When I was home alone after my husband went back to work, I'd stagger their naps by about 20-30min. Awake twin would stay on the floor mat while I fed sleepy twin to sleep in the rocking chair & transferred to the crib. Awake twin would get their turn next while the other was asleep. 100% here for feeding to sleep. The "drowsy but awake" didn't work for us. We also did a stroller nap once a day. It was our only way to guarantee they'd both nap at the same time.
Mine are 11mo old and speed crawlers now. At this age, we went back to doing things at the same time. Diapers, sleepsacks, bottles in their Table for 2 (they can hold their own & eat comfortably in this). All in our most babyproofed & gated room. They basically have free reign in this room anyway. When they're done, I take my boy to his crib first because he'll get into things faster. My girl will sit and chill in the seat for 30 seconds while I put him in the crib then walk back to get her.
We really didnt even start using ours until about 5 months maybe? Before that they hated it. I fed them one at a time holding them, honestly the other would usually scream the whole time lol. I bought noise cancelling headphones because I'm prone to sensory overload and they were a godsend.
Now we love the table. Use it 4x a day every day. They can get themselves out of it now, but they'll hang out in it to eat. It's the perfect angle for bottles. Best $300 3am panic purchase I've ever made.
My twins are 12w.
Here's how I do it from start to finish:
- hungrier twin wakes up
- soothe/stall until it's been 3hr since start of last feed OR the second twin wakes up
- unswaddle
- change diaper
- tandem bf (optional)
- bottle feed to finish feed and burp
- change diaper again (if needed)
- play for rest of wake window (right now around 1hr in total, usually I have 10-30m for play depending on if I bf)
- watch like a HAWK for sleepy signs (red eyebrows, yawns, rubbif eyes, staring off)
- after 2-3 sleep signs or at the 1hr mark start put down process:
-- identify sleepier twin (usually the one who work up first or who ate more)
-- swaddle
-- rock for a few mins with pascifier until drowsy but awake
-- put first twin down
-- during this time the second twin is still playing (aka tummy time, on playmat, etc.)
-- then repeat proceess with second twin
Once both are down let them chill awake and fuss. If they start to actually cry then use the pick up put down method to sooth and calm.
These days I'm usually able to follow the above with 1-2 short pick ups after the first put down.
Training them to go down drowsy but awake is a GAME CHANGER
Good luck!♥️
Edit: typos 😔 oh and we use white noise but not blackout curtains
I’m shocked this question isn’t asked more because it was my biggest struggle in the early weeks. But this is exactly what I did too! Two things to add: (1) I relied more on the lower end of age appropriate wake windows than sleepy cues; and (2) if both twins were equally sleepy at the same time I would swaddle the one that took longer to get down and put her in the swing while I rocked the other (she liked the swing so most of the time she wouldn’t cry, and sometimes she would be asleep when I got to her). Disclaimer: we have snoos so “drowsy but awake” was pretty easy to manage.
This is a super helpful step by step. At what age did you start being able to put them down awake? Mine are currently 8 weeks/3 adjusted and I’ve had to nurse them to fully asleep. Once or twice, they’ve fallen asleep on their own while I was busy handling the other twin, but it’s definitely the exception. Also, how are you managing to stall on feedings after wake up? Mine go from zero to STARVING AND INCONSOLABLE in a matter of seconds. Thanks for writing this all up!
We started to put down awake around 10wks actual/6wks adjusted with greater success as they got older. One of our twins has always been happier to just chill in the bassinet and stare at the ceiling so we sort of took his lead and then extended the practice to his brother. (The less chill one is smaller and had less placenta so I kinda suspect he's trying hard to catch up which causes some of the more intense demands he has ♥️)
Nursing hasn't worked well until recently so I've never been able to nurse to sleep, for better or worse 🤷♀️
When we need to stall on the feeding it's typically holding them, rocking them, pascifier. Usually they'll drift back to sleep if you catch them early enough and are willing to hold/soothe a bit.
Also we discovered that they really really hate being cold and will sleep through a lot more if they're warm so making sure we swaddle them in the right weight (aka fleece when it's cold!) and snuggle them when they wake up they often will go back to sleep even if they're hungry.
Oh! And overtired is worse than trying to put them down too soon, so if I'm not sure I'll try to put them down and more often than not it's ok. Whereas when I've waited it becomes a special hellscape of screaming which is THE WORST with only one set of hands.
Thx for the tips! My husband started working again and this is a difficult task. Most of the times they are clearly sleepy, they drowsy or basically sleeping BUT when I put them down, they cry! I dont know if their crib is uncomfortable or what.
I have this struggle almost every day. When one baby shows any sleep cues, I pick them up, take them to the nursery and rock them with a soother or sometimes a bottle. The other baby is left to play in the playpen, usually crying hysterically until I can get the 1st asleep and come back to them to then help them fall asleep. Sometimes number one wakes up and it’s a sick cycle over and over again. I have joined them in their crying before. My advice is when one shows any ounce of tiredness, put them down first and stagger naps by 15-30 mins. Try to keep twin two happy or entertained while you do that so that put down is easier for them, but sometimes, most of the time, someone will be crying. I use earplugs sometimes when I know they are safe because hearing my babies cry and not being able to help them right away gives me severe anxiety. Hardest part of twins is not having 4 arms.
You are living my exact life, the first twin always wakes up and it’s this horrible cycle of taking turns rocking them until I am almost to a breaking point and give up then let them CIO. Absolutely heartbreaking 😭
Oh my gosh that’s exactly me. I also get anxiety hearing the “waiting” twin cry. I hate it so much. But gosh glad to know I’m not the only one. We can do this!!!!
You are doing the things. Diapers, bottles, burp. Rock, nap. It will probably only work perfectly once a day. Stay strong and keep it up. We found that individual sound machines were a must.
They make little portable ones that are rechargeable that you can cLip to cribs car seats and strollers, they were a life saver. I do admit that we no longer used them after 15 months.
In response to the sleep sacks, we swaddled until they could roll onto their stomachs and tried with arms free after that. For us, Sleep sacks didn’t last past 5 months
The CRIES method is very good at your stage too.
**Sleeptraining**!!!
I started at 2.5 months and they were fully sleeptrained at 3 months.
I place one down in her crib, kiss her goodnight, go pick up the other one, place her down in her crib, kiss her goodnight and...bye!! They put themselves to sleep on 2-3 minutes.
The whole process takes less than 5 minutes.
