Is co-sleeping a must-do?

amd1982 · August 2012

So my aunt purchased two matching, adorable bassinets for the twins! It was so sweet of her. My mom mentioned the fact that they may only need one bassinet to sleep together. Only, my thought process is this: hope for the best, expect the worst. What if they are born at a normal weight (like 6 lbs or so)? Then you're looking at 12 lbs worth of baby sleeping in one bassinet, and its max is 15 lbs. What do MoM's recommend? Is co-sleeping necessary? I don't want to traumatize the poor things by separating them after they've been in the womb together for 9 months. But it's important for them to be safe too right? I was planning on bassinets for the first couple months and then transitioning to their cribs....Thanks!

leapgirl8 · August 2012

We did a little bit at the hospital, but we didn't at home. They slept in Rock'n'Plays most of the time and by the time they transitioned to cribs they were too long for us to feel comfortable putting them in side-by-side. Plus, they don't roll yet but they do wiggle around.

Ours were each around 7 pounds at birth.

mysteriousmommy · August 2012

Ours slept together in the same crib for 3 months and then we separated them. We were the only that were traumatized. They don't care at all.

Ourfamilyof5 · August 2012

Perhaps I'll have a change of heart once my twins arrive, but as of right now, we don't plan to have them co-sleep. They'll be in RnPs in our room once we arrive home. When they're ready to transition into cribs, we'll put them each in their own. So no, I don't think it's a must-do!

macchiatto · August 2012

Most drs actually recommend against multiples bed-sharing because of increased SIDS risk. However, some disagree with that because the research showing increased SIDS risk is based on siblings of different ages sleeping together, not two infants and there are other studies that show benefits from putting them together (regulating each other's breathing and body temp, etc.) Bed-sharing did seem to have a calming effect on one of my boys especially, though the other didn't seem to care. My boys shared a crib till 6 months but once we were done swaddling, we separated them. We took precautions to help minimize SIDS risk--fan in the room, paci use when we first put them down, followed back to sleep rules, made sure they weren't too close and had good air circulation to avoid risk of rebreathing, etc.

Jen0204 · August 2012

Mine napped together on the rare occasion that we were at my ILs and the PNP was the only option but other then that they never co-slept. We tried putting them in the same crib a few times for naps at home and their noises woke each other up. We tried again when we moved them to their room at 6 weeks and they hated it. Every little noise wakes the other one up. Yet now that they're in separate cribs - but in the same room - one can be crying hysterically and the other one will stay sound asleep. It's so odd.

angelfire02 · August 2012

We tried to seperate ours from night one at home, but they just slept so much better together. They were in their Snugabunny seats for the first 7 weeks - I got so desperate none of us were sleeping....but when I moved them to their crib(s) they slept together until I think about 10 weeks. Then they needed to be unswaddled and were moving all over the place. I didn't want them sleeping together for a long time (even though my husband had planned on it until they were like 3....) so we seperated them then and they did fine. I did start with just naps though and worked up to night time. Now they are 3 1/2 months and love to be near each other, until one gets poked in the eye, or one rips the other's nuk out..... But in the beginning if you are going to go with a bassinet or crib, I would plan on them being together. You will all get better sleep that way!

regenab · August 2012

I never co-slept my twins. They came straight home from the hospital and right into their own individual cribs. I didn't even sleep them in my room. I am a very light sleeper and they were so gassy and made so much noise in their sleep, I never would have been able to sleep with them in my room. And sleep was like gold back in those days, would have done anything for it.

Even if you do decide to co-sleep in the beginning because they are on the small size and can fit in a bassinet together, I would keep the second bassinet. They will only be able to fit in it together for a short amount of time and you will need that second bassinet within a week or two. My girls were right under 5lbs each at birth and I had them napping in a pack in play together with the bassinet part raised, after about 3 weeks I had to lower it because together they hit the weight limit and it was trying to sag in the middle.

MrsOjoButtons · August 2012

We sidecarred a crib to our bed so we wouldn't have to worry about weight limits and we didn't want yet another baby item that would be outgrown. Most nights, the babies actually end up in between me and my husband because I'm nursing and have to switch sides, but the extra space provided by the crib has been great.

erniebufflo · August 2012

My hubby is a pediatrician and did a lot of reading of a lot of the studies out there on the ricks and benefits of co-sleeping twins. He concluded that it was a wash, and we had thought we would co-sleep them. Then one was in the NICU for three weeks and the other wasn't, so they never shared a bed. It worked out because one had reflux and was in a RNP, and the other was in a basinet.

myheromyworld89 · August 2012

At our hospital we sent them to the nursery at night and then they were in their own little hospitall cribs so they were spending nights apart from day one. We've kept them in separate PnP's in our room so far and they do just fine. In couple weeks they'll go to their own nurseries.

Mye · August 2012

my twins slept together in the pack in play in our room for 3.5 months, then together in the their crib until they were 5 months. By then they were moving too much and they went in separate cribs

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