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.
Sleep sideways with support
Everyone has a comfortable sleeping position but especially during pregnancy doctors recommend laying on their sides. “A mother expecting twins is suggested to sleep on their sides after 16 weeks of pregnancy. You may experience slight swelling, back pain, or other common symptoms.
Experts recommend lying on your left side. It improves circulation, giving nutrient-packed blood an easier route from your heart to the placenta to nourish your baby. Lying on the left side also keeps your expanding body weight from pushing down too hard on your liver. While either side is okay, left is best.
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.
If you are pregnant and used to sleeping on your back, you may want to get used to a new sleep position now, since it's not recommended for pregnant people to sleep on their back after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Women pregnant with twins complain of more back pain, sleeping difficulties, and heartburn than those who are carrying one child. Being pregnant with twins also carries a higher rate of maternal anemia and a higher rate of postpartum hemorrhage (bleeding) after delivery.
A little more than half of twin pregnancies end in preterm delivery (before 37 weeks). While 40 weeks is the full gestation period of the average pregnancy, most twin pregnancies are delivered at approximately 36 weeks (range 32-38 weeks depending on the type of twin pregnancy).
The reality is that raising multiples is hard. You have double or triple the feeding, diapering, and laundry and, as a result, less time to spend cuddling and getting to know each baby. To be sure, there will be days when you feel as if you're walking up a down escalator.
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.
At three months:
The three-month stage marks the end of the “fourth trimester” and your twins can better adapt to life outside the womb. For one thing, they'll sleep in longer stretches of about three- to four-hour chunks.
Many physicians advise pregnant women to sleep on their left side. Previous studies have linked back and right-side sleeping with a higher risk of stillbirth, reduced fetal growth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia, a life-threatening high blood pressure disorder that affects the mother.
Drink Alcohol, Use Drugs, or Smoke
It's never advisable to drink alcohol excessively, smoke, or take drugs, whether you are pregnant or not. When you are pregnant, doing so exposes your unborn babies to toxic substances, raising their risk of birth defects and chronic illnesses.
“Having twins is not twice as hard—it's exponentially more difficult,” says Natalie Diaz, author of What To Do When You're Having Two and CEO of Twiniversity, a global support network for parents of twins.
Measures included actigraphy, sleep diaries, and standardized instruments for fatigue, sleep quality, and depression. According to the results, by the time the twins reached full-term, mothers were sleeping an average of 5.4 hours in a 24-hour period, with over 70 percent reporting less than six hours of sleep.
The results suggest that twin fetuses are aware of their counterparts in the womb, that they prefer to interact with them, and that they respond to them in special ways. Contact between them appeared to be planned—not an accidental outcome of spatial proximity, says study co-author Cristina Becchio of Turin.
Some mothers can feed 2 babies at the same time, while some prefer to feed 1 after the other. Others feed whenever their babies seem hungry (on demand). If 1 baby is smaller and needs to feed more often, you will not be able to feed them at the same time at first.
For women born 1870-1899, moms of twins averaged reproductive spans of 14 years 11 months versus 14 years for singleton moms. Both results were statistically significant. Moms of twins also were older at the time of their last birth.
What are the benefits for the twins? Their buddy is always there. They've known each other since they can remember and that is very comforting. They are also a little more social than the average child since they are used to being with another kid since the beginning.
However, for a given pregnancy, only the mother's genetics matter. Fraternal twins happen when two eggs are simultaneously fertilized instead of just one. A father's genes can't make a woman release two eggs.
That's why full-term for twins is considered 38 weeks, not the typical 40 weeks. Preterm birth — delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy — is the most common complication when you're pregnant with multiples. About 50 percent of twins are born early. Twin delivery, on average, occurs around 35 to 36 weeks.
The average length of pregnancy for twins is 36.4 weeks. Babies who are born between 32 weeks and 37 weeks generally do very well. If your babies are born early, they are likely to be fine, but they may need to spend time at the special care baby unit (SCBU) or the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The hardest thing about having twins is…
“Managing the movement of two babies. Carrying them both up and down the stairs, getting them into the car, etc.” —Simeon R. “Often having to make one baby wait!” —Catharine D. “Being outnumbered—the logistics of two on one is definitely the hardest.
Being a twin has its benefits—tricking people, having a lifelong companion, sharing clothes—but it also has downsides. Many twins struggle to cultivate their own identities, while being so similar to one another. And that struggle lasts a lifetime, according to a recent study.