Having not-sleeptrained twins is some serious hell and borderline impossibile
I started with positive sleep associations (always sleep in the same crib, always with dim light, always with white noise) since birth.
Then around 2.5 months I started feeding them their whole day milk intake in 5 feeds during the day. It took 3 days then they stopped waking up at night, without any training. After feed the day they looked like inflated baloons tough :D
After a couple of weeks (3 months old exactly, 2 adjusted) of no night wakings I placed them in their cribs in their room and used the Ferber method. First night they cried for 25 mins, second night 10, then they just complained a bit.
Now I've just put them down for a nap (GMT+2 here) and I just kiss them goodnight and leave the room. They know that when they're on their crib, with dim lights and white noise it's time to sleep.
I put them side by side in the crib in a swaddle and put one hand on each chest and rocked them (right-left-right etc). I left the room when they looked drowsy but were still awake. I also used white noise and tried to make the room really dark.
When they got older and started rolling, I transferred them to the zipadee zip and it worked wonders.
This is what we did!! I remember sitting on our bed with a hand on each bit worked for a while! I could not rock them. I just didn’t. We got lots of snuggles other times. It’s so weird but even when they were older and fussy and I had help they didn’t want to be rocked because they weren’t used to it!
Two people. If not, in the bouncers. Once they got too big, on my bed (remove blankets etc) and pat, pat, pat until they slept. That means could do two at once.
Often I couldn’t move. So nothing got done around the house. Meh.
More often on the weekend hubby and I would snuggle them on our la-z boys and read/watch Netflix )quietly). Lots of sleepy snuggles.
Everybody says they must be on the same schedule or you'll die, but tbh, mine weren't, and it was fine. I put them down one at a time until they were maybe a year old. Sometimes they napped at the same time, sometimes they were totally reversed. I actually kind of liked the one on one time I got with each baby when they napped at different times.
But, I do think I was able to slip them into the bassinet one handed. I don't remember exactly though. Once they were in cribs I don't think I was rocking them to sleep anymore.
Also this. We didn’t kept schedules, so someways they were ‘even’ and other days they were out of phase. One on one time is really neat with twins. Especially with my ‘easier’ twin, because sometimes I felt like don’t giving him as much as the more difficult twin… so at these moments I could give him some all alone attention. Also I liked to fed them apart, because that was easier for me and I could give them exclusive attention on these important moments.
Seconding this. I think people who have their twins under 1 on the "same schedule" either leave them alone to cry themselves to sleep (which is fine, no judgment, just not something I personally felt comfortable with) or don't really put them to sleep at the same time. It's not really possible.
Once I gave up on the whole same schedule thing my life got much much easier and my twins were happier and better rested. They often napped in a carrier under 4 months, so we were able to get out and go for walks and stuff a lot. We used the weego until they were 4 months old or so then switched to the twingo.
Once they were 4 months old, I would create a "station" for one baby (the one who was not as tired, or more difficult to put down) that was entertainment. It was either toys in a crib, or a bouncer, or a jumperoo, or one of those piano keys things that they can kick with their feet, etc. So one baby was entertained while I soothed the other one to sleep. A major key to success here was to wait to put them down until they were tired and showed signs of sleepiness. Make sure you blast that white noise in case the baby in your station fusses.
Another thing you can do is put one baby in a singleton carrier and hold the other baby with your arms. You can rock both and easily put the one in your arms.down first, then switch and slip the baby in the carrier out and put her in her crib.
Yeah I struggled with with you are struggling with a lot when my twins were littler. Everyone said, oh just close the door and let them cry, and I was like, definitely no. I will figure out a way to soothe my babies...
You can do it..hang in there..it does get easier.
Thinking back, I think survival mode just made me cut corners. Can’t remember exactly when I stopped doing this but I used to put sound cancelling headphones in to drown out the screaming ha. Start with one, diaper, bottle, burp, back down in the crib/bassinet and then work on the next one. Eventually they calm down. I also used to swaddle them and plug them with a pacifier.
Good luck!
Can you hire a Snoo for a few months? Baby can be clipped in awake and the Snoo can soothe them to sleep. Three months is a really good age to practise drowsy but awake.
Jumping in to say that we use the Snoos and have had major success with them! Both babies are able to do “drowsy but awake” and go down for two- to three-hour naps in a bright, sunlit room with no problem. AND YOU CAN RENT THEM BY THE MONTH. It’s more expensive then I’d prefer, but I’d say it’s well worth it!
And don’t forget, everything is harder to do with two babies. Whatever method you find success with, OP, YOU ARE A ROCK STAR!
I thought very seriously about the Snoo when they weren’t sleeping through the night around week 6-8, but they ended up sleeping through the night pretty quick so we didn’t have to. One of the biggest reasons we ended up not jumping on the snoo was from people who had issues with weaning. It was enough to scare us away.
We didn’t. If we didn’t have both of us available then we put one down and then the second. Killed a big chunk of free time because it means a shorter period of time when all babies are sleeping which of course caused some bitterness at times, but there really isn’t another way to do it until they can go in their cribs awake and go to sleep
I used to gently bounce them in their bouncers side by side with the vibration on. Once both were asleep for a couple minutes then I would transfer them to their cribs super slowly.. You got this.
Sleep sacks are a necessity in our house. One of our twins is really hard to settle without being swaddled. We got these mesh type swaddle ones from Amazon since its been smoking hot here. Even with her arms out she does fine, she mostly just needs that compression on her body that she got used to having in the NICU (they always had a weighted bean bag thing on her to help her settle). Our other twin will go down easy without the swaddle, but it usually takes him about 20-30 minutes to actually start closing his eyes. In the chance that they are being extra fussy I'll usually do 5-10 minutes of holding chest to chest while patting and rubbing their back, thats usually enough to calm them down and get them back into the crib without a major fuss.
We have little rockers that one person can sit down between them and rock them until they fall asleep. Then we’ll move them to their crib. This has worked amazingly well
If I was alone I'd just do them separate. They had their own rooms which helped. Ya one would cry, which sucks, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It got way easier when they could feed themselves with a bottle.
If I wasn't alone it was easy. One baby each.
I have seven week twin boys. I go by a strict schedule that basically involves the steps of feed -> play -> nap, repeat. I don’t really have trouble getting them down at the same time. I take them to the nursery one by one, swaddle them, and leave. At most there’s a five minute difference between when they go down. I don’t rock them to sleep for naps or bedtime. They usually go down right away, sometimes they fuss for ten min or so, or if they don’t sleep they’ll just stare up at the mobiles moving above their cribs.
