins shared a crib until they started moving around. They tended to snuggle close together so I had to put a barrier between them in the crib to reduce the risk of SIDS and them accidentally smothering each other.- I put them in separate cribs in the same room at 5 months.- They really do ignore each other. One does not wake the other when they cry in the middle of the night- When one wakes for a night feeding we always woke up the other one and fed them too to keep them on the same schedule.- We keep their room at about 65 degrees- We give them a bath every night before bed but instead of trying to wrangle the baby tub we bought the 2 of the spongy things and put them in the regular bath tub. It is faster and they like the water.

Highly recommended book for sleep training

El libro da bastante información sobre el tema del sueño y encontrar esto enfocado en gemelos es muy raro. Pero en definitiva el método cry out no va con mi estilo de crianza, lo intenté una vez y me arrepiento. Ahora hay mucha literatura de porque ese método no es recomendable, además hay otros métodos con más acompañamiento y menos agresivos.

I read his other book healthy sleep habits, happy child first & was pleased to find a twin specific book. Both include practical logical suggestions backed by research. A life saver for tired parents & for us confirmation we were on the right track with our twins.

Has some good info but not quite as detailed as I had hoped.

Great read nth the actual information is better in Healtby Sleep Habits Happy Child.