Co-sleeping twins from birth

Ylvelill · March 2014

I was sort of thinking I would let my twins sleep together in a crib until one of them got old enough to start trouble but then I learned about the RnP. It seems it is highly recommended for newborns because it holds them tight and slightly inclined.

Have any of you done the co-sleeping? Was it helpful? Would it be possible to start it after we move them to their nursery instead of our bedroom or do you have to do it from the start to get the "full" benefit?

Thanks!

LittleLady77 · March 2014

Great question. Some of the research I've done says its a no no but so many twin moms recommend co sleeping twins. I'm torn and would love to hear what other moms think too.

TheDairyQueenx3 · March 2014

We had them in the twin pack n play for 2 weeks then moved to a RnP until now. Even though they both have their own cribs in the nursery when the move out of our room and into theirs I will put them in the same crib.

It sort of depends on the babies. Some moms find that their twins can't even be in the same room together where as mine although do wake from each other noises need to be next to each other for comfort or they flip out. When they are ready then I will put them in their own cribs.

I just follow their cues and what works best for us at that given moment. Right now the RnP next to my bed works and as soon as they STTN they will crib share in their own room then they will move to their own beds when the time comes.

ckred27 · March 2014

I'm going to try cosleeping our twins for the first month or two and see how it goes.

ntdane · March 2014

My twins are only 3 weeks old so we're working through this right now. In the hospital they slept in the same bassinet at a small incline and did really well. Once we got home our little girl wouldn't sleep on the flat pnp but our boy would. She sleeps in the rnp for now. She has taken a few naps with her brother in the pnp so I'm hoping to transition her back to that at night. They don't wake each other up and seem to like the extra body heat.

mer313131 · March 2014

I have a RNP from DD and will have it ready at the helm, but I think I might start by putting them both in the same PNP and see how they do. Purely bc it will take up less space than two RNP and I won't have to worry about DD and the dogs touching them all the time (this is my clever plan, we will see how it goes haha). I didn't have issues transitioning DD from the RNP to the crib, just took it slow and she did fine. She's a pretty easygoing baby in general though.

daisy19782011 · March 2014

quinncat said:

I haven't had mine yet, but plan on having them sleep together for awhile. I used a rnp with my singleton and will not be using it again for sleep. It was so hard to transition him to sleep flat in the crib. He ended up in our bed laying on one of our arms all night until he was almost one. I know a lot people love the rnp and I did too when we used it. Ended up hating that thing.

This! We used rnps with the girls and they LOVED them and still nap in them some of the time. They sleep flat now in the PNP, but the transition was hard. We are moving to cribs next week! Wish us luck. As a side note, the rnp has a hard plastic under the lining, so you may want to put a softer blanket UNDER the lining. My girls go flat spots from leaning on the side of it for so long. They are really convenient when you get them home and need to have them somewhere, til you get used to it, so they have pros and cons. Also, I feel like I wish my girls had been together more from the beginning and they aren't in the rnp

Ylvelill · March 2014

Thank you for all the tips! Guess I will do more research on the RnP, I had not heard they aren't good for nighttime.

carrotcake06 · March 2014

One of my boys was refluxy and screamed bloody murderon his back, so RNP it was.

They sleep in them in their own room. They will occasionally sleep in their crib. No one STTN and I don't Forsee that happening anytime soon.

IMO, best laid plans. Have a few options and be willing to adapt to situations that arise.

JTA2426 · March 2014

Mine slept in side by side RNPs by my bed for the better part of 6 months. When we transitioned to a crib I thought I would let them share, but after two horrible nights of that I split them up into their own cribs and they STTN! We haven't looked back.

yinyang124 · March 2014

I am in the minority here. My twins have co-slept since birth. Well, since out of NICU.

They are 16 months old and still co-sleep. We tried separating around 9-10 months, but it was incredibly unsuccessful. This is just what works for us, but I understand that it doesn't work for others for a variety of reasons. We did use RnPs at times because it's soo easy to sit on the floor and just rock them both.

j&j508 · March 2014

We had them in the PnP in our room for three months, and that whole time they slept together. We would put them feet in the middle and heads at opposite ends so they wouldn't roll into each other. When they started moving more, we transitioned them to their nursery, and they slept together that way for a bit, then moved them to their own cribs.

Ylvelill · March 2014

I think we have settled on putting them together in one crib in our bedroom to start

dmurrie · March 2014

We're thinking about bunking them up together in our room in the PNP to start... especially if we're breastfeeding. Then they'll move to separate cribs across the hall before they're rolling or wiggling around too much in bed. Well have the cribs side by side. Not sure what to do when traveling when they're a bit bigger... 2 PNPs? Also seriously considering borrowing the PNP my parents have for nap times downstairs. We gave a toddler and I dread having to run up and down these stairs a million times a day. Does anyone have an extra changing table for the other floor in their house, or is this all just completely going overboard?

ntdane · March 2014

dmurrie said:
Does anyone have an extra changing table for the other floor in their house, or is this all just completely going overboard?

A friend did this with her kids and it worked well. If you prefer to use changing tables over the floor and have the space I would do it. We have a little diaper caddy with its own changing pad that we keep in our living room for quick changes. Something like that could work too.

Raggedy1 · March 2014

Our's co-slept in an Arms Reach Co-Sleeper Original until they outgrew it. They spent a few nights in their bouncers, but finally I had read enough about safe bedsharing and attachment parenting that I felt comfortable bringing them into bed with me. DH slept in the guest room or on a mattress on the floor next to us for awhile, but now at almost 11 months we all sleep together in a king sized bed. It's a lifestyle choice. They have never once slept in their cribs. They are great sleepers, incredibly happy and independent. It works for us. If you're interested, I encourage you to read and educate yourself.

rn8 · March 2014

Replying to a PP, I would definitely recommend having a changing table/area set up if you have an downstairs and an upstairs to your house. In the beginning, I was too sore to walk up the steps multiple times a day and there was about 20 diapers/day. I set one pad up on a low cabinet in our dining area, the other in the nursery. As the twins got older, it wasn't safe to leave one to change the other upstairs anyway. They are 21 months now and we still have the 2 changing areas. It's not overkill.

TREDgirl · March 2014

We had our twins cosleep while swaddled for the first 10 weeks in a crib in our bedroom. When we moved them into their bedroom I then put them feet to feet for a week or so and then moved to their own separate cribs. We kept the PnP downstairs for naps-one in the cradle part and the other on the raised flat part.

And we have a changing area downstairs as well as in their nursery. It just made it WAY easier than having to go up and down. We used a larger folding table. I quickly realized even bending over in the PnP was too low and really hurt my back after awhile.

Oh and another thing I quickly gave up on was the infant tub. It was sooooo much easier to just do the baths in the real bathtub with a little foam thing I have to put the baby on. And bending over for that hasn't been an issue on the back either. Plus in the real tub the water stays warmer much longer.

Good luck!

macchiatto · March 2014

Ours bed-shared until 6m. When they were ready to wean from swaddling, we separated them so they wouldn't interfere with each other's sleep or breathing.

It's been a couple years since I researched this so there may be newer info out there, but you will often hear this is not recommended b/c of SIDS risk. However, the studies that rec comes from involved siblings of different ages, not multiples bed-sharing. I can see how a 3y/o and an infant is a less safe combination for the infant's sake. There was no research (at the time) specifically on multiples that showed it was unsafe. There was some information that bed-sharing multiples (especially preemies) actually were better at regulating their body temp and breathing. Some infants seem to find it very soothing. One MoM who used to post here said bed-sharing made a dramatic difference for one of her preemie twins in improving his health when he was in the NICU.

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