How to Get Twin Babies to Sleep Through the Night

It is hard enough trying to get one baby to sleep through the night, so twins can make this seem like an impossible task. Well, believe it or not, it is completely possible and can be achieved so long as the parents are willing to be fully consistent. So, how do you get twin babies to sleep through the night?

How to get twin babies to sleep through the night:

Establish a daily routine for naps, feedings, and bedtime.
Create a comfortable and appropriate sleeping environment.
Get the twins on the same exact schedule.
Do everything before the twins’ bedtime to avoid nighttime disturbances.

Throughout this article, we will provide some of the best tips and ways to establish a sleeping routine for your twins so that everyone in the house will get some much needed rest. It may seem like tons of extra work, but you will find that it well worth it once everything has been said and done!

How to Get Twin Babies to Sleep Through the Night

Most people have no idea how important sleep is until they have a newborn baby in the house, so adding two newborns to the mix can make parents feel overwhelmed to think about the amount of sleep they will or will not be getting.

While this is simply a natural reaction to having twins, getting them to sleep through the night is not impossible at all. It can even be quite easy, as long as each parent is willing to stay consistent, especially when things start getting hard.

While it may be easier to place a pacifier in your twins’ mouths every time they wake up in the night, this is not a long-term solution, which is exactly what you and your twin babies need.

It should be noted that newborns babies do not sleep through the night because they have very tiny stomachs and need to be fed about every 2 to 4 hours. If your twins are under 12 weeks, then it is normal for them to not sleep through the night and there is no cause for concern.

Be sure to share responsibilities with your partner so that no one is getting too exhausted throughout the night. If possible, look into hiring a night nurse to help.

Now, we will look into exactly how to get twin babies to sleep through the night, and we will start with establishing a sleeping routine and how you can easily do this.

Establish a Routine

Every parent would agree that creating and sticking to a routine that you will follow, daily, is the most important part of getting your twin babies to sleep through the night.

This routine will consist of a schedule that tells you exactly how your day is going to be planned out with your twins, all the way from waking up first thing in the morning to going to bed at night and everything that will happen in between.

Depending on how old your twins are this routine will vary as newborn babies will sleep most of the day and wake up often throughout the night and must be fed, while babies that are older than 3 months will sleep less throughout the day and more at night.

Here is how to start a routine:

Wake the twins at the same time every morning.
Feed the twins after waking them up.
After feeding, or eating breakfast, would be play time, which can consist of playing with toys, talking to your twins, singing songs, and so on. The types of things you do with your twins will depend on their age. For newborns, playtime will only be about 30 minutes before they are ready for their first nap. The older the twins get, the longer they will stay awake and the nap time will change.
Set a certain amount of time for the twins to sleep for each nap and stick to the times every day.
Feed the twins after they wake from each nap.
Allow a shorter amount of time for the last nap before bedtime, which will be in the late afternoon.
Wake the babies and start the bedtime routine.

A good bedtime routine consists of feeding the twins, giving them a bath, and reading them a short story.

This will get the twins settled for bedtime. Be sure to feed the twins before you take them to bed—possibly while you are reading to them—so that they will not wake in a few hours ready to eat.

Another option for feeding babies at night is dream feeding, and it could be a life saver for you in your journey to getting your twin babies to sleep through the night.

Dream feeding is when you feed the twins without waking them. Most parents decide to do this right before it is their own bedtime. This technique helps to keep the babies fuller for much longer, but some circumstances, like acid reflux, may prevent this from being an option for you.

Create Schedules for Naps, Baths, and Feeding Times

As mentioned earlier, establishing a routine for the day is best way to get your twin babies to sleep through the night.

This means that you must create a schedule and keep up with the time throughout the day so that your twins are getting all of their naps in during the day.

It may seem weird thinking that the more your babies sleep throughout the day, the more they will sleep at nighttime, but it is true. When babies are exhausted, they will fight to stay awake because it causes them to be extremely stressed. Which raises cortisol levels in the brain.

In order for this routine thing to work, everything must be completed at the same time every day or roughly the same. It seems a like it could be a little on the boring side, but it is the best way to keep things in order and keep the twins in sync.

After a while, and especially when the twins are older, they will also become familiar with the routine and expect things to go that way and things will run smoothly, most days, in your home.

It can be hard to keep things up with all of the other one million things us parents have going, and we cannot really expect for things to go perfectly every single day. Still, a good routine will ensure that you have the best chance of getting through a day without too much trouble.

After all, if the twins are sleeping through the night, then so are you!

Create an Appropriate Sleeping Environment

Another great way to get your twins to sleep through the night is to create a peaceful and appropriate sleeping environment.

An appropriate sleeping environment for the twins would be a room that has a comfortable temperature, is dark, and is quiet.
The recommended temperature for babies’ rooms is about 65 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit but be sure to consider the types of pajamas they are wearing or what material their swaddling blankets are made of before you decide to put it at a certain temperature.
For making the twin babies’ rooms dark, all you need is some curtains and/or blinds. No night lights are required in a room where a baby sleeps and is also not recommended.
As for noise, the room does not actually have to be completely quiet, but it does help.

