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Twins sleeping in the same room as you?

19 replies

Surfnicky · 29/06/2007 11:38

Hi - I think I have just about decided, after reading previous posts etc, to put my newborn twins in the same cotbed when they are born in september (rather than 2 moses baskets) but just wondered what your experiences are about having twins in the same room as you at night. We do have space in our bedroom for a cotbed but the nursery is right next door...

Am I right in thinking that if you put twins together then they can help regulate each others breathing, thereby decreasing the chances of cotdeath, etc?

Any advice/thoughts greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
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MarsLady · 29/06/2007 11:40

I kept my DTs in with me. You know that the WHO guidelines says that you should keep babies in the same room as you. Besides... you'll be too knackered to walk next door!

Come and join us on the d'ya ever wonder thread! Lots of twin and triplet mums there.

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MarsLady · 29/06/2007 11:45

here we are!

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SomethingIncrediblyWitty · 29/06/2007 11:48

Yes totally agree! Kept dts in room with me for ages - also had bottle warming equipment upstairs too!
Having said that - didn't put them in the same cot,they slept in their moses baskets in the bedroom for a long time.

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menageriekeeper · 29/06/2007 13:11

I went against the grain and had my triplets in their own room - mainly cos my room was too small to fit 3 cots in! I had them in moses baskets, inside their cots, so when the transition from basket to cot came, it wasn't a shock for them.

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frumpygrumpy · 29/06/2007 14:29

I think you might have to just wait til they're here to be sure either way......

In the beginning mine slept together - SO HEAVENLY TO WATCH!!!! Cherish it, takes lots of photos, I melt when I look back at that.

I had one baby who fed much better, took bigger feeds and thus slept longer. The other fed more frequently. I couldn't regulate them to feed at the same time because of this and so I ended up having them in the same room as me but in 2 moses baskets, a little away from each other. Then as the weeks/months went on, one slept better and we moved house. We had space for them to have their own rooms and so (sadly but necessary) I separated them at that point.

It will be decided for you when you try it and see. Have something else available (a friend that could supply something at short notice maybe) just in case. All the best with it, do join us on the other thread whenever you like. I'm currently wailing and moaning but usually I'm the very normal one

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Egg · 29/06/2007 17:51

Am expecting twins also and am intending to have them in their own room, mainly as we did this with DS as our room here was not big enough to have him with us realistically, and his room was so close to ours, and we kept both doors open, plus monitor, that I didn't feel he was any less safe than in with us. My plan is to put them in one cot, in their own room, but whether this actually happens once I see how they feed etc who knows????

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inamuckingfuddle · 29/06/2007 18:15

we didn't have much room in our bedroom, but they did sleep in their, together in their carrycot, for the first couple of weeks then in their own room in a cot together, still sharing a room now at 3.6 (but am wondering if this is wise )

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MarsLady · 29/06/2007 18:19

If I had space mine wouldn't share any more either. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

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glamourbadger · 29/06/2007 18:49

Can you fit a bed in their room? I have a double bed in my girls room which has been very useful. When they were first born and needed lots of night feeds DH and I did our "shift" sleeping with them. This meant when off duty we got a proper few hours uninterrupted kip. TBH this was the only way we coped - we would have both been shattered if they were in our room. The bed has been very useful - I put a mat down and change them on it and in the evenings we all cuddle up together for stories before bed.

Mine slept together because it was easier - less bedding to wash and we had a lot more space in their room with only one cotbed. Mine didn't seem to notice each other existed till about 10 months so I don't think there was any real benefit for them to sleep together.

As FG says take LOTS of photos of them in the same cot. I treasure mine - they were so tiny when we bought them home they both slept together at the foot of one cot. Only problem with the same cot is working out who is crying! Newborns make a lot of noise (grunting, hooting) and I often leapt out of bed to some weird noise like someone being strangled to find them both sleeping peacefully.

Best of luck - you will figure out what works for you when you bring them home.

