Sleeping arrangements for newborn twins

Hi

First post - so scary LOL...

I am wondering what sleeping arrangements you had for your newborn twins. My original plan was to have them in a playpen in our room to start but while shopping this weekend realized the bassinet level is only good for up to 15 LBS in Canada. So now I am back to square one.

Any advise is apreciated - thanks

 

Good job on your first post!!! Glad to have you!
I had a pnp in our room that they both slept in until 8 weeks. Then I moved them to their room they shared but I put them in their own seperate cribs. We all slept better then, but I did like having them close by the first few weeks.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

We had a crib set up for them, but they wound up sleeping mostly in bouncy seats and swings in the living room for the first 3 months. They slept much better sitting up. And we slept much better if we took turns being in the room with them (one parent "off duty" in our bedroom, the other "on duty" on the couch).

I know a lot of newborn twins sleep together, but we felt that they woke each other up (even when very little). We had a few good nights with them in the PNP together (I think the weight limit was 30 lbs?), but on the whole, it was much better if they were separated. Even one twin crying did not bother the other if they were a few feet apart, but if they were right next to each other, they both woke up -- plus, Amy had a tendency to come unswaddled and bonk Sarah in the face.

 

I used a borrowed "porta crib" so it has a full wooden board supporting the mattress, so it can hold a higher weight limit, at about 7 months they outgrew that

 

My boys slept where ever they'd sleep! Sometimes that was in their cribs, sometimes that was in bed with me. Especially in the beginning- I did whatever I had to do to get sleep for all 3 of us. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.. And congratulations on your twins!

btw- my boys are the best sleepers ever so the choices I made to get through the early days did not impact what kind of sleepers they became later... just thought I'd throw that out there!

 

We have a loft right outside our bedroom door, so we set up the girls' crib there (we only used one crib for the first 6 months.) Our kids LOVE swaddling, so they never woke each other up in the first few months. It wasn't until they were 8 months old or so that we moved them into their own room and into their own cribs. At that point they were rolling so much and it was obvious they were waking each other up. But I agree - see what works for you because every baby is different. This time we'll set up 1 crib in the loft, have a pnp available for our room and also a cradle that we'll use downstairs along with the swings. We'll see how these boys do with sleeping.

 

I have a big convertible crib (my 5yo is sleeping in a bed that is the same size) and will have them together in that for as long as I can. I feel that if they wake each other up I can always move one to each end of the crib, it's that big. I will also set up other possible sleeping arrangement in another room as that is often recommended with twins. Especially if one tends to be a worse sleeper than the other. We will have swings and a packnplay in the living room for that purpose.

 

I have 2 month old boys and they share a crib. Have since they were brought home form the hospital. They dont wake each other up either. I have one that sleeps through the night and the other doesnt, and he never wakes up his brother.

Where in Canada are you from? I am in Montreal, soon to be Toronto

 

For the first couple of weeks we used a double pack and play with two bassinets - each side could hold 15 pounds and they weren't anywhere near that! After a brief time we moved them swaddled into one crib in their room and they slept in the same crib until about 3 months. They sleep in separate cribs in the same room now.

 

:welcome: to Twinstuff!


My two slept in our room for about 2 months after they came home from the NICU. First we had them in the PNP together, but then DD had to sleep in her carseat, so DS slept in the PNP.

 

My girls slept in their PNP for the first 5 weeks (they were both around 6lbs) and then they moved into their swings while sleeping until they were 4 months and we transitioned them into cribs. They also slept with me A LOT until they were 4 months. Its mostly just whatever works in the beginning.

 

Our girls' room and our room was really close together, so we just swaddled them separately and kept them in their room in one crib, until they started rolling over. We also had one of those sleep positioners for each, so that really kept them in their spots. We never had the girls in our room because there just wasn't enough room. We used a play pen with a bassinet attachment for the living room.

 

Mine slept in a PNP together by my bed until they were 6 months old. They slept in the bassinet part up top (not the twin one, just a regular Graco one) for a while. They were probably over 15 lbs combined, but it was still very sturdy so I left them. I finally took that part out and then had them sleep in the bottom playpen part for a while. Then at 6 months, I put them in their own room in separate cribs - side by side.

