How to prepare your Newborn twins for sleep training

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While newborn babies aren’t ready for formal sleep training methods or sleeping through the night, there are a few things twin parents can do to lay the foundation in the first three months of age.

Table of Contents

Meeting your Newborn babies at their level
Put the weight on!
Safe Sleep Space
​Sleepy Friendly Nursery
During the Day
Practice is Better than Perfection
Bedtime and Nighttime sleep

Meeting your Newborn babies at their level

Young babies have very immature nervous systems, and therefore often have trouble adjusting to life on the outside. While in utero, they are often sleeping during the day when mom is up and moving around. At night, babies in the womb usually become more active and love to kick around. Because they aren’t exposed to light before birth, their circadian rhythm will need more time to develop. All of this means newborn babies have predictably unpredictable sleep patterns.

Sleep Milestones

The bottom line is that during their first few months, you will start to see a few patterns slowly emerge. However, your babies are not ready to be on a schedule or sleep long stretches just yet. If your babies were born more than 4 weeks before their due date, you may need to take that into consideration when thinking about their sleep milestones.

Put the weight on!

The biggest task in the newborn stage for any baby is getting enough calories. More than half of twin babies are born prematurely and/or have a low birth weight, so gaining weight is especially important for many twin parents . Your babies will be able to better develop healthy sleep habits later on if they have been able to gain adequate weight in the first few months.

Frequent feedings

Your newborn babies are likely on a 2-3 hour feeding schedule. They will be breastfeeding or taking a bottle at least every 3 hours around the clock, and at least every 2 hours if they were born more than 4 weeks premature. Some babies may need to be fed every 2 hours even if they were born less than 4 weeks premature or have a normal birthweight. This is something you should be following closely with your doctor and/or lactation consultant. This short feeding cycle will also mean short stretches of sleep.

Safe Sleep Space

The first thing parents of multiples should do is ensure a safe sleep environment. In order to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (sids), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends you always place your newborns on their backs in separate cribs or a separate sleep space free from any blankets or pillows.

Separate Sleep Spaces Together

Many twin parents find that in the early weeks, their babies will sleep better when placed next to their sibling. I noticed this right away when I was in the recovery room after my C-section. As a new twin mom, it seemed completely unnatural to have my babies in separate cribs. Having a twin specific bassinet like the Halo, Simmons Kids or this style of twin co-sleeper helps your twin babies to continue to feel close, while still ensuring they have their own space. I love that these bassinets also make nighttime feedings a little easier by keeping your babies close at night. Most parents opt to keep their babies in their room during the first weeks, but of course the biggest difference for twin parents is finding room for each baby to have their own sleep space. These bassinets take up less space than two separate portable cribs or pack n plays, which is why I love the option of a bassinet made just for twins. I wish I would have had one at the time.

Never Ever shake a Baby

As a new parent of twins, when you know your babies are in a safe space, you can always take a break and lay them down and walk away for a few minutes if things are getting overwhelming for you. When I was a new twin mom, there came a day when the sleep deprivation and crying babies really got to me and I started to get really angry. Thankfully, I caught myself early and decided that it was best to just lay them in their safe space, turn off the baby monitor and set a timer on my phone for 15 minutes. They were safe, they were fed, and they had been changed. I went to another room and practiced some deep breathing and prayerful meditation to get myself together. Maybe they cried the whole time, but when I came back, they were sleeping and everything was ok. Although I don’t recommend regularly allowing your newborn babies to cry for long periods of time without some kind of comfort, it is definitely ok to do this when you are feeling overly frustrated or angry. Your babies would tell you to take a break and care for yourself if they could. 

​Sleepy friendly Nursery

Besides having a clear idea of what Newborn babies are capable of, ensuring they are well fed, and setting up a safe space, making a few small additions to their sleep times will go a long way in extending their sleep times.

White Noise

White noise is going to be your best friend as a parent of twins for at least the next two years. In the early days, your twins my not wake each other up with their little noises, but they will soon become aware of the sounds all around them. Having not only a great white noise machine like the Hatch or the Yogasleep Dohm going, but adding in a fan to the mix can also be helpful at blocking noises. 

Black out Curtains

Depending on the time of year and where you are in the world, you may want to consider black out curtains. Here where I live in Minnesota, the sun comes up early and sets very late in the summer months. During the first weeks and months, day/night confusion is often one of the causes of erratic and unpredictable sleep patterns. Having them exposed to light during the day, even during their nap times, and dark at night can help to correct some of these circadian rhythms. 