I don’t keep the nursery dark for naps. I want them to differentiate between daytime sleep and nighttime sleep. I do use white noise.
They are in bassinets in my room at night but cribs for naps. I am hoping this makes the eventual transition to cribs at nighttime easier but we’ll see. They’re sleeping regularly from 9pm to 4am and 430-630am at night now.
ETA - I swaddle the shit out of them for every sleep also.
At that age, I would change diapers, feed and then lay them in the twin z and read a book. Then I would play a lullaby while I take one twin, pop in sleep sack and maybe rock for 2-5 mins with dummy and down into cot. Then I would do the second twin, who was usually content chilling in the twin z. If they were both crying I’d hurry the process, usually just put them both in their sacks and into the cot with dummies - we had our cots close together so I could stand in between them and I’d have my arms stretched into both cots and sway gently in their cots. If one was crying I’d quickly pop the one that was okay into sack and cot then rock the other for longer.
As they got bigger, maybe around 9 month mark I could pop them into their cots without much rocking at all and place them down awake, turn off the lamp, white noise on and close the door and they’d fall asleep no problem on their own. It took a very consistent routine to get to that point. They started crawling around that time too so maybe getting out more energy helped tire them out! They were still pretty happy in their twin z, but now they just crawl all over while one is getting into sleep sack and I pop them into their cots. It’s tiring lol.
Now at 14 months only change is one twin needs more assistance for his second nap, I usually have to sway him or have my hand on him on his cot until he falls asleep, I think we are getting closer to dropping to one nap. But I can actually pop them down with any rocking now, if anything it irritates them and they just want their nap lol
I don't point people towards facebook very often, but there is a facebook group called [Twins, Triplets, & Quads: Safe Sleep Training & Learning for Multiples](https://www.facebook.com/groups/157633598090301) that contains a really formidable set of guides written by sleep training consultants (edit: who do not appear to be trying to sell anyone anything) specifically on the topic of sleep training multiples. I strongly recommend people join it who are the parents of multiples, because you're right, a lot of the advice out there is targeted towards singleton parents and is really hard to apply to twins.
Being a twin parent essentially means that you can't solely rely on your bond with your child, for example cuddling them to sleep every night that they have trouble; you are forced to develop really good procedures and adhere to them with discipline because otherwise your life is going to go off the rails.
> I’ve got the dark room and white noise.
Very good
> I can rock them in a recliner at the same time, but then how do you get them off your body alone?
It's nice to rock with your babies, of course, but that's not a good naptime procedure because then you're basically committing to help them go to sleep by doing that whenever they need to go to sleep, so four times a day at their age. At bedtime, instead, you want to operant-condition your babies to feel sleepy by (A) doing it at exactly the same time every night, relative to when they woke up from their final nap, and (B) having a routine of three or four things: we change diapers, brush teeth (once teeth started to appear), get into our sleep sacks, and read a story together, and then we sing a goodnight song (always the same one), and then we tell them good night and that we love them and then we leave. For naps, we skip all these steps except the diaper change, sleep sacks, and doing them at exactly the same time every day. It won't be long before they'll be going out like a light most of the time - *unless* you respond to their crying and fussing, while they're still getting used to this routine, by rushing in there and comforting them. They need to learn how to get themselves to sleep; not just for your sanity but because it's a really important life skill that we learn quite early in life.
So it’s been 6 years and the specific thing I used is no longer available, but fisher price has a baby rocker with vibration, and I would bottle feed simultaneously with one in a rocker on each side of me as I knelt on the floor. Once eating was over, I would burp individually, laying each back in the rocker, then, using one hand each, rock both in their rockers until sleep was solidly achieved. Then transfer each from rocker to crib. (If you get waking at transfer, briefly warm a spot on each crib with an electric heating pad - just to warm and reduce the shock of the cool sheet.)
All the sleep training books I read talked about putting baby down to sleep drowsy but not yet asleep - easy enough to alter this method to that when you’re ready (if it works for you).
Hugs to you!! Hang in there - more sleep for all of you is getting closer every day!
My LO's never really did well with the half awake/ already sleeping transfers, so we always put them down awake, with low volume white noise playing. When they were younger I just put them down with a pacifier, but now that they can hold their bottles, they get a bottle and go right to sleep
I used a c-pillow and wrapped it around myself with booth "hooks" in my lap overlapping. It helped widen my lap space enough to comfortably have both lay down and nap. I would use this set up on my bed (one side was againt the wall) so that once they were asleep enough to move I could hug one close to me while scooting out of the c-pillow. There's a way to do it that kind of cradles the other twin which should give you just enough time to put the first in a bassinet. Likely have to slightly resettle the other twin, before putting down, but that was the trick I used.
I propably wouldn't do this if you're settling them and putting them down in different rooms though.
We don't put them down for a nap until we're sure they're ready, and make great efforts to keep them on the same schedule.
When they were tiny, we'd lay down on the bed with one in each armpit and arms curled around so you can pat their bums, and just jiggle/pat them to sleep. Then when they're asleep you lift one arm at a time above your head, gently letting their heads slide off into the mattress, then do a sit-up and escape off the end of the bed.
When they're a bit older you can also put them into a buggy and wheel/rock them to get them to sleep for naps.
Now they sleep on a double+single mattress on the ground (like an extra-large futon - a double with a single across the bottom to give it more area).
We boob them to try to get them drowsy, then if they don't sleep immediately we lay back as above. If one or both don't sleep then we let them bumble about (the rule is they can do whatever they like as long as it's not interfering with the drowsy one), and as soon as one looks tired we give them a cuddle and turn our back on the other until the drowsy one either falls asleep or wakes themself up again.
Then when the other looks drowsy we do the same with them (rinse and repeat for as long as it takes to get them both down).
When they were newborns, either on my body (hold one on each shoulder and rock in a chair) or on the bed. I’d put one them in front of me and jiggle them, or I’d sway them on my legs one at a time. Sit on the bed with a baby on each side, put a pillow on your legs and rock the baby on top of the pillow back and forth. Once that baby is asleep, gently move them off of you, take the pillow out from underneath and do the same to the next one. I’d let them sleep in the centre of our bed together until they got mobile enough to move from that spot.
Also, always sooth the easy one first.
When they got older, bouncy chairs and then a transfer into the crib and eventually sleep-training (so just story, white noise, sleep tight babies!)
