Top 9 tips for getting your 6 month old twins to sleep

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If you are planning on sleep training twins, 6 months of age is a great time to get started. 

As a twin mom myself, I remember how frustrated I would get with all of the sleep advice online. Most advice told me to just do what I did with my single baby and do it with twins. They obviously never had twins. As a twin mom, mother of 5, registered nurse, and sleep consultant, I have practical, science-backed sleep strategies for helping you get your twins to sleep.  

By 6 months of age, twin parents are often at the end of their rope from dealing with sleep deprivation. You’ve survived newborn twins the 4 month sleep regression, and are now ready for some solid nights of sleep. If you haven’t already started to establish healthy sleep habits, that’s totally ok! Now is a great time to start. If your babies are still requiring night feedings, that’s completely fine as well. If your twins still aren’t on the same sleep schedule, I can help you with that as well. Keep in mind that if your twins were born more than 3 weeks before their due date, it’s possible that you will need to adjust these guidelines to meet their gestational age. 

1. Always start with Safe Sleep

The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages all  parents of babies to follow the A-B-C’s of safe sleep: Alone, on their Back, and in an approved Crib or bassinet.  

By 6 months of age, most babies are very close to being able to roll from their backs to their bellies. It’s a good idea to get them out of their swaddles if you haven’t already. You can make the adjustment a little easier by swaddling with one arm out for a couple of nights, then try swaddling with their arms out. Even if your babies are able to roll themselves, it’s still imperative that your always put your babies to sleep on their backs. If they roll over on their own, it’s ok to leave them as long as they are on a firm mattress without soft bedding, and they are not swaddled. 

It’s also recommended that your twins sleep in separate cribs. At this age, they can easily roll over onto each other, not only making it harder to sleep, but also posing a potential breathing hazard. Having their own sleep space is essential for 6 month old twins. 

2. Create a Soothing Sleep Environment

Now that your babies are becoming more aware of their surroundings, ensuring a peaceful space is going to help them sleep longer. By 6 months of age, most babies will outgrow their bassinets and be ready to move into a crib. Investing in a pair of 5 in 1 convertible cribs that will grow with your twins all the way into their teen years is a great idea. Since your twins are moving out of their bassinets and into cribs, this is a common age for twin babies to move out of their parents’ room and into their own room. If you have the space, some parents opt to have their twins in separate rooms at this point. However, if you plan to have your twins share a room going forward, it’s perfectly fine to sleep train them in the same room. 

Also key at this point are black out curtains and white noise. Place the fan or white noise machine between the babies’ cribs, ensuring there are no cords or outlets within reach. 

3. Get on a Daytime Sleep Schedule

At 6 months of age, having your babies on a schedule is going to be key for nighttime success. You’ve probably noticed patterns starting to emerge with your twins by this point. If you aren’t sure that a pattern is emerging, start a sleep log for each baby to track patterns. They may each have a different pattern, which is why having a schedule will help you get them sleeping at the same time each day.

Most 6 month old twins will best tolerate a 2.5 hour wake window and need about 3 naps per day. The last nap of the day is often a short cat nap to keep them from getting overtired before bedtime. If your twins are consistently refusing this nap or napping less than 20 minutes, it could be time to drop it. These short naps are usually not necessary after 7 months of age. It’s possible that only one twin will still need this nap, and that’s ok. 

I know it never feels good to wake a sleeping baby, but when it comes to getting your twins on the same schedule, this is the only way to do it. Wake your babies up within about 15-20 minutes of each other to keep them on the same schedule. Try to feed them at the same time if possible. I love this TwinGo nursing pillow for feeding your twins at the same time. It works great for both breast and bottle feeding. 

Below is an example of what a 6 month nap routine could look like for your twins. If your twins were born more than 3 weeks before their due date, it’s important to consider modifying their wake times based on their gestational age. However, it’s also possible that they would be able to tolerate a 6 month schedule just fine. You, as the parent, will know best. 

