quick clicks

twins today articles

twins today q&a

community & groups

research baby names

prepare a birth plan

content channels

ip channel rss feeds

read birth stories

read parenting stories

recommended books

e-newsletters

safety recalls

ip diaries

ip store

mom of the month

dad of the month

editor's letter

letters to the editor

Rock-A-Bye Babies

Getting Your Multiples to Sleep

By Carol Sjostrom Miller

When you're ready to begin establishing a sleeping routine for your babies, you may be surprised to find that the best time to start is first thing in the morning. "You want to try to get the babies on the exact same schedule," says Jodi A. Mindell, Ph.D., author of Sleeping Through the Night: How Infants, Toddlers and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night's Sleep (Harper Collins 1997). "The best way to do this, although it's difficult, is to wake a sleeping baby if his twin is ready to get up."

Throughout the day, try to coordinate your babies' feeding, napping and waking times. "I tandem-nursed my babies, so they were on the same feeding schedule," says Lambert. "That helped them be more likely to feel sleepy at the same time."

Cheryl Mills, a mom of triplets from Clayton, N.C., also relied on a regular schedule for her infants. Although it wasn't easy to feed three babies at the same time – she recalls holding two to feed them and propping a bottle for the third if there was nobody around to help – she says it was worth it when all three slept simultaneously.

The need for consistency continues when it's time to put the babies to bed for the night, advises Mindell, who recommends a consistent bedtime routine. "It's not too early to start when the babies are 3 to 6 weeks old," she says.

Whatever you choose to include in the bedtime routine – suchas a feeding, a bath and a lullaby – make sure to complete each step in the same order each night, so your babies will learn to associate these steps with going to sleep.

After the routine is complete, put the babies to bed drowsy but awake. "You want to avoid rocking or nursing the babies to sleep," says Mindell. This is because babies who need to be rocked to sleep at bedtime will need to be rocked to sleep when they awaken in the night.

Lambert found that having her husband take part in the bedtime process was a great help in getting her twins into bed. "Each parent can take one child and get him or her ready to be put down," she says.

Want to see more?

• Breastfeeding Twins Series
• Crying Baby, Sleepless Nights: Why Your Baby Is Crying and What You Can Do About It
• Sleepy-Time Stress: Reviewing Sleep Strategies
• Talk about it!

Post As:
Enter your comment below:
Title
Comment Text
CAPTCHA
Please note that any comments submitted become the property of Disney Family / iParenting and can be edited and posted at our discrection.