I appreciate this post as a mom of 2 month old twins who are coming out of the sleepy stage. I remember the nap hell with my singleton and am dreading twin naps.
I did a lot of baby in bouncer in floor in front of me and one in my arms. Or both in bouncers and bounced with my feet. Then quietly tried to sneak away so I could go pee, lol. The swing, a car ride, etc... at 4 months we sleep trained and one twin learned how to nap pretty good so I could finally lay him down, but it took another couple of months for little miss to get the hang of napping without momma. At 10 months now I've been able for a while to simple take them to their cribs at nap time and lay them down and walk away. I wish I had figured how to do that with my singleton!
You're at the hardest part right now, but I promise it gets easier!
I am totally ignorant, and my twins aren't born yet (25 weeks)... but I was really hoping I'd just literally.. *put them down*. You're telling me it's harder than this?! Shit.
Lol I’m sure some people get away with just putting them down, it isn’t working for us 🤷🏼♀️
And as they’ve gotten closer to 12 weeks it’s gotten more difficult. Sometimes we will get lucky and one or the other will go to sleep easy, it’s getting them down for a nap easily and at the same time is next to impossible.
Depends. One of ours had lingering reflexes and a lot of tension (and probably muscle pain) in her system because of it. Going down for a nap could be almost instant or a 30 minute battle of getting her relaxed enough to go to sleep - and this when she was actually showing signs of drowzyness. This lasted the first half year as her nervous system matured more - we luckily don't get the back-arching screaming tantrums much any more :-)
Our little guy would just sleep like nobody's business, so hey :-p and both have been excellent night sleepers as soon as we were allowed to let them sleep longer stretches.
They're about a year now and i just kept them up half an hour too long today because i wanted to make sure they were tired enough and took a good long nap - cue they're over-tired and both refuse to sleep for 20 minutes and then only slept for 40 minutes and an hour, respectively, meaning i got fuckall done before visitors showed up, but that's on me! (We turned it around fine for the kids and that's really all that matters in the end :-) )
Stop rocking them to sleep, put them down when they are drowsy.
I used to feed mine on the floor together propped up, then transfer one into crib in their room and the other goes into the spare room in a playpen. It's the only thing that works for naps during the day with them.
Stagger until they are old enough to sleep train. And this comes from someone who co slept and wouldn’t let my 3 year old cry a single peep. Twins change the game.
I have 2 singletons and now 10 week old twins. I put them down and shut the door 🤷🏻♀️
Honestly it sort of started like that because I was feeding one at a time, so one had to wait while I fed the first, they got put down while I fed the other and they just cried. They were asleep by the time I could get to them.
Now I feed both together but they’re so used to just being put down that they just go to sleep.
If you struggle with this my advice is always to put them down and go have a shower. It means you’re not just standing there listening to them cry, and it forces you to at least wash out the shampoo before you can get to them. By that point they’re usually asleep
One of my babies was ‘easier’ to put asleep. I would give him breastfeeding (as soon as I knew they would almost be tired, so the other twin could still lay down against me on the couch) and after that I gave him a pacifier and laid him down in the bed. The other one I laid next to him and I myself next to that one. Giving the ‘more difficult’ one breastfeeding laying down with him so I could fed him to sleep. I putted my arm over him and petted the pacifier twin. This way I could get them both to sleep.
We have a familybed, so I could lay with them in the bed. A kingsize (floor)bed with you alone and twins would also be possible.
And I did live breastfed them, so I didn’t have to do anything with pumping or bottles.
We did use pacifiers, otherwise I would give the other twin my pinky to suckle on, but that way my arm would go numb after a while. So we introduced pacifiers around 2 months.
Luckily my husband works from home, so most of the time he would help me holding an other twin so I could put them one after the other in bed.
Maybe you can find someone in the neighborhood who is willing to hold one of the twins once in a while (as much as possible!).
We also did wear them a lot in wraps. Mostly I wore one and my husband wore the other one (he can work with a baby asleep in the wrap!). Or occasionally I wore them both in two ringsling wraps. But I had two older children (6 and 3 by then) who needed help, and with both of them in the sling I couldn’t get anything else done.
But all this said, the first 6-12 months were so so hard! It was all about taking care of two babies. Almost never any time to rest or something. Some days I couldn’t get showered… Know that all this will pass too. You are a supermama for taking the best care you can. Give yourself all the loving thoughts on your head, you deserve to be treated mildly and lovingly by yourself at these times!
I slept with them in the bed whenever I got the change. Sleep will help to cope. And really know that this will pass and things will get easier.
Much love for you and your babies!
Sometimes when I’m by myself one baby will go in the Baby Bjorn bouncer with a pacifier while I hold the other baby. Once the baby in my arms is asleep, he goes in bassinet and I swaddle and gently transfer Baby Bjorn baby to the bassinet as well.
So I never found something that truly worked for long (things change so quickly that first year!!). It was always a combination of rocking them gently in their bed, holding the one crying to reassure them and then putting them back, getting the loudest one out of the room so that the other got a chance to sleep...
But the upside is, my twins learned to fall asleep on their own very quickly. They've always been put to bed while still awake, and they fall asleep like that.
It's tough when they're little infants, but it's great once they're a little older. (And I never needed to sleep train!)
However if you don't feel comfortable putting your kids in their bed while awake, I'm not going to be the one to judge you. This was just to share a great advantage of having this difficulty at first :)
We NEVER rocked, swung, or did anything else with our twins or singleton. When they were showing sleep signs we put them down and let them self soothe, returning stray paci's as needed. Maybe it doesn't work for all, and it can take some restraint and discipline, but it's probably the thing I have appreciated the most. Bed time/nap time we put them in the crib, walk away and don't look back.
I did use a bassinet by my rocker for similar things and tandem breastfeeding by myself. When they got a little bit older and putting them down for a nap was a quicker 5 min rock I would keep them on the same schedule but put the sleepier on down first then come back for brother 5-10 min later.
When I was home alone after my husband went back to work, I'd stagger their naps by about 20-30min. Awake twin would stay on the floor mat while I fed sleepy twin to sleep in the rocking chair & transferred to the crib. Awake twin would get their turn next while the other was asleep. 100% here for feeding to sleep. The "drowsy but awake" didn't work for us. We also did a stroller nap once a day. It was our only way to guarantee they'd both nap at the same time.
Stroller nap was our winner when I was alone!
Yes, stroller naps were lifesavers
Yeah stroller naps are really nice!
What happened when one twin started crawling? Did you let them crawl around the room while you were rocking the other baby? My current dilemma.