Swaddling

Swaddling your babies is going to help them extend their sleep times as well. If you are a skilled swaddler, you can just get a few swaddle blankets, but with two babies, you might want to consider an easier velcro swaddle that will grow with your baby. Not only will they feel comforted, but it also inhibits their little arms from waking them up in the startle reflex, or moro reflex. I used to think that my first born didn’t like to be swaddled because she would always cry when I put her in the swaddle, and she would always scoot her little hands up to her face and start sucking on them in the middle of the night. With my twins being born second, I learned that swaddling was extremely important in helping them sleep longer stretches. You can keep your babies safely swaddled until they start showing signs of rolling over, then it’s time for a sleep sack. 

During the Day

Because of the Day/Night confusion, having your babies exposed to light and sound for daytime sleep, even while napping, will help them to start to match their sleeping patterns to yours. I always like to have a couple of small sleep spaces set up for newborns in the living room during the day. This could be a pair of foldable bassinets or the Baby Trend Retreat Twins Nursery Center . Note that this will just be during the newborn stage.

Wake times and Sleepy Cues

Most Newborns can only comfortably stay awake for 1 hour. Watch your babies closely for sleep cues if they have been awake this long. Are they starting to rub their eyes? Yawning, looking away, becoming fussy or seeking out comfort are all signs that your babies are ready for a nap.

Practice is better than perfection

Even if only one baby is showing those signs, its a great idea to try and lay them both down for a nap to start preparing them to be on similar schedules. I would caution against allowing your babies to sleep more than 2 hours at a time during the day, to help clear up day/night confusion sooner. 

Contact Naps with twins

Most babies will not want to be sleeping alone on their backs. Of course, they will often want to contact nap, which is totally normal and good. I have 3 single babies and I loved carrying them around with me all day in a wrap as newborns while they snoozed. With twins, I would either have to carry just one, or have another adult there to carry that one. If I decided to contact nap with them together, it was usually me seated in an extra wide arm chair with an audiobook.

Drowsy but awake

If you think they are ready, you can start trying to lay them down calm and drowsy but still awake, and see if they are feeling ready to try falling asleep on their own. It’s really ok if they are not ready yet, even the best sleepers prefer to contact nap in the first weeks of life. When your babies feel secure as newborns, they will be more ready to sleep in their own space later on, so enjoy all the newborn snuggles while you can.

Bedtime and Nighttime sleep

Because of their need for frequent feedings and disorganized circadian rhythm, its best to shoot for a late bedtime at this age, like around 9 or 10pm. A long bedtime sleep routine isn’t all that necessary just yet, but you’ll definitely want to make sure that they have on a clean diaper, dry pajamas, and a swaddle. Your babies will likely still be waking about every 2-3 hours at night for a feeding.

The bedtime routine is about YOU at this point

Your baby isn’t going to start understanding a sleep routine just yet, but it’s still important to start one for your own sake. Make sure you have everything you need ready and laid out for the night. Besides safe sleep spaces with extra sheets nearby, you’ll need a small stack of diapers, wipes, 2 sets of dry pajamas and swaddles for those midnight blowouts. Not to mention a designated changing space. Set up your equipment for feeding. Will you be breastfeeding them? Make sure you have your nursing pillow handy if you are breastfeeding. Have your pump set up with an extra set of parts. If you are bottle feeding, you’ll need around 4-6 clean bottles on hand along with water and formula. I used to think that a bottle warmer was unnecessary until I had twins, and then I found that it was incredibly useful, especially at night.

Night wakings

At this age, if one twin is waking for a feeding, its best to try and give the other twin a feeding as well. If you must change a diaper in the middle of the night, try and keep the lights as low as possible and do what you can to make it quick. Another strategy in the first weeks is to practice the newborn pause. If you hear one of the babies crying, allow a 30-60 second pause and see if they stop crying. Occasionally they will, and then you have just given them a chance to try and soothe themself back to sleep.

Getting sleep for yourself

My twins were not my first babies, so I thought my husband and I would handle the inevitable night wakings the same as we did with our first baby by me getting up to nurse her when she needed it. We quickly learned that this was not at all how things work with twins. After a week of both of us getting up for every feeding, we decided to split the night in half. I would sleep uninterrupted in the guest room from 9pm-3am while he held down the fort in our room with the babies, and I would then switch off with him at 3am and he would then sleep in until 9 or 10. Thankfully, his job was flexible with timing. We also ended up hiring a night nanny 2 days per week by the time they were 1 month old. If you decide to hire someone or a family/friend offers to help you at night, please make sure they are aware of your safety and feeding standards for your babies. 

I hope you found this article helpful. If you are interested in learning more about how you can help your newborn twins prepare for sleep training, contact me today to set up a free sleep assessment! 

Welcome to the twin parent club. Let me know in the comments below what your favorite tips for surviving newborn twin sleep deprivation are!