My 5 Best Sleep Training Tips For Parents With Twins
Sleep training can be tumultuous and overwhelming at times and it can be even harder when you are trying to sleep train twins. There is always the fear that when one twin wakes crying, they will wake the other one as well. This is a very reasonable concern and I want to help make sleep training easier for everyone involved with these 5 tested and true tips!
Side note: these tips can also be applicable to children who are sharing a room that you are sleep training. Just be aware that age differences may mean your children don’t always go to sleep at the same time. Age differences can make some of these tips non-applicable or slightly applicable, so please keep that in mind!
My 5 Best Sleep Training Tips For Parents With Twins:
Naps are an integral part of the sleep training journey and although night training is important, nap training is equally important. Unfortunately, sleep training for naps can be more difficult than night training because everything is working against you! It’s bright out (but should still be pitch black in your little one’s room) which makes it harder for the sleep hormone, melatonin, to be produced, it’s louder and there is much more going on during the day. This can make is difficult for your little one to drift off into sleep… especially if you have twins! For this reason, I recommend doing naps separately. This doesn’t need to be difficult either! Simply set up a pack and play in a room in your house that is pitch black and has white noise and voila! This can also be applied to children who aren’t twins but are room sharing.
Keep your twins on a similar schedule. This is not only for their benefit, but for your own sanity as well! When one twin wakes, wake the other 15-30 minutes afterwards so that you can keep their wake windows and sleep times the same. This will ensure that they are on the same schedule and that you have some time to yourself while they are napping. How you spend that time is totally up to you! We have to be sure to make time for our own well-being along through this whole motherhood journey because if we don’t it can lead to very serious mental health consequences. There is no shame in dealing with mental health issues, but if we can prevent it - even in small ways - we should. This tip can be applied to children who share the same room and are close in age, however, if your children are farther apart in age you need to be mindful of their separate wake windows.
Learn your twins’ individual sleep cues. Sleep cues can be hard because some children show them very obviously, while others may not show them at all or it may be very subtle. This is also true for twins! Just because they share similar DNA does not mean they share similar sleep cues, so be mindful of that and learn their individual sleep cues. Make sure to lay them down for sleep when their wake window has ended and sleepy cues are showing. If one twin is showing sleepy cues earlier than the other, that is okay. Stick to their wake windows (sleepy cues are also important but getting as close to the wake window as possible is even more important as sleep cues can sometimes be deceiving) and put them down for sleep at the same time or within 15-30 minutes of each other.
For night sleep you can keep your twins, or room sharing children of different ages, in the same room. Due to the naturally high production of the sleep hormone, melatonin, at night it is unlikely that one child will wake up the other if they start crying during the night. Although, if you are worried you can always double up on white noise.
If your twins are keeping a night feed or weaning off night feeds, you don’t need to wake the other twin for a feed. You can make sleep a priority and let them catch up on calories during the day. This could mean that one twin drops night feeds before the other and that is totally okay!
If you liked this blog, please be sure to share it with other parents who may find it helpful. Spread the love! If you want more sleep tips and tricks from me, come join my sleep group called Sleep Little One where I give weekly sleep tips and advice to exhausted parents, like yourself, who are in need. I hope to see you there!!
If you’re looking for a more individualized 1:1 plan for your little one, I can help with that too! I have some amazing packages I offer that are sure to suit your specific little one’s needs so that you can all get on the road to better sleep. Not only do I come up with a plan for your particular little one, but I also will be there to help you along the way with any issues that arise and to congratulate you when you succeed! I will help your little one start sleeping better, be your guide along the way and help you succeed on this sleep training journey so you always know what to do if future issues arise! So what are you waiting for? Let’s get you on the road to better sleep! Go check out my packages now!