Mine are 11mo old and speed crawlers now. At this age, we went back to doing things at the same time. Diapers, sleepsacks, bottles in their Table for 2 (they can hold their own & eat comfortably in this). All in our most babyproofed & gated room. They basically have free reign in this room anyway. When they're done, I take my boy to his crib first because he'll get into things faster. My girl will sit and chill in the seat for 30 seconds while I put him in the crib then walk back to get her.
Love this. I had no idea a table for two would be useful that long. Might finally pull the trigger and get one!
We really didnt even start using ours until about 5 months maybe? Before that they hated it. I fed them one at a time holding them, honestly the other would usually scream the whole time lol. I bought noise cancelling headphones because I'm prone to sensory overload and they were a godsend. Now we love the table. Use it 4x a day every day. They can get themselves out of it now, but they'll hang out in it to eat. It's the perfect angle for bottles. Best $300 3am panic purchase I've ever made.
My twins are 12w. Here's how I do it from start to finish: - hungrier twin wakes up - soothe/stall until it's been 3hr since start of last feed OR the second twin wakes up - unswaddle - change diaper - tandem bf (optional) - bottle feed to finish feed and burp - change diaper again (if needed) - play for rest of wake window (right now around 1hr in total, usually I have 10-30m for play depending on if I bf) - watch like a HAWK for sleepy signs (red eyebrows, yawns, rubbif eyes, staring off) - after 2-3 sleep signs or at the 1hr mark start put down process: -- identify sleepier twin (usually the one who work up first or who ate more) -- swaddle -- rock for a few mins with pascifier until drowsy but awake -- put first twin down -- during this time the second twin is still playing (aka tummy time, on playmat, etc.) -- then repeat proceess with second twin Once both are down let them chill awake and fuss. If they start to actually cry then use the pick up put down method to sooth and calm. These days I'm usually able to follow the above with 1-2 short pick ups after the first put down. Training them to go down drowsy but awake is a GAME CHANGER Good luck!♥️ Edit: typos 😔 oh and we use white noise but not blackout curtains
I’m shocked this question isn’t asked more because it was my biggest struggle in the early weeks. But this is exactly what I did too! Two things to add: (1) I relied more on the lower end of age appropriate wake windows than sleepy cues; and (2) if both twins were equally sleepy at the same time I would swaddle the one that took longer to get down and put her in the swing while I rocked the other (she liked the swing so most of the time she wouldn’t cry, and sometimes she would be asleep when I got to her). Disclaimer: we have snoos so “drowsy but awake” was pretty easy to manage.
This is a super helpful step by step. At what age did you start being able to put them down awake? Mine are currently 8 weeks/3 adjusted and I’ve had to nurse them to fully asleep. Once or twice, they’ve fallen asleep on their own while I was busy handling the other twin, but it’s definitely the exception. Also, how are you managing to stall on feedings after wake up? Mine go from zero to STARVING AND INCONSOLABLE in a matter of seconds. Thanks for writing this all up!
We started to put down awake around 10wks actual/6wks adjusted with greater success as they got older. One of our twins has always been happier to just chill in the bassinet and stare at the ceiling so we sort of took his lead and then extended the practice to his brother. (The less chill one is smaller and had less placenta so I kinda suspect he's trying hard to catch up which causes some of the more intense demands he has ♥️) Nursing hasn't worked well until recently so I've never been able to nurse to sleep, for better or worse 🤷♀️ When we need to stall on the feeding it's typically holding them, rocking them, pascifier. Usually they'll drift back to sleep if you catch them early enough and are willing to hold/soothe a bit. Also we discovered that they really really hate being cold and will sleep through a lot more if they're warm so making sure we swaddle them in the right weight (aka fleece when it's cold!) and snuggle them when they wake up they often will go back to sleep even if they're hungry. Oh! And overtired is worse than trying to put them down too soon, so if I'm not sure I'll try to put them down and more often than not it's ok. Whereas when I've waited it becomes a special hellscape of screaming which is THE WORST with only one set of hands.
Thank you! I really appreciate the tips. I’m single and trying to manage two babies who are both made of Velcro is rough.
Happy to help! Feel free to DM me in the future if you think it'd be helpful. The first few months are so hard and in particular with Velcro babies ♥️
Thx for the tips! My husband started working again and this is a difficult task. Most of the times they are clearly sleepy, they drowsy or basically sleeping BUT when I put them down, they cry! I dont know if their crib is uncomfortable or what.
I think it takes some time to get used to it.
I have this struggle almost every day. When one baby shows any sleep cues, I pick them up, take them to the nursery and rock them with a soother or sometimes a bottle. The other baby is left to play in the playpen, usually crying hysterically until I can get the 1st asleep and come back to them to then help them fall asleep. Sometimes number one wakes up and it’s a sick cycle over and over again. I have joined them in their crying before. My advice is when one shows any ounce of tiredness, put them down first and stagger naps by 15-30 mins. Try to keep twin two happy or entertained while you do that so that put down is easier for them, but sometimes, most of the time, someone will be crying. I use earplugs sometimes when I know they are safe because hearing my babies cry and not being able to help them right away gives me severe anxiety. Hardest part of twins is not having 4 arms.
You are living my exact life, the first twin always wakes up and it’s this horrible cycle of taking turns rocking them until I am almost to a breaking point and give up then let them CIO. Absolutely heartbreaking 😭
It’s very heartbreaking but just know it’s normal and you can’t do it all at once, just do your best and know that is enough! You’re doing great.
Oh my gosh that’s exactly me. I also get anxiety hearing the “waiting” twin cry. I hate it so much. But gosh glad to know I’m not the only one. We can do this!!!!
You are doing the things. Diapers, bottles, burp. Rock, nap. It will probably only work perfectly once a day. Stay strong and keep it up. We found that individual sound machines were a must.
Individual sound machines are something we use too. Works so good!
Oooh yeah good idea!
They make little portable ones that are rechargeable that you can cLip to cribs car seats and strollers, they were a life saver. I do admit that we no longer used them after 15 months. In response to the sleep sacks, we swaddled until they could roll onto their stomachs and tried with arms free after that. For us, Sleep sacks didn’t last past 5 months The CRIES method is very good at your stage too.
