So double the babies, double the sleepless nights? How do we tackle twin sleep?
Having twins is hard work! Sleep training twins doesn’t have to be twice as hard.
There are little things that we can do to cater sleep training to twins.
Sleep for Twins
One thing is to make sure that they are ready. Over half of twins are born prematurely, so we want to take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to begin sleep training. That means that we’re looking at their “adjusted age”, meaning that you’re looking at their due dates and not their birthdays. For example, a baby born two months early may not be ready for sleep training until closer to 6 months. Usually babies over 6 months have “caught up” developmentally and then we can go back to actual age vs. adjusted age.
Setting Up a Bedroom for Twins
While they are used to having each other there, you really don’t want one baby waking up the other in the middle of the night. Then you have double the problems - two grouchy, tired babies!
So, use white noise in the room to block that out as much as possible. You’re going to want to get one that plugs in so it’ll run all night long. Here are two that I like:
As well, think about the location of your cribs. To the extent that you can in their bedroom, separate the cribs as much as possible.
Bedtime for Twins
Like with siblings, we want each baby to have some of your time and attention in their bedtime routine. This is so important to have them feel safe, comfortable, and secure - the foundations to a good night’s sleep.
While we want to try and have our twins on the same schedule as much as possible. Sometimes staggering bedtime by just 30 minutes can give you the opportunity to have that quality time with each baby.
Dealing with Regressions
What if one baby regresses but the other doesn’t? It may be that for a short while, you keep them separated to allow the sleeping twin to continue to get their sleep.
Wake windows will not look the same all the time. As their little one grows one may drop a nap before the other and we’ll need to adjust based on your child.
Good Sleep Habits
Like with all babies, successful sleep will come down to building those strong sleep foundations.
Sleep training really does not change all that much between singles and twins. You’re going to want to set your babies up for success with a plan and a schedule that is age-appropriate. You’ll also want to look at their sleep environment and make sure that it is set up to encourage a good night’s sleep.
For example, I worked with twins, Jake and Sophia. They were napping inconsistently and at different times of the day. Their parents were exhausted and with good reason! I worked with their parents to come up with a plan for the babies to learn how to put themselves back to sleep and have some consistency and structure to their day.
Within two weeks, both babies were falling asleep independently and following a consistent schedule.
“We will never be able to fully express our gratitude to Lily for giving us our quality of life back! We sleep now more than ever and most importantly our babies sleep 12 hour nights and nap 2 hours during the day.
Lily is the fairy godmother in our fairytale. I say fairytale, because we would never have imaged we would have such great little sleepers with having twins in the same room. But that was no problem for Lily: she knew exactly what to do! Lily’s support was invaluable in our journey to sleep.Lily is compassionate, understanding, encouraging, knowledgable, friendly and extremely supportive! When she says she is a call away she really is - she was always right there with us whenever we needed her.Lil Baby Sleep Consulting has been the best investment we have made in our babies and for the quality of life of our family.
Thank you, thank you, thank you Lily! We will be forever grateful to you!” -Issac
Acknowledging the complexities of twin sleep
While helping twins sleep can be “easy” for me. I know that twin mamas are juggling a lot.
We definitely want to keep top of mind that every child has different nuances, temperaments, and sometimes sleep times. This is why it’s SO much more important to reach out for help with this. You are not alone but you CAN get it resolved.
Creating a Plan
However many babies you have, there is nothing like the relief of a good night’s sleep. You’re working hard and you need to be on your A-game!
If you want some help in creating a plan that proactively tackles any sleep issues, with the support of a sleep specialist, let’s book a call. I’d be more than happy to help you weigh out your options.
