24 Aug Safe Sleep For Twins
Safe sleep is one of the main topics we teach in our FREE Baby Care Workshop which we run for first time expectant parents. There are over 60,000 births in Ireland every year and around 2% of births of which are twins, so what is the safest way to put twins to bed safely?
In the early weeks and months babies usually go to sleep in their Moses basket of the bassinet attachment of their pram. This is absolutely fine for singleton babies but you will need to two of them for your twins if you wish them to co-bed (sharing the same cot together). Remember, no matter how tiny your babies are it’s not safe for twins to share the same bassinet or Moses basket as these are not designed for two babies to sleep in together.
The principles are the same no matter if there’s one, two or even three babies. Babies should always be going down to sleep on their back with their feet to the bottom of the cot, wearing vest and a baby grow, with 2-4 layers of cellular blankets.
Sometimes it can be tough in a practical sense to follow all of the safe sleep guidelines, particularly if you are short on space. For the first couple of weeks when it’s safe to put your twins to bed in the same cot, there are two ways you can put your babies down for the night:
Side-to-side
This is putting your babies down to sleep in the opposite direction you would usually put a baby down to sleep in a cot, they can only beside each other for as long as their hands can stretch out fully without touching each other. Once they become big enough to reach out to one another, its time to change their position.
End-to-end
Place each baby at opposite ends of the cot with both of their feet to each end of the cot and their heads pointing to the middle. There should be a good gap between their heads.
Note: You shouldn’t use any bumpers or divider’s to separate your twins when they’re sharing the same bed. If they begin to roll around and move freely, they need to move into their own cot. Fitting two cots into your room may be the trickiest part, however as soon as there are 6 months old they are old enough to move into their own bedroom.