Parents of twins quickly discover what everyone else is talking about when they say “double the trouble, double the fun”. If they’re not very careful, however, they will find out that one thing that definitely does not double is the sleep. In fact, unless you can get your twins sleeping on more or less the same schedule, mom and dad could be looking at half the sleep. When you consider how precious little sleep new parents get as it is, this can lead to some real problems.

Don’t despair, however. Twins take a little extra work, but by being proactive, most parents can get their twins on the same schedule. Relatively speaking, anyway.

There is some debate about whether it is better to lay babies down to sleep while they are tired but still awake, or after they have fallen asleep. With twins, the choice is clear. Lay them down to sleep while they are still awake. If you always rock them or nurse them to sleep, they will not learn to fall asleep on their own. While this is not necessarily a big deal with one child, it can get very difficult with two.

Establish a calming bed time and nap time routine. Swaddle your babies while they are infants, as this gives them a sense of warmth and coziness that best replicates what they felt in the womb. Swaddling them with their arms inside the receiving blanket also keeps them from waking each other when they are young. You may sing to them, speak softly to them while they are falling asleep, or anything else that helps soothe them.

Generally speaking, it is a good idea to keep twins in the same crib, at least for the first three months, and you may wish to do so until they start flipping over on their own. Your babies have spent their entire existence in the womb looking at each other, and the sight of one another is comforting for both of them.

One additional thing to consider: when one of your babies wakes up for a feeding, wake the other one up as well. It may be a bit tougher to deal with them at the same time, but it will help keep them on a similar schedule, which will allow you at least a little more sleep.

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