When/ how to move twins to separate rooms?

Amanda - posted on 11/11/2010

I am having the same problem. i have 2yr old boys. One sleeps from 7pm - 5am but wakes the other up who is really grumpy if he is tired. they then go off to creche all day and by the time I get them home the one who was woken in the morning is unbearable, crying and clingy and it is driving my husband potty as he has a hard day at work and returns to a screaming child. I want to put them in seperate rooms but feel a bit guilty!

Heather - posted on 03/25/2009

Wow, crying it out is not the only option. Our boys never cried it out and yes, they did learn to sleep. We had them in the same room and found that with a white noise CD going, they never heard the other crying unless we waited too long to go scoop someone up. They nursed, but the same would be true for bottle feeding. If a baby wakes up hungry get him/her quickly and take care of their needs be it food or comfort or diaper. Sometimes it was easier for us to bring the one who woke to bed with us, then if the other started to cry, we would switch them.

We think because we met their needs when they cried, their only form of communication for well over a year, they cried less than other babies. When fussy, they didn't scream. They didn't throw fits at bed time or bath time (right before bed) or when getting on their pajamas. They knew bed was coming and they were fine with that.

I tended to nurse them last in the bedtime routine when they were younger, under a year to 15 months. As they got older, nursing was no longer the last thing we did and assume it would be the same with a bottle. We tried to keep consistent every night, but every so often we would move eating a bit farther away from bedtime so that eventually they didn't want to nurse (have a bottle) right before sleep. So long as we didn't try to rush them off to bed in a whirlwind of activity and kept their routine very consistent overall, they went to sleep like champs with no crying it out... ever.

By the way, now that they are older we have more problems with sleep. Now, they can get out of bed and play with one another. Separate rooms would not help because they go wake up their older brother and us. Their baby stage was somewhat easier in that respect.

Suada - posted on 03/24/2009

O my, i have twins /boy & girl...my girl always wonts to sleep but my boy is a big trouble when is time to go to the bed..They are still in the same room...we just stop taking naps in the afternoon and now by 8 o clock in the evening they have to be in their beds.We have  a story  time and prayer time what both of them love very much and then they are ready.It is hard but try ...goods luck to all of us !!!

Angela - posted on 03/24/2009

Letting them "Cry it Out" is harder on you then them!!! But it is the best way. And they cry the same if they are in the same room together or if they are seperated. "Healty Sleep Habit, Happy Babies" is a sleep book that helped us, but the Dr. who wrote it..I forget his name it starts with a W, IS coming out with a Twin book this month!!! Check it out. I am going to look for it too, even though I have his first one.

Melanie - posted on 03/23/2009

I seperated my twins(boy/girl) to different rooms when they were 3yrs old! i kept my same routine that i had but modified it. I would put one down to bed sing a few lullubys then said goodnight, while the other one was waiting in his or her bed watching a book that i picked just before putting the other one down! For me it was easier that way because they understood that one is a boy and the other is a girl, and that they needed their own rooms because of that! I hope i was able to help you with my experience!  Good luck!

Melissa - posted on 03/23/2009

oh my...I feel like I am listening to my then story. my twins are now 23 months old and I thought I would never get a good nights sleep. I didn't get a good nights sleep until they were 18 1/2 months old.....I KNOW where you are coming from. The best thing I can tell you is to move them in a seperate room together first for a couple of months to get them used to not being in your room. Next, this is the hardest part.....learn from my mistakes, I usually feed both of my babies their last milk at 7:30 then let them run around for about 1 hour and then NO MATTER WHAT I put them in their cribs...in their room and let them cry it out and they WILL finally go to sleep. It took me a LONG time to finally do this because I kept wanting to rescue them. Also, with them waking up in the middle of the night, I delt with this for a long time also. Only advice I can give is to let them cry...if they both wake up they will go back to sleep. I did in the beginning go and get the one that was crying but it was better to let them cry it out. The thing I found was my daughter woke up more often and discovered she was cold. They were being put to bed with their sleepers on with onesies underneath but because they move all over their cribs at night a blanket would never stay on top of them. So, I ended up putting some sweats on top of my daughters sleeper at night because whe was cold. Not sure where you live if this would apply or not. I also run a humidifier in the room for noise and they like it plus it doesn't hurt. Good luck...feel free to send something on facebook if you want.

Silja - posted on 03/23/2009

I like the bedt time routine in one room, then transfering one twin into the other room; our girl rsponds better to her dad at bed time, and the boy better to me, so we'll probably do that.

Emily - posted on 03/23/2009

This question really hits home for me...We just separated out 9.5 mo old twin girls. I didn't want to but Emma discovered her playmate across the room and tried to play from 4am on. Sleep was just too important to me. At 8.5 mo we had them cry it out (they had been sleeping swaddled in carseats due to reflux). I thought putting them in separate rooms would be a big deal (they aren't exactly flexible sleepers). It didn't phase either of them.



The bedtime routine. I rock Morgan sleepy (in her room). My husband then transfers Morgan to the crib and gives me Emma. I then rock Emma sleepy in Morgan's room and as I read both girls their bedtime stories (Morgan in her crib, Emma on my lap, Husband on floor holding the book). Then my husband takes Emma and places her in her crib in her room. We did exactly the same thing when they were in the same room. Just put Emma in her crib in Morgan's room. I think the key was not chaning any other aspect of the routine when we separated them.



I still home one day they will be back in the same room again.

Dawn - posted on 03/19/2009

Try them in the same room together first. They are used to being in your room, so you and your husband are around. If they make it through the night w/out waking each other up, you are good to go. If it doesn't work, put them in separate rooms. Don't feel bad about doing this, they will one day be separated anyway. Don't take them into the living room, especially since they think they can play. I have an extra recliner in our computer room, so I go in there if I have to, and keep the room dark. You may need to put rocker/gliders in each room (craig's list is a great place to get them cheap) and rock them to sleep at night, without taking them from their nighttime environment. Good luck.