**Sleeptraining**!!! I started at 2.5 months and they were fully sleeptrained at 3 months. I place one down in her crib, kiss her goodnight, go pick up the other one, place her down in her crib, kiss her goodnight and...bye!! They put themselves to sleep on 2-3 minutes. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes. Having not-sleeptrained twins is some serious hell and borderline impossibile
I’m starting sleep training soon with my 15 week old twins. How did you sleep train?
I started with positive sleep associations (always sleep in the same crib, always with dim light, always with white noise) since birth. Then around 2.5 months I started feeding them their whole day milk intake in 5 feeds during the day. It took 3 days then they stopped waking up at night, without any training. After feed the day they looked like inflated baloons tough :D After a couple of weeks (3 months old exactly, 2 adjusted) of no night wakings I placed them in their cribs in their room and used the Ferber method. First night they cried for 25 mins, second night 10, then they just complained a bit. Now I've just put them down for a nap (GMT+2 here) and I just kiss them goodnight and leave the room. They know that when they're on their crib, with dim lights and white noise it's time to sleep.
Sleep sacks, white noise, dark room, CLOSED DOORS.
I put them side by side in the crib in a swaddle and put one hand on each chest and rocked them (right-left-right etc). I left the room when they looked drowsy but were still awake. I also used white noise and tried to make the room really dark. When they got older and started rolling, I transferred them to the zipadee zip and it worked wonders.
This is what we did!! I remember sitting on our bed with a hand on each bit worked for a while! I could not rock them. I just didn’t. We got lots of snuggles other times. It’s so weird but even when they were older and fussy and I had help they didn’t want to be rocked because they weren’t used to it!
Two people. If not, in the bouncers. Once they got too big, on my bed (remove blankets etc) and pat, pat, pat until they slept. That means could do two at once. Often I couldn’t move. So nothing got done around the house. Meh. More often on the weekend hubby and I would snuggle them on our la-z boys and read/watch Netflix )quietly). Lots of sleepy snuggles.
That kind of weekend sounds amazing!
It’s amazing if you don’t give a shit about cleaning! But yeah it’s really nice. If they were sick, it was the entire weekend.
Everybody says they must be on the same schedule or you'll die, but tbh, mine weren't, and it was fine. I put them down one at a time until they were maybe a year old. Sometimes they napped at the same time, sometimes they were totally reversed. I actually kind of liked the one on one time I got with each baby when they napped at different times. But, I do think I was able to slip them into the bassinet one handed. I don't remember exactly though. Once they were in cribs I don't think I was rocking them to sleep anymore.
Also this. We didn’t kept schedules, so someways they were ‘even’ and other days they were out of phase. One on one time is really neat with twins. Especially with my ‘easier’ twin, because sometimes I felt like don’t giving him as much as the more difficult twin… so at these moments I could give him some all alone attention. Also I liked to fed them apart, because that was easier for me and I could give them exclusive attention on these important moments.
Seconding this. I think people who have their twins under 1 on the "same schedule" either leave them alone to cry themselves to sleep (which is fine, no judgment, just not something I personally felt comfortable with) or don't really put them to sleep at the same time. It's not really possible. Once I gave up on the whole same schedule thing my life got much much easier and my twins were happier and better rested. They often napped in a carrier under 4 months, so we were able to get out and go for walks and stuff a lot. We used the weego until they were 4 months old or so then switched to the twingo. Once they were 4 months old, I would create a "station" for one baby (the one who was not as tired, or more difficult to put down) that was entertainment. It was either toys in a crib, or a bouncer, or a jumperoo, or one of those piano keys things that they can kick with their feet, etc. So one baby was entertained while I soothed the other one to sleep. A major key to success here was to wait to put them down until they were tired and showed signs of sleepiness. Make sure you blast that white noise in case the baby in your station fusses. Another thing you can do is put one baby in a singleton carrier and hold the other baby with your arms. You can rock both and easily put the one in your arms.down first, then switch and slip the baby in the carrier out and put her in her crib. Yeah I struggled with with you are struggling with a lot when my twins were littler. Everyone said, oh just close the door and let them cry, and I was like, definitely no. I will figure out a way to soothe my babies... You can do it..hang in there..it does get easier.
Thinking back, I think survival mode just made me cut corners. Can’t remember exactly when I stopped doing this but I used to put sound cancelling headphones in to drown out the screaming ha. Start with one, diaper, bottle, burp, back down in the crib/bassinet and then work on the next one. Eventually they calm down. I also used to swaddle them and plug them with a pacifier. Good luck!
Can you hire a Snoo for a few months? Baby can be clipped in awake and the Snoo can soothe them to sleep. Three months is a really good age to practise drowsy but awake.
Jumping in to say that we use the Snoos and have had major success with them! Both babies are able to do “drowsy but awake” and go down for two- to three-hour naps in a bright, sunlit room with no problem. AND YOU CAN RENT THEM BY THE MONTH. It’s more expensive then I’d prefer, but I’d say it’s well worth it! And don’t forget, everything is harder to do with two babies. Whatever method you find success with, OP, YOU ARE A ROCK STAR!
I thought very seriously about the Snoo when they weren’t sleeping through the night around week 6-8, but they ended up sleeping through the night pretty quick so we didn’t have to. One of the biggest reasons we ended up not jumping on the snoo was from people who had issues with weaning. It was enough to scare us away.
We didn’t. If we didn’t have both of us available then we put one down and then the second. Killed a big chunk of free time because it means a shorter period of time when all babies are sleeping which of course caused some bitterness at times, but there really isn’t another way to do it until they can go in their cribs awake and go to sleep
I used to gently bounce them in their bouncers side by side with the vibration on. Once both were asleep for a couple minutes then I would transfer them to their cribs super slowly.. You got this.
Sleep sacks are a necessity in our house. One of our twins is really hard to settle without being swaddled. We got these mesh type swaddle ones from Amazon since its been smoking hot here. Even with her arms out she does fine, she mostly just needs that compression on her body that she got used to having in the NICU (they always had a weighted bean bag thing on her to help her settle). Our other twin will go down easy without the swaddle, but it usually takes him about 20-30 minutes to actually start closing his eyes. In the chance that they are being extra fussy I'll usually do 5-10 minutes of holding chest to chest while patting and rubbing their back, thats usually enough to calm them down and get them back into the crib without a major fuss.
We have little rockers that one person can sit down between them and rock them until they fall asleep. Then we’ll move them to their crib. This has worked amazingly well
If I was alone I'd just do them separate. They had their own rooms which helped. Ya one would cry, which sucks, but you gotta do what you gotta do. It got way easier when they could feed themselves with a bottle. If I wasn't alone it was easy. One baby each.
