Helping Twins Sleep At The Same Time

You've heard it a million times — twinsmean double the trouble and double the fun. (Parents of triplets and other multiples can change the numbers accordingly!) But it's hard to remember the fun part when you're struggling to get your crying twins to go to sleep and stay that way. We asked twins and multiples sleep experts Rebecca Moskwinski, M.D., of the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Club and Alexander Golbin, Ph.D., director of the Foundation for Children's Sleep Disorders, for their best strategies and tips. Here are their top suggestions:

Put your twins to sleep at the same time
Keeping your toddlers on the same sleep schedule is the key to developing a healthy sleep pattern and giving you some hope of time off. If your twins nap or go to bed at different times, one or both of them may be awake at any given time — leaving you feeling overwhelmed.

Establish a calming bedtime routine
A quiet, soothing bedtime routine such as a warm bath, a bedtime story, and a few minutes of cuddling, back rubbing, and quiet talk will help you prepare your twins for sleep. If you stick to a consistent bedtime routine, your toddlers will soon learn the signal that it's time to settle down.

Put your little ones to bed drowsy, but not asleep
Help them learn to fall asleep on their own by letting them drift off once they're in bed, rather than just before you put them down to sleep Moskwinski doesn't recommend rocking your twins to sleep, since they may come to depend on that cue to fall asleep. Moskwinski suggests using Richard Ferber’s gradual method to teach them to get to sleep by themselves.

Tend to your calm toddler first
If one is a screamer and the other is calmer, you may be tempted to tend to your wailing toddler first. Golbin strongly advises against this. The danger, he explains, is that your quiet one will miss out on the attention he needs. Before you focus on the screamer, make sure your quiet one is happy and settled. Don't worry about one twin waking up the other: Most twins and multiples don't seem bothered by their sibling's crying, even when they're in the same room.

Discourage nighttime waking
You can do this by keeping your twins as calm and quiet at night as possible. Keep their room dimly lit, and don't play or talk to them during the night more than necessary. You can encourage self-soothing by giving them a special soft toy or blanket to sleep with. These "transitional objects" are comforting and can help them go back to sleep.

Try separate rooms
Now that your twins are getting older, they're more likely to spend bedtime and naptimes talking and playing rather than getting their needed shut-eye. Some parents find that giving each twin his or her own room stops the nighttime antics and gives everyone some much-needed rest.

source from http://www.babycenter.com