Luckily, there are many great devices you can buy that play noises that are soothing for babies and help them to sleep and block out disturbing noises.

Make Sure the Twins’ Schedule is as Close to the Same as Possible

Some people decide not to put twins on the same schedule since they are both individuals and should not be treated exactly the same. Of course, that is true, but after about 12 weeks of not sleeping well, it is time to make a change.

Setting the same schedule for the twins is another way to help your twin babies sleep through the night.

By doing this, you will know that they both have been fed and took the naps that were needed throughout the day, so hunger and exhaustion will not keep them up at night.

You can also be assured that the twins are both roughly on the same path with how long they are sleeping throughout the night. They will both begin to become familiar with how the routines are going and start to synchronize their activities.

Avoid Nighttime Disturbances

The last way to try and get your twin babies to sleep through the night is to avoid nighttime disturbances as much as possible.

When the twin babies are put in their beds at nighttime, it is important that they have a quiet and comfortable place without any unnecessary interruptions.

Here are the best ways to avoid nighttime disturbances:

Change diapers right before bedtime. This will ensure that the twins’ diapers do not get too full too soon.
Feed them twin every night before bed. This will, obviously, keep them fuller for longer so that they will not wake up hungry.
Try your hardest to avoid bothering your sleeping angels because they look so precious while sleeping! It is very important not to go wake them unless you absolutely have to while you are trying to get the twin babies to sleep through the night.

Later in the article, we discuss some baby products that will help block out noises and other disturbances.

Tips for Establishing a Sleeping Routine

We cannot stress enough that establishing a sleeping routine for your twins is the absolute best way to get them to sleep through the night.

With that being said, it can be difficult to get it started and to keep it up consistently. So, below are some tips that will help you create the routine for the twin babies.

Write Everything Down and Stick to It

Even though this tip seems very tedious and time consuming, it can make all the difference. Your mind can easily become scrambled from taking on too many things at one time and forgetting can become a habit.

Writing everything down is the best way to remember. Since your feeding, napping, and bedtime schedules will be so tight, it will be important to remember when the twins ate last, had their last nap, and so on.

It is critical that you do everything about the same time every day so having a written schedule is the best way to make sure you can make that happen. Oddly enough, writing the schedule out will also help you to hold yourself accountable and you will more likely stick to it.

Ask for Help and Accept It

Staying on the routine every single day can be extremely hard, especially when things start to get tough. It can be very easy to start slacking and let the routine disappear completely.

That is why you should ask for help anytime you need it and never be ashamed of it. All parents feel the stress of caring for a tiny human being and can start to feel lost after a while. Sleep is the best way to fix this problem and likely the reason you even want to start the routine in the first place.

Anytime someone offers to help, always accept it, even if you do feel fine. Only a few minutes of a little bit of rest will help you significantly.

The routine is the best way to get the twin babies to sleep through the night, so if you need help sticking with it, then ask for it and accept it.

Try Sleep Training

Another great tip for helping your twin babies sleep through the night is to try sleep training.

Sleep training is exactly what it sounds like: training your babies to go sleep by themselves. This technique teaches babies to soothe themselves with they get stressed.

It may seem harsh to make your twins calm themselves down, you cannot always expect to be right there every single time your baby lets out a cry. If you are, then you will be going crazy from exhaustion in time.

It is important to know that babies that are less than 2 months old rarely ever sleep through the night and sleep training is not ideal.

There are many different types of sleep training methods that you can try with your twins.

Here are some different types of sleep training methods:

Ferber Method- This method consists of putting the twins in their bed while they are still awake and leave them even if they are crying. You will go in after about 5 minutes to comfort them, but only rub their backs and talk softly to them. Do not pick them up. Then, you will leave again and come back after 10 minutes then for longer stretches of time until they fall asleep.
Fading Method- The Fading method is basically where you gradually begin making your comforting time shorter. So, if you rock your twins or walk around the room before putting them in bed, then you will slowly start to cut that soothing time down over a couple of days or weeks.
Pick Up, Put Down Method- This method requires you to put the twins in bed and leave the room. Once they start crying, listen for a minute to try and see if they are calming themselves down. If not, go in and pick them up and soothe them until they are calm. Then repeat the steps until your twins are soothing themselves.
No Tears Method- The No Tears method simply requires you to place you r twins in their beds while they are relaxed and sleepy. If they wake up, go in and comfort them any way you feel necessary, then put them back down again once they are calm. You will repeat these steps until your twins fall asleep.

All babies are different, so you may have to play around with the different methods to see which ones your twins respond to the best.

Sleep training can be extremely hard, time-consuming, and in some cases, a little heart-breaking, but the best way to be the best parent is to be well-rested and alert, so a good night’s sleep is a must.

Conclusion

In conclusion, getting twins to sleep through the night is not as hard as it seems. It is, in fact, recommended so that everyone in the house, including the twins, can be healthy and happy.

The best ways to help your twins sleep through the night is to establish a full 24-hour, daily routine and stick to it, make sure the bedroom is comfortable and dark, and acquire some products that encourage peaceful sleep.

It may be tough at first but if you remain consistent with your schedule, then in just a matter a time everything will be a daily habit that comes to everyone naturally.