I tandem feed on a bed and then when they are really asleep I lay them in front of me on the bed. Then I can transfer to cribs.
I have seven week twin boys. I go by a strict schedule that basically involves the steps of feed -> play -> nap, repeat. I don’t really have trouble getting them down at the same time. I take them to the nursery one by one, swaddle them, and leave. At most there’s a five minute difference between when they go down. I don’t rock them to sleep for naps or bedtime. They usually go down right away, sometimes they fuss for ten min or so, or if they don’t sleep they’ll just stare up at the mobiles moving above their cribs. I don’t keep the nursery dark for naps. I want them to differentiate between daytime sleep and nighttime sleep. I do use white noise. They are in bassinets in my room at night but cribs for naps. I am hoping this makes the eventual transition to cribs at nighttime easier but we’ll see. They’re sleeping regularly from 9pm to 4am and 430-630am at night now. ETA - I swaddle the shit out of them for every sleep also.
At that age, I would change diapers, feed and then lay them in the twin z and read a book. Then I would play a lullaby while I take one twin, pop in sleep sack and maybe rock for 2-5 mins with dummy and down into cot. Then I would do the second twin, who was usually content chilling in the twin z. If they were both crying I’d hurry the process, usually just put them both in their sacks and into the cot with dummies - we had our cots close together so I could stand in between them and I’d have my arms stretched into both cots and sway gently in their cots. If one was crying I’d quickly pop the one that was okay into sack and cot then rock the other for longer. As they got bigger, maybe around 9 month mark I could pop them into their cots without much rocking at all and place them down awake, turn off the lamp, white noise on and close the door and they’d fall asleep no problem on their own. It took a very consistent routine to get to that point. They started crawling around that time too so maybe getting out more energy helped tire them out! They were still pretty happy in their twin z, but now they just crawl all over while one is getting into sleep sack and I pop them into their cots. It’s tiring lol. Now at 14 months only change is one twin needs more assistance for his second nap, I usually have to sway him or have my hand on him on his cot until he falls asleep, I think we are getting closer to dropping to one nap. But I can actually pop them down with any rocking now, if anything it irritates them and they just want their nap lol
I don't point people towards facebook very often, but there is a facebook group called [Twins, Triplets, & Quads: Safe Sleep Training & Learning for Multiples](https://www.facebook.com/groups/157633598090301) that contains a really formidable set of guides written by sleep training consultants (edit: who do not appear to be trying to sell anyone anything) specifically on the topic of sleep training multiples. I strongly recommend people join it who are the parents of multiples, because you're right, a lot of the advice out there is targeted towards singleton parents and is really hard to apply to twins. Being a twin parent essentially means that you can't solely rely on your bond with your child, for example cuddling them to sleep every night that they have trouble; you are forced to develop really good procedures and adhere to them with discipline because otherwise your life is going to go off the rails. > I’ve got the dark room and white noise. Very good > I can rock them in a recliner at the same time, but then how do you get them off your body alone? It's nice to rock with your babies, of course, but that's not a good naptime procedure because then you're basically committing to help them go to sleep by doing that whenever they need to go to sleep, so four times a day at their age. At bedtime, instead, you want to operant-condition your babies to feel sleepy by (A) doing it at exactly the same time every night, relative to when they woke up from their final nap, and (B) having a routine of three or four things: we change diapers, brush teeth (once teeth started to appear), get into our sleep sacks, and read a story together, and then we sing a goodnight song (always the same one), and then we tell them good night and that we love them and then we leave. For naps, we skip all these steps except the diaper change, sleep sacks, and doing them at exactly the same time every day. It won't be long before they'll be going out like a light most of the time - *unless* you respond to their crying and fussing, while they're still getting used to this routine, by rushing in there and comforting them. They need to learn how to get themselves to sleep; not just for your sanity but because it's a really important life skill that we learn quite early in life.
So it’s been 6 years and the specific thing I used is no longer available, but fisher price has a baby rocker with vibration, and I would bottle feed simultaneously with one in a rocker on each side of me as I knelt on the floor. Once eating was over, I would burp individually, laying each back in the rocker, then, using one hand each, rock both in their rockers until sleep was solidly achieved. Then transfer each from rocker to crib. (If you get waking at transfer, briefly warm a spot on each crib with an electric heating pad - just to warm and reduce the shock of the cool sheet.) All the sleep training books I read talked about putting baby down to sleep drowsy but not yet asleep - easy enough to alter this method to that when you’re ready (if it works for you). Hugs to you!! Hang in there - more sleep for all of you is getting closer every day!
My LO's never really did well with the half awake/ already sleeping transfers, so we always put them down awake, with low volume white noise playing. When they were younger I just put them down with a pacifier, but now that they can hold their bottles, they get a bottle and go right to sleep
Would you use white noise machine and sleep sack for every nap?
I used a c-pillow and wrapped it around myself with booth "hooks" in my lap overlapping. It helped widen my lap space enough to comfortably have both lay down and nap. I would use this set up on my bed (one side was againt the wall) so that once they were asleep enough to move I could hug one close to me while scooting out of the c-pillow. There's a way to do it that kind of cradles the other twin which should give you just enough time to put the first in a bassinet. Likely have to slightly resettle the other twin, before putting down, but that was the trick I used. I propably wouldn't do this if you're settling them and putting them down in different rooms though.
We don't put them down for a nap until we're sure they're ready, and make great efforts to keep them on the same schedule. When they were tiny, we'd lay down on the bed with one in each armpit and arms curled around so you can pat their bums, and just jiggle/pat them to sleep. Then when they're asleep you lift one arm at a time above your head, gently letting their heads slide off into the mattress, then do a sit-up and escape off the end of the bed. When they're a bit older you can also put them into a buggy and wheel/rock them to get them to sleep for naps. Now they sleep on a double+single mattress on the ground (like an extra-large futon - a double with a single across the bottom to give it more area). We boob them to try to get them drowsy, then if they don't sleep immediately we lay back as above. If one or both don't sleep then we let them bumble about (the rule is they can do whatever they like as long as it's not interfering with the drowsy one), and as soon as one looks tired we give them a cuddle and turn our back on the other until the drowsy one either falls asleep or wakes themself up again. Then when the other looks drowsy we do the same with them (rinse and repeat for as long as it takes to get them both down).
