You can put your twins to sleep in a single cot while they're small enough. This is called co-bedding and is perfectly safe. In fact, putting twins in the same cot can help them regulate their body temperatures and sleep cycles, and can soothe them and their twin.
For twins, having each other close by is comforting, since they've been together since the get-go. So go ahead and let them sleep in the same crib. It's totally safe, especially in the first few weeks, when they're tightly swaddled and hardly move around.
The AAP clearly states that each baby should sleep on his or her own sleep surface, and not in the bed with an adult. Before you're ready to put the babies in their own cribs in the nursery, use two portable cribs or a double bassinet for twins, such as the HALO® Bassinest® twin sleeper.
One crib is fine in the beginning.
Many parents may make the switch to two cribs when the twins begin to roll, bump into one another, and wake each other up, she says. While one crib is fine, two car seats and a double-stroller are absolute musts for newborn twins.
Play it safe
Be sure to always: Place your twins in separate sleep spaces. It bears repeating: Twin babies should be put down in separate, safe sleep surfaces such as cribs, bassinets or pack 'n plays. Put your twins to sleep on their backs.
If you put your twins in the same cot, follow the same safe sleeping advice as for a single baby. They should be placed on their backs with the tops of their heads facing one another and their feet at opposite ends of the cot, or side by side on their backs, with their feet at the foot of the cot.
While the cause of SIDS is unknown, many clinicians and researchers believe that SIDS is associated with problems in the ability of the baby to arouse from sleep, to detect low levels of oxygen, or a buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood. When babies sleep face down, they may re-breathe exhaled carbon dioxide.
You Can Only Control the Things Within Your Control. “Having twins is not twice as hard—it's exponentially more difficult,” says Natalie Diaz, author of What To Do When You're Having Two and CEO of Twiniversity, a global support network for parents of twins.
Avoid sleeping on your back after 28 weeks of pregnancy because it is safer to sleep on your side for your baby .
Some twins will start sleeping through the night as early as 8-10 weeks. Typically you can start seeing longer sleep stretches around 12 weeks. Many twins wait until 4-6 months. The bottom line is that every twin is different.
SIDS is most common at 2-4 months of age when the cardiorespiratory system of all infants is in rapid transition and therefore unstable. So, all infants in this age range are at risk for dysfunction of neurological control of breathing.
After 6-months old, babies are typically able to lift their heads, roll over, or wake up more easily, and the risk of SIDS decreases dramatically. However, 10% of SIDS happens between 6 and 12 months of age and safe sleep recommendations should be followed up to a baby first birthday.
An immobilized infant can't crawl into dangerous asphyxiating environments. Also, swaddling prevents infants from pulling bedding over their heads. Both are risk factors for accidental suffocation and/or SIDS. The only evidence for an increased SIDS risk in swaddled infants comes from a non-peer reviewed abstract 9.
How often does SIDS occur? SUDI and SIDS are rare and the risk of your baby dying from these is very low. The rate of SIDS deaths has declined in Australia due to safe sleeping campaigns. In 2020, 100 babies in Australia died of SUDI (data from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia only).
As outlined in the review, pacifier use during sleep may improve autonomic control of breathing, airway patency, or both. Further, it has been hypothesized that the pacifier could prevent accidental rolling leading to less risk of SIDS.
White noise reduces the risk of SIDS.
We DO know that white noise reduces active sleep (which is the sleep state where SIDS is most likely to occur).
The reality is that although a good night's sleep is coming, it is safe to assume that your twins will be waking each other up during the night. And it's not just twins. Often two children of different ages who share a room will wake each other as they get used to sharing a room.
1 It's not that they can't ever be apart—but when they're in their younger years, they may simply be better off together. While limited research has shown there's no real benefit to keeping twins together in a classroom versus separating them, ultimately it should be up to the parents to make that call.
Some say that twins are always hard (yet amazing), while others say they truly didn't find them to be difficult. A few said that the first two months with twins are easy (being in the rose-colored glasses phase), then reality hits from months 3-6 (when the sleep deprivation catches up), then it can get easier again.
The hardest thing about having twins is...
“Managing the movement of two babies. Carrying them both up and down the stairs, getting them into the car, etc.” —Simeon R. “Often having to make one baby wait!” —Catharine D. “Being outnumbered—the logistics of two on one is definitely the hardest.