 

Congratulations & welcome!

We are going to use a full size co-sleeper for awhile, and then move them into mini cribs. We will probably have the babies in our room until we can move all of the "big" kids around to clear out a bedroom for the girls.

 

Congrats and :welcome:

Mine still sleep together in an Arm's Reach Original co-sleeper next to our bed. At about 6 months I plan on moving them to a crib in the bedroom next to ours.

 

The Arm's Reach Co-sleeper's bassinet is good to 30 lbs. That was like 9 months for us, though obviously some twins reach that sooner. In fact, I think we were below the weight level before we removed the bassinet, because they were mobile enough I was concerned they'd fall over the edge. Having a co-sleeper was fabulous. I like being able to just fall asleep nursing a baby, as opposed to sitting in a cold chair at 2am, 4am, 6am, etc. But I didn't want to have a baby sleeping at my back. So with the co-sleeper, I'd nurse one, then switch them. After a few months, it ended up that Sydney was a great napper, but horrible night time sleeper. She'd wake up her sister Sabrina who was otherwise great about nights. Sydney slept in our room. Sabrina, who was great at night but horrible about naps (wouldn't nap unless physically on me), got moved into the living room (in the tiny house we lived in, it was really the only option). I think that might have been when they were 4-5 months old, though I don't remember for sure.

 

2 PNPs in our bedroom. They sleep in the main portion, not the bassinet. They can look at us from their beds and they like that (and so do I).

We bring them into out bed to eat at night and they also fall asleep in our bed a lot at bedtime. Then we move them right into the PNPs to sleep.

They will stay in our bedroom until at least 6 months, per AAP recommendations.

 

We're planning on doing two cribs in the same room. Some people say it's best to sleep the babies together, but ours aren't going to be identical and they don't even share a room in the belly! (I have a wall down the middle of my uterus and one is in each side!)

We'll probably have a comfy recliner in the room or something that we can sleep in if necessary, and otherwise have monitors hooked up.

 

Hi, I also live in Canada (Mississauga right now-soon to be Burlington)

I went to look for the co-sleeper because i thought that would be a great idea until I had a real nursery set up (we are moving in June) babies due in April...

Anyways, the ladies at Safety Superstore said that they no longer carry the original co-sleeper because it doesnt meet Canada's safety requirements. So I'm in the same boat as you..back to square one... PNP, or put up a crib??

Hope this helps!

 

Our plan was to put them in their room in their separate cribs from day 1. But Natalie didn't come home for 6 weeks and we didn't want Brooke to be alone in their room without Natalie, so Brooke slept in the pack n play next to our bed and when Natalie finally got home they both went into their own cribs in their room.

 

Congratulations on your first Post!

We bought 2 bassinets on craigslist from a twin mommy and put both of them in our room. This help with the middle of the night feedings. They slept in their bassinets until about 4 months and then they started sleeping a little longer through the night so then we moved them into their own crib in their room.

 

My twins were in the bassinette portion of a pack and play together for the first 4 weeks or so...then they started waking each other and didn't seem to like to be together so I separated them in 2 pack and plays (one in the living room one in the family room). I slept on the couch in the living room and husband sept on the couch in the family room. We alternated babies each night. It was a ROUGH 4 TO 7 WEEKS! We even had help from my Mom and MIL so DH could sleep in his own bed for half the night (he had to work in the a.m.).

At about 8 weeks, before bad habits started, we moved them to their cribs (sharing a room but in separate cribs) and I'm so glad we did this earlier because they are very use to their cribs now.

 

Thanks for the information ladies. For some reason I thought this would be an easy decision but I guess we really won't know until they arrive.


Slipper - I live in Langley, BC

 

My girls slept together in a bassinette in our room and each were swaddled. They never really woke each other up too much and it didnt matter if they did as i tried to keep their routines fairly similar. When they got too big to sleep together in the bassinette, i borrowed another one and they slept in one each til about 3 months , then i put one cot in my room and they slept head to head in that. then they moved to their own room and a cot each when they started bumping heads!