Are you longing for a good night’s sleep but not sure where to start? We were in that situation with our twins and this book helped immensely!! From sample schedules, sleep charts, checking in, and step-by-step directions on how to make a plan, the Sleepeasy Solution book helped us get our twins to finally sleep!
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Where to Turn
We chose not to sleep train our first child because I had read research prior to having him that indicated it was best for the baby to not be sleep trained. He didn’t sleep through the night until he was 18 months old. Much of that time he’d wake every 45 minutes, it was horrible. When I became pregnant with twins when he was 20 months old, so we had all just started to sleep again and I knew we couldn’t do this all over again with the twins.
First, we looked into sleep training for twins books and while they were relatively helpful, weren’t quite what we were looking for. I started asking around in mom groups on Facebook and The Sleepeasy Solution sounded like a great fit. We bought the book when the twins were 7 months old and started reading right away.
Before long, I was loving this book. It not only has clear and concise advice about exactly how to make a plan for sleep training but it also has some great go-to charts that we continue to reference two years later!
Key Points
Right upon opening this book I saw the Introduction stating “We Feel Your Pain”. That helped me feel more comfortable that I’m not alone and that they have been through all of this and aren’t just writing this from research but also actual practice. The introduction goes through different types of sleep training, including the difference between no-cry and cry-it-out methods.
Next, the book goes into how to tell if you’re sleep-deprived and how sleep deprivation affects the body and mind of you, your marriage, and your child(ren).
By page 11 we’re already working on creating a plan. I love that the book got down to business right away. There are checklists for where to begin, customizing your sleep plan and many “sleep stealers” and how to navigate them. There are also sections regarding how to handle nursing, pacifiers, sharing a room, and how to react to certain situations based on age.
One of the things I really love are all of the example plans with times and routines. I’ve been able to use these to develop my plans over the years of how to get kids to sleep better, sleep longer, deal with early waking or not wanting to go to bed.
Another great thing about the example plans is that they aren’t just for one night, it gives you a week of times for pacing nighttime feeds, weaning from the breast, and weaning from bottles.
The books’ authors really get that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution and that nothing changes overnight.
Step-By-Step
As mentioned previously, this book isn’t all just theories, it gives you the knowledge and relatable examples to be able to create your own plan, easily, even while you’re low on sleep! Chapter 3 is titled Step-by-Step, and it really is. From creating a station, or home base, to bedtime routine, to exactly what to do when baby is crying after you put them down.
The book lays out when to check-in, what to do, how to know when baby is learning to sleep better, and what to do in the morning.
Chapter 4 discusses the truth about crying and why children cry when they’re learning how to sleep, and why crying doesn’t hurt children.
Not Just Overnight Sleep
This book also has helped me immensely in terms of naps for my kids. Chapter 5 is all about naps! I learned from this book that my first child stopped napping WAY too early and I should have tried harder to get him to continue with naps longer than I did. I also was able to use this book and their example schedule to determine how to adapt the twins’ nap schedule to fit the need to drop off and pick up my oldest from preschool, back when they had morning naps.
This book also helped me figure out how to go from two naps down to one.
Developmental Issues
There are three chapters that talk about developmental issues and how they affect sleep. The chapters are divided by age, one for birth to 12 months, 12-24 months, and 2-5 years. They cover a variety of issues such as separation anxiety, teething, developmental milestones, potty training, and more. These are really helpful for troubleshooting when your child, or children, suddenly stop sleeping well and you’re left not sure what to do.
Sample Schedules
The schedules, you guys seriously, I am still in love with all of the schedules they have that are easily adaptable for any household. I haven’t looked at this book for a while as the kids have been sleeping well for the most part, but as I look back at it I’m fondly remembering the schedules and how much they helped us figure out a plan and stick to it!
Adaptable schedules are throughout the book at various sections and also at the end of the book, ready to be adapted for you. They also have an amazing sleep chart and average sleep needs by age. I still do reference these areas even with my twins being 3 and my oldest being 5, I wonder why are they waking early? How much sleep do they need now? All of these questions are answered by this book and SO many more.
Conclusion
In all honesty, it was hard for me to admit that I wanted to sleep train the twins when they were 8 months old. I was so against it with our first child and it was hard to do at first, but I’m glad that we did. I really do feel that they slept better long term and were happier because we sleep-trained them. We were able to create a plan, full of check-ins as needed, and with that plan it helped us be consistent which helped it all actually work! Having this book to learn from and then to continue to reference throughout the years has helped me understand childrens’ sleep much better than I thought I ever would. It also helped me feel more in control of something that previously felt so uncontrollable. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a young child.
As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.