We recently featured Part 1 of Siblings Cosleeping with great information on the advantages of doing so and how to cosleep safely. We have received many wonderful cosleeping pictures, but noticed there were quite a few sets of twins finding comfort by bedsharing. It would only seem natural, wouldn’t it? After spending their whole life together (thus far) in the womb, it would feel right and safe to continue sharing space and love with each other once earthside!
Let’s hear from some experts and from BWF families with twins and their experiences with cosleeping!
“Our twins (Charlee & Lola) have been co-sleeping with us since the day we brought them home & typically migrate to each other no matter how far apart we put them (sometimes the resulting migrations aren’t so cute).” ~Manda
Erin Tiscareño sayas, “I thought I would contribute pics of my boys to your sibling photos. They have always slept together, and no I can’t get them to separate at 2!”
“Since they were “wombmates” for many months, your babies are used to sleeping together. Newborn specialists have long observed that twins placed together in the same incubator or bassinet while in the hospital tend to breathe better and grow faster. Co-bedding works especially well in the early months.” ~Dr. Sears from Parenting.com
Sent in by Nicole M. of her newborn twins sharing a sleeping space.
Gabby shares this about her twins and their sleeping arrangements, “My twin boys have slept together since they were born. We were given a custom built twin crib with an optional separation in between them. Around 11 months we thought maybe we should separate, for better sleep. They cried for each other the first night. During naps again the next day, bawling. I finally grabbed Jaemon and put him with Dominic and they instantly fell asleep. I came back in the room to find them like this. They always sleep touching each other now, even at 16 months. They will stay together until they tell us they want to be separated.”
Sent in by Moriah…
More from Dr. Sears, “Try putting one baby next to you and the other in a bedside co-sleeper, a crib-like bed that attaches safely to your bed. Or, if you are a single mother, try putting your babies down to sleep on their backs in your bed and sleeping between them. Most nursing mothers find that co-sleeping gets them more sleep, since they are able to nurse one baby and then quickly roll over and feed the other before both wake up.”
From Australia, Selina’s adorable twins…
Other things to keep in mind:
Getting help from Dad at night with twins is a must. You can assign each other a baby for the night and dad can bottle feed. If that is not what you want, then dad can help get baby to mom and get a baby back to sleep.
Have babies on the same schedule. This may take some tweaking and adjusting, but can be done. Usually one baby will take cues from his/her sibling. If you get babies on the same schedule, you will get more rest yourself…especially if you can nap with them!
Get any help you can during the day. Whether from friends, family or hired help!
Remember, cosleeping and bedhsaring has great benefits through infancy and beyond, when done safely and how it is best for each family!
*First twin picture by Sarah with Capturing Fireflies Photography
Recommended Reading
Unique and Intuitive Parenting
Siblings Cosleeping and Bed Sharing {Part 1: Safety and Advantages}
My CBAVBAC – Cesarean Birth After VBAC
Community Support and Breastfeeding {Make a Difference}
Selah’s Birth Story
A Home Birth Story- Hypnobirthing: A Drug-Free Birth Story
A Long-Awaited Natural Birth: My VBA2C
The Freebirth of Poppy
Battling Hyperemesis Gravidarum
13 Comments
Amanda
I love this! Though I must say, scheduling our twins was something that never (personally) worked out for us but not from lack of trying. It affected my breastfeeding & drove me crazy when I couldn’t manage to get both to take naps at the same time. Luckily we found our own groove & over time, we just sort of found our own balance without the scheduling. We found that maintaining any semblance of a routine worked better for helping all of us keep some sanity. but that was us, personally 🙂
Judy Berger
I have no photos of my co-sleeping twins handy for they are 25 years old now. They always slept together. Either in the family bed or just with each other. They went from sharing a cradle to a crib and then a full size mattress on the flour. The first time they slept in a bed by themselves they were in Kindergarten and 5 years old when I bought them a set of bunk beds. They slept in the same room until they moved away at age 18.
angela
I love these pics. My twins are preemies and even in the NICU when they co-beded they were at much peace. Now that they are almost 5 mths adjusted they have been co-bedding since Jan. My girls have slowly started following each other ques but they sleep through the night and I am loving it. Happy babies equals happy mama.
Therese Kuhl
I cosleep wit my twin boys..they are breastfed so it allowed me some measure of sleep. Lol their dad co slept withus till recently. He sleeps better alone so we let him. The boys when very small(just out of the nicu) would not sleep without the other so they got tucked in together in a large pack and play bassinet. when we felt it was safe and they wanted to they joined us in the big bed. Right now I have a mattress on the floor and use a small neck pillow. no or ties when they wake and want to explore.
Tipper
So many cute wee babies!!
We cosleep with our twins and it’s been great for everyone. I will say that I’ve never felt the need to try to get anyone on the same schedule; we breastfeed on demand and my husband has only given a bottle during the middle of the night twice (when our babies were 5-6 months old) so I could get a much-needed longer stretch of sleep. The babies often wake at the same time to eat, but not always. It’s actually easier when they don’t, since I can lie down and comfortably nurse the one who woke up.
ethel lijoi
Im having triplets and plan on them cosleeping together. I would think they wont want to be alone 🙂
Miranda
My twins are 5 and still co sleep curled around each other like a human yin yang. We tried to separate them once, longest night of my life, never tried again. They even sleep together at nap time at school. But they are independent enough to play separately with other children, if that is their desire, and get along fine in the same class at school. People always tried to tell me I was letting them be too dependent on each other and letting them sleep together all the time was overboard. I only have to point to their behavior to show otherwise.
Melissa
People are so ridiculous! Why would they even care how your kids sleep? Good for you for letting them sleep together. And tell all those people who harass you like that that it’s actually a little creepy they are so concerned how your children sleep 😉
Lynda M Otvos
My sister’s twins co-slept until they were in high school and even now occasionally when emotions are running high for whatever reason, they still find comfort in being very near each other. I suspect that that will not change as time passes.
Jessica S
I’m a twin & at the age of 23 I’d still share a bed with my sister if we were both at my moms for a weekend.. And didn’t have three babies already filling our beds
fay knowles
My twins are 7 yrs old now they have bunk beds but kept waking up during the night,one night they wanted to sleep together and have stayed like it ever since they don’t get up during the night any more
charlotte
My 11 week old demand breastfed preemie twins (32w) sleep with each other in my bed, dad elsewhere with older siblings at night. They do love to be together but always wake each other, don’t want me in between them and both are desperate to be the baby next to me, esp next to my breast, crying and disturbing the other one if they are on the outside. So not fab for peaceful sleep at the moment. Any tips to keep both happy at once? Xx
Eva
Try putting them in a vertical line with one head at the other’s feet and sleep halfway between them. You can just shift up and down vertically to nurse and they are both close by you and each other. This sometimes works for me.