The reality is that although a good night's sleep is coming, it is safe to assume that your twins will be waking each other up during the night. And it's not just twins. Often two children of different ages who share a room will wake each other as they get used to sharing a room.
In the early days, try to co-ordinate night feeds so if 1 wakes up, you can feed the other at the same time. Be prepared for 1 twin to sleep through before the other. There's no need to rush to cuddle 1 baby if they cry. Normally, the other twin will sleep through their twin's crying.
You shouldn't share the same bed with your twins because it increases the risk of SIDS. But the AAP does recommend that you room-share — having your twins sleep in your room, each in their own bassinet or crib — ideally for the first six months.
Some twins will start sleeping through the night as early as 8-10 weeks. Typically you can start seeing longer sleep stretches around 12 weeks. Many twins wait until 4-6 months. The bottom line is that every twin is different.
As with many aspects of caring for your twins, your situation varies each day. It is thus extremely important that you stay flexible in how you attend to your babies. My general rule of thumb is that when one twin wakes up in the middle of the night and is ready to eat, you should wake up the other and feed them both.
Consistent bedtime routines are important for all babies, but especially so for twins. Start off with bathtime and then dim the lights, play some lullabies, read books and offer a cozy before-bed feeding.
1 Multiples who are co-bedded seem to sleep better, gain weight better, have fewer episodes of apnea and bradycardia, and (as long as they're about the same size), keep each other warm.
Unless you have many extra bedrooms in your house with no one using them, it makes more sense to keep twins or multiples in the same room. If you are worried that their noises will wake each other up, keeping them together will help them get used to each other's sounds, rarely disturbing their sleep.
Safe sleep guidelines would suggest that twins be moved into separate beds once they are more mobile; moving into each other's space, causing a risk to one another. The other reason you might consider moving twins into separate beds would be if one consistently wakes the other one up.
It is perfectly natural for your twins to cry because that is the only way they have to communicate with you. They cry to express their needs, their wants, and even their dislikes. The most common reasons for crying include hunger, a dirty diaper, sleepiness, boredom, overstimulation, or sleep regression.
"Newborn twins can certainly remain in the same crib initially," Walker says. "If they sleep better when they know the other is close by, crib-sharing can last up until they move into their childhood beds."
Bonding with twins or multiple babies can be even harder than with just one baby, which may be because: You may have had a difficult birth and are recovering from surgery. One or more of your babies may have gone straight into the neonatal intensive care unit.
Twins, on average, come out sooner — and smaller — than singletons. Your womb may be a cozy place, but it can get crowded in a hurry as they grow. That's why full-term for twins is considered 38 weeks, not the typical 40 weeks.
When two fetuses share one placenta, their umbilical cords may implant anywhere — there is no set or predictable pattern. Depending on where they implant, one twin may get a smaller share of the placenta than the other, resulting in less blood flow and nutrition to one fetus, and more to the other.
Babies that are born close to midnight may arrive on different days. For example, Twin A may be born at 11:59 pm on one day while Twin B doesn't make an appearance until 12:01 am, which would be the next day.
Separation anxiety deeply affects all twins. The parental role is to help twins manage emotional issues when they separate from one another. When separation anxiety between twin and twin, or between parent and twin, is not handled adequately there are serious side effects, including fear of being on their own.
Separation anxiety in twins is an extreme reaction with normal circumstances during separation. However, growing up, separation might be inevitable for twins. Parents may address the behavior by talking to their twins and helping them understand that their separation is only temporary in some instances.
Splitting of the embryo may occur at any time during the first 2 weeks after fertilization, resulting in several forms of monozygotic twins.
If using sleeping bags make sure babies' heads are far apart to ensure they don't get covered by one another's sleep bag. Both co-bedded and separate sleeping twins should be put down to sleep on their backs, as this reduces the risk of SIDS compared to side or tummy sleeping.
Can twins have different fathers? In rare cases, fraternal twins can be born from two different fathers in a phenomenon called heteropaternal superfecundation. Although uncommon, rare cases have been documented where a woman is pregnant by two different men at the same time.
Identical twins may say that they are not attracted to the same people. However, researcher Nancy Segal surmises that twins actually feel the same attractions, but as soon as one twin makes her interest known, the second twin will not pursue the other's object of interest.
Starting around week 16, you should try to avoid sleeping on your back.
Try some baby-soothing tactics
Try singing or reading to them, giving them a little massage, doing a funny dance to entertain them or even taking them outside for some fresh air. Just remember that what works for one baby may not work for the other, so you may have to try something totally different for each infant.