If you have found yourself in need of sleep training….TWINS….you have more than likely been tackling challenges for some time now! There’s no question that parents of twins are used to multi-tasking!
So, how do you manage sleep training for both at the same time? Here’s our best advice on how to not only survive — but THRIVE while sleep training your little ones.
Before you begin, the environment needs to be IDEAL. We want to set them up for success:
- Separate the cribs in the room, if possible. We like to see them on opposite sides of the room when you’re able.
- Place a sound machine at each crib side (safely, of course). Having two sound machines, one for each baby, will help drown out extra noise within the room.
- DARKNESS…the room needs to be as dark as possible. Put up room darkening shades. If the room isn’t pitch black after the curtains are installed, consider adding window tint film to get the room darker. We want the room pitch black — this helps to ensure the babies can’t see each other.
- Babies should sleep alone, in their own cribs. American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend allowing multiples to sleep together in the same crib.
When you are ready to begin training, you want to remember that you are still training two children, and they need to be treated as individuals. Consider how you are going to train. Will you be using a check-in method, or will you be limiting how often you are going in? If using a check-in method, always base your check-ins off of the one that is fighting the sleep training most. There is typically always one child that is more challenging when it comes to the sleep training process.
At night, base feedings off of the more sensitive child, as well. When he or she wakes and it’s a feeding time, I suggest that my clients feed both babies! We want to keep them on the same schedule.
At The Cradle Coach, we highly recommend keeping the babies together and training them at the same time, in the same room whenever possible. If they share a room, it’s best to do the training all at once, in the same room. Otherwise, you end up needing to train twice when you move them back together!
Just as with single babies, twins require consistency. Consistency will be KEY. Once you start, don’t stop. Keep moving forward! Sleep training twins is twice as hard, obviously! Support and guidance can be a huge help. Reach out to us at The Cradle Coach if you would like one of us to walk through this with you!
Check out our twin sleep packages here.
Sweet Dreams,
Marilyn Banse
Certified Baby & Toddler Sleep Consultant