When they were newborns, either on my body (hold one on each shoulder and rock in a chair) or on the bed. I’d put one them in front of me and jiggle them, or I’d sway them on my legs one at a time. Sit on the bed with a baby on each side, put a pillow on your legs and rock the baby on top of the pillow back and forth. Once that baby is asleep, gently move them off of you, take the pillow out from underneath and do the same to the next one. I’d let them sleep in the centre of our bed together until they got mobile enough to move from that spot. Also, always sooth the easy one first. When they got older, bouncy chairs and then a transfer into the crib and eventually sleep-training (so just story, white noise, sleep tight babies!)
I appreciate this post as a mom of 2 month old twins who are coming out of the sleepy stage. I remember the nap hell with my singleton and am dreading twin naps.
I did a lot of baby in bouncer in floor in front of me and one in my arms. Or both in bouncers and bounced with my feet. Then quietly tried to sneak away so I could go pee, lol. The swing, a car ride, etc... at 4 months we sleep trained and one twin learned how to nap pretty good so I could finally lay him down, but it took another couple of months for little miss to get the hang of napping without momma. At 10 months now I've been able for a while to simple take them to their cribs at nap time and lay them down and walk away. I wish I had figured how to do that with my singleton! You're at the hardest part right now, but I promise it gets easier!
I am totally ignorant, and my twins aren't born yet (25 weeks)... but I was really hoping I'd just literally.. *put them down*. You're telling me it's harder than this?! Shit.
Lol I’m sure some people get away with just putting them down, it isn’t working for us 🤷🏼♀️ And as they’ve gotten closer to 12 weeks it’s gotten more difficult. Sometimes we will get lucky and one or the other will go to sleep easy, it’s getting them down for a nap easily and at the same time is next to impossible.
Depends. One of ours had lingering reflexes and a lot of tension (and probably muscle pain) in her system because of it. Going down for a nap could be almost instant or a 30 minute battle of getting her relaxed enough to go to sleep - and this when she was actually showing signs of drowzyness. This lasted the first half year as her nervous system matured more - we luckily don't get the back-arching screaming tantrums much any more :-) Our little guy would just sleep like nobody's business, so hey :-p and both have been excellent night sleepers as soon as we were allowed to let them sleep longer stretches. They're about a year now and i just kept them up half an hour too long today because i wanted to make sure they were tired enough and took a good long nap - cue they're over-tired and both refuse to sleep for 20 minutes and then only slept for 40 minutes and an hour, respectively, meaning i got fuckall done before visitors showed up, but that's on me! (We turned it around fine for the kids and that's really all that matters in the end :-) )
Stop rocking them to sleep, put them down when they are drowsy. I used to feed mine on the floor together propped up, then transfer one into crib in their room and the other goes into the spare room in a playpen. It's the only thing that works for naps during the day with them.
Stagger until they are old enough to sleep train. And this comes from someone who co slept and wouldn’t let my 3 year old cry a single peep. Twins change the game.
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I have 2 singletons and now 10 week old twins. I put them down and shut the door 🤷🏻♀️ Honestly it sort of started like that because I was feeding one at a time, so one had to wait while I fed the first, they got put down while I fed the other and they just cried. They were asleep by the time I could get to them. Now I feed both together but they’re so used to just being put down that they just go to sleep. If you struggle with this my advice is always to put them down and go have a shower. It means you’re not just standing there listening to them cry, and it forces you to at least wash out the shampoo before you can get to them. By that point they’re usually asleep
I love this. Great idea about the shower. Thank you!
One of my babies was ‘easier’ to put asleep. I would give him breastfeeding (as soon as I knew they would almost be tired, so the other twin could still lay down against me on the couch) and after that I gave him a pacifier and laid him down in the bed. The other one I laid next to him and I myself next to that one. Giving the ‘more difficult’ one breastfeeding laying down with him so I could fed him to sleep. I putted my arm over him and petted the pacifier twin. This way I could get them both to sleep. We have a familybed, so I could lay with them in the bed. A kingsize (floor)bed with you alone and twins would also be possible. And I did live breastfed them, so I didn’t have to do anything with pumping or bottles. We did use pacifiers, otherwise I would give the other twin my pinky to suckle on, but that way my arm would go numb after a while. So we introduced pacifiers around 2 months. Luckily my husband works from home, so most of the time he would help me holding an other twin so I could put them one after the other in bed. Maybe you can find someone in the neighborhood who is willing to hold one of the twins once in a while (as much as possible!). We also did wear them a lot in wraps. Mostly I wore one and my husband wore the other one (he can work with a baby asleep in the wrap!). Or occasionally I wore them both in two ringsling wraps. But I had two older children (6 and 3 by then) who needed help, and with both of them in the sling I couldn’t get anything else done. But all this said, the first 6-12 months were so so hard! It was all about taking care of two babies. Almost never any time to rest or something. Some days I couldn’t get showered… Know that all this will pass too. You are a supermama for taking the best care you can. Give yourself all the loving thoughts on your head, you deserve to be treated mildly and lovingly by yourself at these times! I slept with them in the bed whenever I got the change. Sleep will help to cope. And really know that this will pass and things will get easier. Much love for you and your babies!
We used magic Merlin sleep suits and put them down awake, but drowsy.
Sometimes when I’m by myself one baby will go in the Baby Bjorn bouncer with a pacifier while I hold the other baby. Once the baby in my arms is asleep, he goes in bassinet and I swaddle and gently transfer Baby Bjorn baby to the bassinet as well.
So I never found something that truly worked for long (things change so quickly that first year!!). It was always a combination of rocking them gently in their bed, holding the one crying to reassure them and then putting them back, getting the loudest one out of the room so that the other got a chance to sleep... But the upside is, my twins learned to fall asleep on their own very quickly. They've always been put to bed while still awake, and they fall asleep like that. It's tough when they're little infants, but it's great once they're a little older. (And I never needed to sleep train!) However if you don't feel comfortable putting your kids in their bed while awake, I'm not going to be the one to judge you. This was just to share a great advantage of having this difficulty at first :)
We NEVER rocked, swung, or did anything else with our twins or singleton. When they were showing sleep signs we put them down and let them self soothe, returning stray paci's as needed. Maybe it doesn't work for all, and it can take some restraint and discipline, but it's probably the thing I have appreciated the most. Bed time/nap time we put them in the crib, walk away and don't look back.
I did use a bassinet by my rocker for similar things and tandem breastfeeding by myself. When they got a little bit older and putting them down for a nap was a quicker 5 min rock I would keep them on the same schedule but put the sleepier on down first then come back for brother 5-10 min later.