Is it really safe

I'm working on shopping for everything right now since who knows if I'll be on bedrest later, and I'm at a loss about whether to buy a second crib. I hear they sleep better this way, but doesn't it increase the risk of SIDS? Thoughts?

 

My twins slept together in the bassinet portion of a pack n play for the first 2 months, then they slept in 1 crib for a few weeks together - they didn't move a whole lot when they slept in those first few months and we also kept them separated by rolling a receiving blanket & putting it between them from the waist down.

We did put them in their own cribs at just over 2 months I did feel like they slept better since they weren't right next to each other :good:

 

Ok, thanks for sharing your experience! It's really helpful to find out what has worked for others!

 

I don't know the "safeness" of it personaly. But I remember another topic like this awhile back and there were a lot of mixed opinions, or well doctors opinions. Some said their doctors said it was safer and they would desturb the other and make the SIDS risk lower. (Also creating a stronger bond) Others were told not to let them because it increases it.

What I remember most (and what I am doing) is most people let them share a bassinet (well playpen) in your room until they outgrew that and moved them to cribs. Some used sleep positioners but I haven't decided if I'll use them or not. And then once they could roll over put them in serapate cribs.

I have heard that they make crib seperaters that turn one crib into two if you really don't want to buy a second crib. I don't know much about these as I have two cribs and did not research them.

 

Not sure about saftey, but a thread about this co-bedding issue is being discussed in first year forum.

http://www.twinstuff.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=134265

 

My boys shared a crib for the first 4 weeks. David hated being swaddleded and ended up smacking Jonathan in the face and waking him up. So, they got separated.

GL,
Jenn

 

Mine slept in the same crib for 6 months. Then I put them in separate cribs. They didn't sleep as well through the night then. I did put the cribs next to each other and this helped little. They would both sleep at the end next to each other and sometimes put their hands in the others crib. I also did co-sleeping with them during this time when they wouldn't sleep. At 15 months I put them in toddler beds and they always ended up in bed together. The toddler beds got to small quick for the both of them. So at 17 months I put them in a double bed with a side railing together. The sleep issues stopped. They started sleeping through the night. They still sleep together and they are 4 years old. They will not sleep alone.

 

Ours slept together for the first 4 months. they do not move around a whole lot when they first come home, we only seperated them once DS started wiggling aroud alot and kicking his legs like crazy and we were afraid DD would get kicked.

 

Your are definitely going to need a second crib. If not immediately, within the first few months. Ours slept together in a crib until they could roll over. We swaddled them separately and had them each in their own positioner and it worked well for us. The pedi knew about it and didn't object. However, they were in their own crib within a few months of being born.

 

Mine have never slept together. In the NICU, they were in separate isolettes. I had planned to have them in one crib for awhile, but the NICU doctors and nurses advised against it due to SIDS concerns. For about the first year, they acted oblivious to one another. I would lay them side by side and it was like they didn't even acknowledge the other was there.

 

Mine shared a crib for 6 months and then we transitioned them to their own rooms. We did get a second crib before they were born and put that it in DS's room. Once they were too big to share a crib that is when we separated them.

 

We are planning to use 1 crib. It will probably be in our room for the first 6 months or so. Hopefully we can last that long or we may have to buy another. We already have 1 but it's still being used and we were hoping to be able avoid buying a 3rd crib since well, that's a lot of money on cribs LOL.

If the doctors say we shouldn't due to safety then we would definitely buy a second one and separate them though. We figure that for the first while anyway they don't move around much and so it shouldn't be a problem. Good luck!

 

Of course it is safe.
I believe it lowers the SIDS risk, since some of the SIDS research indicates that one of the causes may be the baby falls into deep sleep and can't move out into a lighter level of sleep in the cycle. Having another living breathing being next to them helps prevent that from happening. Sleeping with an adult is better than with another baby, because adults know how to sleep and the baby will hear the changes in breathing patterns as the adult cycles through sleep levels.

ETA: Mine have slept together everyday of the 4 years and 9 months they've been alive (and everyday in the womb!).

 

QUOTE(Courtney2 @ Jun 22 2009, 11:55 PM) [snapback]1364800[/snapback]
I have heard that they make crib seperaters that turn one crib into two if you really don't want to buy a second crib. I don't know much about these as I have two cribs and did not research them.

crib separators are definitely SIDS risks. it's a similar issue as crib bumpers. anything they could press their mouths up against and not get a good exchange of oxygen is going to be risky.

our guys were little when they came home from NICU. we put them in the crib side by side going perpendicular to the length of the crib. they were swaddled and not active at that point. we were comfortable doing so because they were co-bedded in NICU so we followed the same procedure.

you're going to want to go ahead and get both cribs, though. they'll be too big to share in no time so in the end you won't really end up saving money or space by delaying the purchase.

 

Ours slept in the pack-n-play together first then in the same crib in their own room till they were 7 months. At that point we bought a second crib at our local twin sale. It wasn't important to me that the cribs matched so we only bought one new. We re-sold the used crib and are saving the "new" crib in case we have another.

 

If you ladies know someone who does woodworking or call a local hardware store/woodworking supply store in the phone book and ask them for names, you can easily have a crib made that holds a twin size matress, ours became a toddler bed (with rails that kept them from rolling out, but not from getting up to go potty) and is now a normal twin bed. I never even had to buy special sheets, just used ones I already had. Ours wasn't that expensive, but my BIL made it. But it's a piece of funiture we will have forever, so even if it is more expensive than buying two cribs, that's worth it.

 

Mine slept in the same crib until they moved to big kid beds just a few months ago. I never even bought a second crib. They have always slept much better together than they ever did separate.

 

my girls slept together until they were almost 4 months old- I used the sleep positioners to keep them on their backs- I think that is the concern with SIDS. they never woke each other and used to reach out to each other (when they could get an arm out of the swaddle!). we separated them because they were just too big for one crib.

 

QUOTE(Jenn Bland @ Jun 23 2009, 12:54 AM) [snapback]1364835[/snapback]
My boys shared a crib for the first 4 weeks. David hated being swaddleded and ended up smacking Jonathan in the face and waking him up. So, they got separated.

GL,
Jenn


Awww... that sounds adorable.

 

I've always read that "experts" say it is best for each to have thier own crib from Day 1. Now does this mean something is going to happen if they do share a crib? No...chances are 99.99999% that they wont.

I would say if you can't get 2 seperate cribs, then at least get a divider. We have to room in our room so we will have 2 seperate cribs.

I'm a paranoid freak and will happily admit that...I was even looking at a co-sleeper or bassinet for the side of the bed when they were young, that is until I read thant NONE of those are required to be tested or meet the safety requirements of a normal crib. That nixed it for me, but again..to each his/her own

 

We currently have a co-sleeper that we plan to use for the first couple months. Then we bought one crib for their room to share for a while, unless they seem to have a problem sleeping together. However, trying to fit a 2nd crib in their room could be really hard to manage! We will just have to see. We have decided to buy a divider for both the co-sleeper and their crib. http://www.amazon.com/Leachco-Crib-Spacer-...7613&sr=8-1 is the crib divider we are going to go with!

 

We bought a pack n play yesterday and thats where our babies will sleep for the first few months (barring any problems). We are overseas and planning a move back to the states at the end of the year so we're not setting up a nursery here and our room would be too crowded with a full size crib in there. I feel very comfortable with both of them in the pack n play (especially as they will be rignt next to my bed). If they outgrow the weight restrictions before we leave (which is likely), then we'll borrow a second pack n play to get us through).