4. Establish a Consistent Bedtime Routine

Having a consistent bedtime routine will help signal to your baby that it’s time for sleep. This routine should take around 30 minutes and be something that is realistic and replicable for your family to complete. At times, it may be necessary for just one parent to complete the bedtime routine on their own, so take that into consideration when deciding on your routine’s elements.  

After the newborn phase and 4 month regression are over, bedtime with twins actually can start to be fun. I loved being able to interact with them a little more and sing songs or read board books together. Let’s be honest, actually reading books was a little challenging with all those hands grabbing at the pages, but it was sweet to see them both interacting a little more. Try committing a couple of short, rhythmic books to memory (or sort of to memory) like The Very Hungry Caterpillar or Good Night Moon

Bedtime is a great time to start to pass on your family’s values and culture to your kids. For me, this was saying a blessing that my parents had given me as a child. Maybe you have a poem, a passage of  religious scripture, song, or phrase that holds a special meaning for you. Saying these comforting words to remind your child that they are always connected to their family will be a lasting memory for them. 

Check out my favorite bedtime routine for this age and adjust it to meet the needs of your family. 

5. Expect Nighttime Wakings and Feedings

At this age, it’s very possible that your twins still need a feeding in the middle of the night. If that’s the case, don’t worry. You can still continue with sleep training your twins while still giving them the night feedings that they may need. Here’s the key: feed them both and put them back into their cribs awake so that they can have an opportunity to fall asleep on their own.

This will also help you determine if your babies are feeding for comfort or out of hunger. They may be seeking out comfort if they can’t stay awake for a full feeding. If they cry after the feeding, or fall asleep instantly at the breast or bottle, they may be seeking comfort. If your babies take a full feeding and then are calm and relaxed when you lay them back down, it’s likely that they truly are hungry and need those calories. 

Make sure to keep the lights as low as possible if you are feeding your babies. You can try using a red light, such as on the Hatch to keep the lighting to a minimum. As best as you can, don’t interact with your babies too much. If you are talking to them a lot or being playful with them, they may think it’s play time. 

You can continue to try your sleep training methods of choice in the middle of the night if needed. Try to lay each baby down after the feeding without much rocking or soothing. This will give them an opportunity to try and fall asleep on their own. 

6. Choose a Method

If you are ready, use a method that works well to sleep train twins. Take a look at my article that outlines the different methods for sleep training twins. If you’d like something a little more gentle, try the crib side comfort method. If you are comfortable allowing your twins to cry without you in the room for a short period of time, the quick check method may be a great place to start. They are still young, so keep the crying time without you in the room to less than 5 minutes.

7. Accept that they will wake each other up.  

Six month olds are becoming more aware of their surroundings, so when their twin is crying, they will likely wake up. Of course, this is really stressful for all twin parents. At this point, some twin parents will separate their twins into different rooms and hope that things will get better. The truth is, unless you are planning to have your twins in their own rooms long term, this just isn’t an ideal solution. All you are doing is putting a BandAid on the problem. Instead, help them to learn that they can go back to sleep even with their twin crying. Many twins (or siblings of any age) are very capable of learning to sleep through their siblings’ noises. Although it may take time, given the opportunity and time, your babies can sleep through the crying. 

8. Give Yourself Grace

The last 6 months have been really intense, but here you are! Half way done with the first year of having twins. You are doing an amazing job and have already learned so much about yourself and your babies. You can do this and so can they, so give yourself some grace. It won’t always be perfect, and you likely will be getting less sleep than parents of 6 month old singletons.

9. Give me a Call!

If your 6 month old twins still won’t sleep, schedule a free 30 minute sleep assessment, and let’s figure it out together. By 6 months, if your twins still aren’t sleeping, you are exhausted. I know because I’ve been there. No matter what has been going on in your life and how you have been managing, you will get an empathetic, judgement-free twin sleep mentor in your corner. As a registered nurse of 16 years, and a mom of 5, including twins, I can show you how to teach your twins to sleep all night in their cribs without using cry it out.