Twins & Sleep

My girls did the same thing! We waited it out and they did improve.

I should say that my kids sleep better if we have a very consistent sleep schedule (three year old twins and a 2 year old). Kids need about 10-12 hours of sleep at night at this age and so we put our kids down between 7 and 8 and they typically wake around 6-7. When our twins were 2 they slept a solid 12 hours - they were in bed by 7 and woke at 7. I did NOT find that reducing naps made them sleep better at night, they were just so overtired by 7 that they would spin out... we couldn't soothe them until way past bedtime.

We try to slow things down before bedtime - bath (if it's bath night), pjs, read books, sit in Mommy's lap for a few minutes each, etc. Good luck!

I had the same problem with my twins - so I separated them into their own room. Now, one of my girls still fights going to sleep.......so I cut her nap time from 2 hours to 1 hour and I make sure she naps by 1pm so that she'll be ready to go to sleep by no later than 10pm. And yes, 10pm is early because she's a night owl. I also wake her up at 8am, so that she gets into the routine even if we don't have anywhere to go that early. Good Luck - but I can totally understand your frustration.

With my triplets we had one who liked to party, still does. Needs very little sleep. If I pulled him out the other two would sleep right away. So we started putting him in our bed until he fell asleep and then carried him in his bed later. It's a pain but at least there wasn't a party going on up in their room.

Maybe you can start making their naps shorter though too, or napping them earlier so they're good and tired by bed time, but it just depends on how much sleep they need.

K. B
mom to 5 inlcuding triplets

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you might try what my parents did with me and my siblings...no multiples, but we had 3 girls in my room, 3 boys in the other... we were sent to bed 1 hr. before our actual bedtime, allowed to have the lights on so we could read, play QUIETLY, or just wind down from the day. It gave us a chance to get rid of whatever excess energy we had... (ha ha, just read again and noticed the age... maybe try putting rails on their beds so they can't climb out and get to each other?)

Unless it's creating some other problems, I'd simply wait it out. If they are getting enough sleep so that they are ok getting up in the morning, what is there to worry about? Some parents of children this age are dealing with kids (twins or singles) who cry and make a real scene about not wanting to go to sleep, so I think you are fortunate that yours are playing together quietly and not disturbing the rest of the family.

My twins too had always shared a room up until last year. Naps and schedule all play a part of this as well as just the natrual personality of your two. We lived in a very small house when they were small (they are now 6) and only had two bedrooms. We ended up setting up a pack n play in our room and would put one to bed in there and the other in their room. Then move the one in our room once they were asleep. We had to do this until they were just over two for night time sleep...we continued it for naps because that seemed to be more of an issue then night time.

Are they still in a crib? We kept ours in their cribs until they were 3 (they never climbed out...) and that made a huge difference. Also, not sure what your schedule is like during the day, but an earlier bedtime may help. I know that may sound crazy, but I think it really does work.

I agree with the person who said put them to bed earlier and give them some play time before lights out. We started this with our kids when they were about two. We would read a few books together and then give them about 15 minutes to "read" before the lights went out. We did not supervise this "reading" and let them do what they wanted as long as they were in their room and no one was getting hurt. We still do this now.

Most of all...enjoy every minute. It goes fast and before you know it they will be off to school. It is a hard first few years, but I can say with mine being 6 I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...they are at such a great age.

LOL-Boy does this bring back memories. I have 7 year old fraternal twin girls and they have always been in the same room and yes I remember many of night the giggles and laughing and just a pure slumber party going on in there. My twins were completly "DONE" with nap times by the time they were two....not that they didn't need one but it was the same deal me getting frustrated and ill at them because I spent more time going back into the bedroom to tell them Quit playing! It's time to take a nap! They would pipe it down but then few minutes later it was back to the same deal so instead of feeling frustrated and ill I just gave up on the whole nap thing. I thought by them NOT having a nap by the time bedtime rolled around I wouldn't have the same scenario-WRONG!!! There would be nights I would put them down for the night at 8:00-8:30 and they wouldn't fall out until 11:30-12:00!!!!! IT was crazy and it was driving me insane because I was working full-time and couldn't even go to bed myself until they were asleep! Finally someone mentioned "Melatonin" I know how some mothers feel about "drugging" their kids in order for them to sleep but Melatonin is an all natural herb and believe me not I don't agree with the whole drugging your kids either and I asked my Pediatrician before giving them anything. I exhausted everything such as seperating them laying one down before the other but it was even more frustrating becuase they would just get out of the bed crying saying they wantedt heir sissy or this or that and it just got really old! So....Melatonin saved my life. I would crush it up and put it in their sippy cups before bedtime and 30 minutes later they would be o-u-t!!
I don't think they were three though until I started them on the melatonin so please ask your ped first and how much you should give before doing so. Melatonin is what your brain naturally releases in order for you to sleep and I have heard of some people complaining that it gives them nightmares my own mother said it did for her but she also takes a whole bunch of other meds so it could have been something else but my twins have never had any nightmares on the stuff but another option you could check into as well is Chamomile.....just be sure before doing anything like that to check with your ped. Alot of people would tell me make sure you have them on a consistant schedule-they always were-believe me not but it didn't matter with them as soon as the lights went out it was like something switched on and they said "Hey lets party and drive mom and dad crazy!" .....like I said Melatonin was a lifesaver for me BUT its not for everyone!