Babies Fall Asleep Without Being Nursed, Rocked or Carried

I’m Serene, mother of 5.5 month old twin boys John and Nate. Before we engaged Zoe, our daily routine was chaotic and in a mess. I was feeding my twins on demand and nursing them to sleep and it felt like a never ending cycle. They also needed to be carried and rocked to sleep. We tried giving them pacifiers, but they didn’t take to it.

When they turned four months old, suddenly their sleep became even poorer – nap times were shortened to 20-30mins, and they kept waking up very frequently during the night. We had to rock them to sleep for a much longer period now and even when we put them down gently, they would rouse from their sleep and we would have to carry and rock them to sleep all over again. My husband and I were really sleep deprived and exhausted. Furthermore, I was starting work the following week and was very concerned for my parents who would be the primary caregivers for the twins during the day.

Desperate for a solution, I contacted Zoe, who was really accommodating to come down at a short notice. She shared with us the sleep training plan and encouraged us to implement a proper routine with the EASY cycle. Initially I had concerns if the plan would work for my twins as it seemed that they would wake each other up with their cries. However, Zoe reassured me that it would work. We decided to implement the plan after the Chinese New Year holiday.

For the first night of the sleep training, we did our usual bedtime routine and then put them in their cots awake. As expected, they cried and protested. To my surprise, the older twin fell asleep quite fast, but after 30mins he was awoken again by his brother’s cries. In total they cried on and off for a good 1hr 20min before finally falling asleep. I felt very lousy, but Zoe encouraged me to persevere on. Thankfully, I also had the support from my family members that helped make the process easier.

The crying got lesser each day, and the boys eventually also got used to each other’s cries and were able to sleep through it.

Now I’m happy to say that they are able to fall asleep without being nursed/rocked/carried to sleep. Their naps are very solid as well – sometimes we face a (good) problem of them napping for too long and we having to wake them up!

The boys are more alert and refreshed, and in a much better mood than before. It has definitely been much easier for my parents and I to care for them now. With Zoe’s help in implementing a more predictable routine for the twins, we now have time for ourselves which is a plus for all of us too!

Thank you and appreciate your invaluable support and guidance throughout this whole sleep training process, Zoe!!

Serene, mother of 5.5 months old twins