Shouldn’t do this, shouldn’t do that…

@christian1724 A sound machine is one of the sleep associations that's easiest to eliminate if you decide to do that later on. You just turn down the sound a couple clicks each night until it's off completely. Sleep associations are fine! You just have to work on stopping them if they cause you problems. Like if you're sick of putting a pacifier back in the baby's mouth multiple times a night, it's a good idea to phase the paci out. But it's all personal preference. What drives one parent nuts will be fine for another.
 
@kittymeow1919 The “sleep training” industry can go F themselves. Sorry, I have strong feelings on it. My eleven month old has a bottle and is rocked to sleep for naps and bed. He takes two 1.5 hour naps and only wakes 0-1 times a night.

“Sleep crutches” isn’t a thing for my son 🤷🏻‍♀️

You do you!!!
 
@kittymeow1919 Do what works for you!!! Also 12 weeks is so little, none of that crap applies that young. I remember feeling the same way at that point. Drowsy but awake doesnt work when they are tiny in the fourth trimester. I was the same as you then my bub got a bit older and the four month sleep regression hit us hard and our only way out was slowly encouraging him not to need me to get himself to sleep every time he woke. Now drowsy but awake is an actual thing (6 months) and He can usually self settle. I still pick him up and rock him whenever he needs it though, which is not uncommon.
 
@kittymeow1919 Yes! According to bloggers, nursing or cuddling is a sleep crutch and your baby will be ruined forever, but definitely swaddle and use white noise! For some reason those don't count? I don't understand it.
 
@linvic3 It's because those associations are persistent through the night and don't require the parent's presence. The baby will wake between cycles and still be swaddled and hearing white noise, so those are great tools for better sleep. Nursing to sleep CAN become problematic if the baby wakes all night needing to nurse back to sleep each time.
 
@kittymeow1919 Seriously, just do what works for you. My firstborn was a stubborn kid and I rocked and nursed him to sleep until we were ready to try sleep training (which was a personal choice - no judgement if you do or don’t). My twins, on the other hand, have put themselves to sleep without crying every night since birth and started sleeping through the night on their own at 3 months old. If they’d been my only experience with baby sleep, I would’ve thought people were exaggerating how bad it can be. But I know they’re unicorns and most babies need a lot of help to sleep. Do what works for you! Your kid will eventually learn to sleep without rocking and nursing, but for now, do what works for you and your child.
 
@sepheeme12 Funnily enough, we’re in almost the same position. Eldest kid, we used a lot of the ‘bad’ techniques of nursing/rocking to sleep because it’s what worked. With our twins, they’ve always slept independently and self soothed. But, it’s kind of necessity with twins. Contact naps and rocking to sleep just isn’t practical with two of them. I get that I’ve also got unicorns. They’ve slept 12 hours a night (save for a few teething nights and a flu bug) since 5 months and are 12 months now. And have always napped well from being fully awake to winding themselves down. I haven’t specifically done anything different this time but we got lucky.

Do what works for you. So what if someone else thinks it’s wrong? They’re only opinions and you can choose to give them no weight or take something from it if it helps your personal situation.
 
@devinbaker I’ve always wondered if having their twin in the same room helps them settle more easily. It’s probably more of the fact that twins have no choice but to self soothe. There are times one is screaming his head off but I’m tending to his twin or older brother and the unhappy twin just has to deal with it and wait (and I’m sure you, or any twin parent, can relate to that situation!)
 
@sepheeme12 Exactly! They are never ever truly alone in their room- they know the other is always there. And yeah, sadly, mine are used to being left a little upset while I deal with the other. Thankfully we’re at the stage now where one can wake up and scream holy murder and the other sleeps through it completely. Baby girl is better at sleeping through her brothers outbursts as she’s always been the better sleeper but he’s slept through her teething wakings lately too.

You have to leave your guilt at the door with twins. They don’t know any different. They’ve never had me to myself so don’t know that they’re ‘missing out’ as such.
 
@kittymeow1919 I echo this post. I am a first time momma too and damnit if I don't feel like I'm always doing something wrong because one article or book says do it this way and another says do it a different way. There's so much conflicting information out there - it's maddening to try to navigate through and figure out which to believe. It's so hard. I feel you!
 
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