Sleeping Toddler Twins

Sleep Issues Aged 1 and Over

If like us you decided to go down the route of sleeping them on mattresses you will need to put a safety gate on the bedroom door as soon as they can crawl.  One Twin was walking at 10 months and the other 12 months and instead of waking and calling for me in the middle of the night from their bed they would stand at the gate and cry but at least they were safely contained in their bedroom which was designed with them in mind.  Even when they were crawling they could be left there for a few minutes while I would go and prepare their bedtime feed.

When they reached aged 2 they got their first proper beds with bed rails.  They were in the same room and everyone excited at the prospect of their new “big boys and girls” beds.  However, they were still waking in the night and didn’t seem to be able to settle alone.  It would be reasonable at this age to ignore them for a while and often we did.  However, we never really achieved anything with this method only more stress – perhaps we were not persistent enough?

On top of which we went through a stage whereby my son would occasionally wake in the middle of the night in a terrible state, crying completely distressed and confused.  These episodes are known as Night Terrors.  There is no comforting a child in this state.  I often lifted him completely out of his bed and would walk him around the house to wake him properly so as to settle him back down again.  There is no coaxing a child back to sleep from this state as they are stuck between two stages of sleeping.

It was difficult to split in two and comfort both twins so we pushed the beds together.   The twins did actually sleep a little better when together and whilst most nights they still woke there were the nights where they slept peacefully.

On the nights where they were unsettled, I found myself getting in between them to sleep but I was always falling down the middle of the gap between the beds.  By age 3, their single beds were dismantled and a double bed was in place!  Yes we were spending a lot of time co-sleeping but at least I wasn’t falling down the gap!

Everyone will tell you that by the time they go to school they will sleep more soundly.  So by aged 4 and in anticipation of them starting school we purchased the midi sleeper cabin beds, one each. Incidentally, these types of beds are great for playing and storing toys.  The theory behind this purchase was the beds were too high for them to get out of in the middle of the night and they may just stay there because of it, or they would call for us if they needed us.  We also thought that being elevated from the floor may give them a sense or security.

We had made an initial step in the right direction; they were sleeping in their beds a lot more although to get them to sleep in the first place we were still sitting there long after the bedtime story routine.  Leaving the room before my son had fallen to sleep often resulted in tears and getting so upset that I just wasn’t prepared to leave him. Suffice to say he grew out of it naturally. You may have heard of controlled crying but this is something I do not agree with and personally would never practice on my own children – that is not to say it hasn’t been a successful method for many families.

His sister, the braver twin, as I call her, would take comfort from the fact that her brother was in the same room and wouldn’t require either myself or my husband to wait for her to drop off which was just as well because her body clock was still set for late night switch off.

More time elapsed and we still had the waking during the night but not quite so often but on the occasions we did we would climb up and get in with them.  Sometimes for ease and a break ourselves we would let them top and tail in the one bed.

And of course, we questioned why they weren’t so utterly tired and couldn’t stay soundly asleep until the morning.  They had been attending pre-school and then began school at 4 and a half years so mental stimulation was in place and my husband ensured they got plenty of physical exercise by taking them to the “great out doors” on a regular basis.

Aged 5 and they had new baby sisters and the sleeping issues became a whole new ball game.