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oooggs · 29/06/2007 21:07

our dt's are 13 weeks and we have moved our bed into their nursery and they share the same cotbed.

We won't be moving out until our bedroom has been decorated so I have no idea when that will be - when they are 18!!!!

They are both in grobags so no worries of blankets over heads and they currently sleep widthways - will be changing soon at the rapid rate they are growing.

I also had them in the same cot in hospital - not the plastic tub - too small for my huge twins!! they borrowed a full size one from the childrens ward for them. I didn't and still don't at the moment want them seperated.

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menageriekeeper · 30/06/2007 15:45

Marslady, if we had the room, I'd definitely separate the gruesome threesome. The messing about at bedtime is doing my nut in.

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MarsLady · 01/07/2007 11:17

I know.... the mess I can cope with (well it's not mine!) but it's the settling at night. I tell you.... adoption rears it's head at bedtime!

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ScummyMummy · 01/07/2007 11:20

I slept between mine in bed for about 6 weeks. Then moved them into moses baskets next to the low level bed. Feel quite nostalgic for those sleppy hazy milky days. Would have felt bereft if they'd been in another room.

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ScummyMummy · 01/07/2007 11:21

Sleppy!? Sleepy, even.

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MarsLady · 01/07/2007 11:59

Well they were kinda sleppy days weren't they?

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menageriekeeper · 01/07/2007 16:56

Tell you what, Mars, here's my expected bedtime routine, and what really happens.

7.30 Kids upstairs to undress, into bathroom, brush teeth, wash hands and faces, then into bed, read for 10 minutes, lights off, settle go to sleep.

7.30

Send kids upstairs, after much prevaricating, lots of "where's my .....", Muuuuuuuum, he/she is being mean to me", "he/she pinched me" they eventually stip off, put pyjamas on, leaving clothes where they fall. Tell them to put clothes into basket, which takes around 10 minutes.

7.50, kids still in bathroom, much screeching, giggling and jumping about (which rattles a light fitting in the front room, driving me nuts), go upstairs, find that the toothpaste has somehow magically adhered itself to almost every surface, including on bodies and pyjamas of small people, water has magically appeared on the floor, and towels are everywhere. Force aforementioned small people to actually brush teeth and wash, and make them clear up mess.

8pm, get them in bed, settle them with a book and say goodnight.

8.02pm, shout up the stairs for them to get back into bed and stop messing about.

8.04pm, shout up again, and warn that I will come up if I have to shout again.

8.10pm, go upstairs, tell off two small boys who are out of bed and messing around.

8.12pm, hear DD screeching "SHUT UP!!!" at the boys, shout upstairs again.

From 8.13 to 9pm, go up and down the stairs, threatening kids with dire things if they don't settle down and go to sleep. Take 10p away from each of their pocket money with the promise that they can earn it back if they do 3 nights in a row without messing about.

9.15, kids finally asleep and mummy pours herself a large glass of wine.

Similar to your's?

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Idobelieveinfairies · 02/07/2007 12:47

I put my twins into a cot bed, side by side at first and then head to toe later. Then were in my room for a year.

1st set boy/boy then went into their own room together in seperate cots-then seperate beds. Now 6 and they choose to share one bed.

2ns twins boy/girl in cot bed til age 1 in my room. Seperate cots, dd in her room, ds in with other boy twins.

Ta-ta....

(however must add they are 2.9 now and they fall asleep on the couch and we carry them up to their beds)i know i know..but anything for an easy life!!!

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accordiongirl · 02/07/2007 19:59

Side by side across the cot at the beginning, then head to toe, then a kind of double-headed u-shape pointing different directions thing and now separate cots (sniff - side by side was the cutest thing...) Did anyone else read that thing in the book by Emma Mahony about her twins getting love bites on the tops of their heads where they'd sucked on each others heads in the night, mistaking each others bald skulls for big round boosies in the dark...?

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accordiongirl · 02/07/2007 20:00

Oh and I camped out in the room with them and a helper! So it's a double bed, a single bed and two cots crammed into the room at once.

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