Bringing your two new bundles of joy home is such an exhilarating experience. Now that you have successfully gone through your twin pregnancy and delivery, the most exciting part of the adventure is about to begin. Let’s face it. It is challenging to maintain a consistent sleep schedule with even just one baby. With twins, it is double the trouble!

First of all, take a deep breath and let your mind and body relax for a few seconds. Most twin parents get incredibly overwhelmed during the first few months. It is not just you. While the tiny humans get used to the life in the strange new world they arrived at, it is perfectly natural for them to fuss a little.

I mean, wouldn’t you?

In this article, we take you through a few tried and true methods to help both your twins and yourself get better sleep, especially during the first three months—which is when it is the most challenging for the most part.

Sleep Tips for the Twins

Safe Swaddling

Swaddling involves gently yet firmly wrapping a baby with a soft blanket to mimic the confined space they were used to in the womb. Newborns tend to startle themselves with their own body movements when they are asleep which wakes them up.

Especially when it comes to twins, if one baby wakes up in the middle of their nap due to their own body movements, it tends to wake the other one too. Proper swaddling can largely prevent this from happening.

Wake to Sleep

Having your little ones wake up frequently from their naps even after they were properly fed and changed can be stressful. They simply wake up out of habit.

The discomfort of waking up makes them cranky and they just do not know how to sleep by themselves. This is called habitual waking.

“Wake to Sleep Method” is a good way to help your twins transition from being awake to going back to sleep without your help.

This involves gently rousing your baby once they are on the bed after falling asleep, so they learn how to go back to sleep by themselves.

Learn the different cues

Every newborn develops their own special cues for when they are sleepy. When you have twins, you need to pay attention to the sleep cues of both babies separately.

There is almost always a more sensitive sleeper who tends to be at least slightly more finicky than the other. When you identify them, try to stick closer to their schedule when you put them down for a nap.

Avoid artificial light

After being used to a dark and enclosed place for a long time, newborns have a rather interesting relationship with light. As parents, you have to be gentle and careful when you help them slowly get used to the light. During the first few months, it is best if you do not expose the twins to artificial light until the natural circadian rhythm of their body develops well.

4th-trimester environment

The first few months of a newborn’s life are also called the 4th trimester. It is an important transition time from the womb to the bright and noisy world that we live in. It helps to adjust the environment around them to mimic the womb atmosphere.

Apart from swaddling as mentioned above, give the twins plenty of skin-to-skin time with both yourself and your partner. The sound of your heartbeat is familiar and soothing to them.

Sleep Tips for the Moms and Dads

Ask for help—as much as you need

It sure takes a village to raise a child, especially two. Therefore, never feel bad or hesitate to ask for help when you need it. In the incredibly independent and isolated modern lives that we live, most new parents tend to overexert themselves to the point of absolute exhaustion trying to do everything by themselves.

Remember that sometimes even when you feel like you have everything covered. It never hurts to have someone take some burned off your mind and body.

Sleep when your twins sleep

In the rare moments that your twins are sleeping during the first few months. It can be quite tempting to catch up with all the chores that you have missed while tending to them. However, it is extremely important that you rest your eyes during these rare moments.

If you feel anxious or worried about sleeping, take turns with your partner to have quick half-hour naps when the babies are asleep.

Caring for newborns requires a lot of mental and physical energy. Your body and mind both require sufficient rest and sleep so you can be the best and most alert parent possible when you are awake.

Create a coordinated schedule

Babies love and crave routine. Creating a coordinated schedule with your twins will help them keep calm. It will also help you have a sense of peace and stability in the chaos. You can start the process of creating a coordinated schedule for your twins by starting to take regular notes on their behavior.

Write everything down in the first few weeks in two separate notebooks dedicated to your two little ones. Write when they wake up naturally in the morning, their feeding times, their moods, how long they nap when they show sleep cues at night, and everything in between.

Once you have a good understanding of their natural schedules, you can coordinate them and work on a schedule that works for both twins and yourself. With a little effort and care, it is possible to help the twins sync their natural schedules.

Bedtime rituals

A consistent bedtime ritual helps your newborn twins easily transition from the busy daytime to the night. You are helping them feel peaceful and content so they can happily drift off to sleep. Keep it simple and easy during the first few weeks.

According to the feeding and sleep patterns of your twins, a bedtime ritual may include a warm bath. A good feed with lots of cuddles, and reading or singing to them in a soft and soothing voice till they fall asleep.

Using white noise is a great way to complete your bedtime ritual. It helps block noise from outside as well as the distracting noise that may come from their sibling as well.

With good sleep habits for both the twins and yourself, you can make the supposedly stressful first few months with them a lot more restful and joyful. Understand that there are fundamental differences between the sleep needs of adults and newborns.

Do not try to push rigid sleep schedules on your twins too early on. Take time to observe and learn their natural cues, behaviors, and sleeping patterns. Then, gently guide them to a sleep routine that works with their natural sleep cycle.

Meanwhile, get a few naps in whenever possible during the day. If the only sleep you are getting is at night, it is likely that you will soon end up sleep-deprived. Finally,  do not forget to pause and cherish precious moments of your two little blessings sleeping peacefully like two angels, side by side!