Sleeping arrangements in the first weeks

[luckythirteen]

I'm 30+3 with DCDA twins and looking for some advice on where/how they should sleep in the early days, can I ask what you all have done? We currently have a Chicco Next2Me co-sleeper which we plan to use first off. I am keen that the babies have the opportunity to sleep side by side, particularly if they are premature and come home after a stay in the NICU/SCBU. The Chicco isn't the kind of thing that could easily be carried up and downstairs - could the babies sleep in their carrycots in the daytime or should I have another way of co-sleeping them downstairs? As you can probably tell I'm a first time mum and grateful for any advice!!

My twins shared a cot in our bedroom, we had a second cot downstairs for them to share during the day. I moved them upstairs for day time sleep after a couple of weeks.

I'm 36 weeks so this is untried and tested but we have a cot for upstairs and a travel cot for downstairs. Both should be big enough for them to co-share for a while (hopefully as they're not showing any signs of being premature right now!). Our logic was if we were going to somebodies house and the twins were likely to need to sleep a travel cot would fit better in the car than two of anything else. We don't have carry cots and I think there's something about not all carrycots being suitable for long periods of sleeping but I think during the day should be ok (don't quote me on that, it us based on stuff I've read on here).

Mine were in pram carry cots in the day and shared a cot at night (until 4 months when they started annoying each other)

My sister used a travel cot downstairs and a cot in her room upstairs, they slept side by side till they started hitting each other in the face and waking each other up at about 12 weeks then she just top and tailed them :)

Mine had separate mosses baskets and travel cots. They always slept separately, as they did in nicu. They are 7 now and share a bedroom and will not sleep alone! but they've always slept in separate beds.

I'm thinking of having a travel cot set up downstairs and they'll share a cot bed in our room. I think some pushchair carrycots are suitable for sleeping in inside (Vista?) so if we happen to get a pushchair with suitable carrycots, may also use those at home during the day sometimes.

Just wondering - how do your twins cot share? Do they have a barrier between them? Do they both lie at one end together sharing the same blankets? Or are they horizontal, so feet to the side bars? And if so, how then do you arrange the bedding?

We're planning on our twins sharing a cot in our bedroom, with a Moses basket each for daytime naps downstairs or at other houses

Mine had separate Moses baskets upstairs and slept on baby beanbags downstairs when they were newborn. Once they were a bit older (3mths or so) they just used to fall asleep on the floor/play mat during the day if we were at home or in the pram if we were out (I would leave them to sleep in the garden if it wasn't raining). I worried about this for ages thinking that everyone would think I was a terrible mother for letting my babies sleep on the floor or outside but then if they weren't comfy, they probably wouldn't have fallen asleep! From about 9mths they started having daytime naps in their cots upstairs.

Mine shared a cot in our room until 22 weeks when they went into seperate cots in their own room. We had to get a small cot to fit in our room and they were starting to disturb each other.

Naps were in the carrycots from the pram and bouncy chairs until they were 1. Napping upstairs did not happen no matter how hard we tried until then.

Good luck!

Bex - mine were feet to foot of cot, one at each end. Bedding like a singleton would be - sheet and blanket and then moved to sleeping bags when big enough. We bough a cot divider but never used it as they had reflux and slept on wedges which kept them out of each other's way anyway.

Mine were side by side in baby sleeping bags with feet to foot along the long edge of the cot (rather than the short normal 'foot' of the cot). made it easier to get them in and out and I could put the cot along the wall of our room right nest to my side of the bed.

Mine were nicu for 4 weeks then own Moses baskets when home but would put them in same Moses baskets for time together sometimes when awake. You do not want to get into a situation where they won't go to sleep by themselves so always sseparated at night time and nap time. When outgrew Moses baskets moved to cotbeds. Mine still share a room aged 8 out of personal preference, we have plenty bedrooms but they prefer to share.

My ID boys were born at 35 weeks and they spent 5 days in Nicu and then 10 days in transitional care with me. Always in separate cots as they wouldn't share! We then brought then home & they shared a large travel cot downstairs and had their own swing cribs upstairs in our room. They moved into their cribs in their own room at 7 months and then cot beds a couple of weeks later. Now they still won't nap or sleep next to each other at 19m!

Our DTs were born 5 weeks early and in Special Care in various guises for 10 days. But they finished their stay in a shared cot. So at home during the day they were in separate Moses baskets. At night they shared a cot, in their own room. Before moving to separate cots when they grew x

Our twins shared a cot in hospital, then have had separate Moses baskets since coming home. The Moses baskets are great cod they're so portable. They sleep a lot. Now (at 12weeks) enjoying a bouncy chair and invariably fall asleep in that too! We have very sleepy babies!

Great cod?! Sheesh! Cos. Now have visions of a giant fish...??

Thanks everyone for your feedback, really helpful to get advice from people who've been there and done it!

We had two moses baskets downstairs, and one cot bed upstairs which they top n tailed (head to head) it got to the point where cot sharing didn't work. They woke each other up! Congratulations