Chapter one. introduction

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2 Chapter one introduction 1

3 You knew having twins would be hard, but not this hard. They ve been crying more often in the middle of the night than you expected. You re barely falling asleep when one or the other wakes up. You rock, shush, or nurse for an hour, only to repeat the cycle all over again. This isn t sustainable: you can t function, you feel drained, and, dare I say it, you re not enjoying parenthood as much as you thought you might. You ve considered sleep training, but none of the books you ve read offer clear instructions for how exactly to do it. They don t help with naps, and forget about advice tailored to twins. Thankfully the solution to your problems is right here in this guide. I couldn t help but posting a BIG THANK YOU to you. Day four and my boys are almost there. They sleep in less than 10 minutes and it s just amazing how the quality of their sleep has improved. My husband and I have suddenly so much time on our hands in the night, we feel so relaxed! Despite reading this method in like a zillion books, I found your guide to be very comprehensive and helpful. -Nisha (Testimonials have been lightly edited) 2

4 I m Nina, a parenting blogger, author, and fellow twin mom. I can relate to your sleep deprivation only other parents of multiples can experience. For so long, it seemed like my days (and nights!) revolved around putting my twins to sleep. I was a ping pong ball, bouncing from one twin to the other, rocking one baby before rushing to put the pacifier in the other. All while hoping both would sleep long enough until I had to start the process again. I had sleep trained my eldest with success and wanted to do the same with my twins. However, I had concerns about sleep training twins in particular, especially since I planned to have all three kids eventually share a room. So I tweaked the process I used with my singleton to accommodate two babies. My husband and I sleep trained our twins with success. They went from nursing and rocking two to three times a night to sleeping 12 hours straight. We weaned them from night feedings so they no longer woke up to nurse. Our lives changed for the better. I then shared our experience on my blog, Sleeping Should Be Easy (sleepingshouldbeeasy.com), to the delight of other twin parents also desperate for sleep. Last night was our second night without any feedings and the babies did great. A little whimpering here and there throughout the night, but I didn t have to get up at all last night. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I can get some sleep now. -Amanda 3

5 The process was so successful that I knew I needed to write more about it in a comprehensive guide. However helpful the blog post was, parents were still asking questions I hadn t addressed in it, such as how to sleep train for naps. They also had their own unique circumstances I didn t think to mention. I wanted to write an extensive guide that answered these and many other questions. Combining my experience with feedback from other twin parents, I developed this guide to include everything you need to successfully sleep train your twins. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! My husband and I were just about at our wit s end with our six-and-ahalf-month-old identical twin boys. None of us was getting any sleep at all. Getting them down for the night would take hours and then the minute we went to sleep, the boys would wake up! Or our three-yearold would. No one was happy; it was getting ugly. Then I found your guide. It seemed so simple and it was! After about three nights they were falling asleep on their own, in their cribs. Then after a week of the dream feedings, we were all sleeping through the night!!!! I am so happy to report that we are all wellrested now and are one big happy family once again. THANKS!!! -Amy With this guide, you ll no longer rock or shush a zillion times only for them to wake up the minute you put them down. No more middle of the night feedings. Your twins will sleep for 10 to 12 hours straight. 4

6 You ll also have a few hours to tend to tasks or enjoy your time alone before you head to bed yourself. You ll have your nights again and long stretches of deep, quality sleep. You and your twins will wake up happy and refreshed, not sleep deprived. And you ll enjoy your twins the way you ve always wanted. I m so glad I came across your guide! We have 12-month-old boy-girl twins. She was a great sleeper but he was dreadful and from about nine months we somehow ended up with both in bed with us every night after midnight. Now they both sleep like hibernating bears! It has revolutionized my life. Now I feel a bit guilty that I was actually torturing the poor darlings by not doing it sooner. My boy is a completely different kid. Always happy, eats better, his coordination and strength has improved dramatically. I can t believe the difference. Thank you so much for changing all our lives. -Alyson This guide includes the step-by-step process you need for sleep training your twins. No fluff; no vague wishy-washy instructions. I ll also show you how to wean them from night feedings so they consume their calories during the day like you and I do. You ll learn how to sleep train them at naptime. And finally, you ll get a printable sleep tracker to help you through the process. But first, let s discuss the important stage of preparing for sleep training. In the next chapter, we ll discuss your goals and what you want to get out of sleep training. Then you ll learn when and where to sleep train, plus the tools and materials you ll need before you start. Ready? Let s get to it. 5