1 crib or 2?

Discussion in 'The First Year' started by rose.froula, Aug 30, 2013.

  1. rose.froula

    rose.froula Member

    Any experienced twin parents out there can tell me how long I can keep my babies in the same crib? I was hoping for at least a year. Is that unrealistic? Many people seem to get 2 cribs when they are around 4 months. Why?
     
  2. rrodman

    rrodman Well-Known Member

    A year is very unrealistic IMO. We separated at 2 months.

    ETA: As to "why," they grow and become very mobile by a year. Once they can move into each other, having them together increases the risk of SIDS just like having other things in the crib.
     
  3. Rollergiraffe

    Rollergiraffe Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We had to separate ours around 4-5 months because they were rolling all over the place. I know some people on here have had them longer, but basically as soon as it starts to disrupt sleep or becomes a danger, I would separate them.
     
  4. cheezewhiz24

    cheezewhiz24 Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I wanted mine together. But by 5 weeks it was clear that wasn't an option. My "sensitive" baby got rolled on by his cold-abhorring brother which caused said sensitive baby to freak out and wake up. That was the end of them sleeping together in the same crib.

    What's your concern with 2 cribs? Space? $$$?
     
  5. Katheros

    Katheros Well-Known Member

    I kept mine together for the first six months or so. By then, they were so mobile they wouldn't leave each other alone to sleep. I know cost can be a factor, but most places will give you a discount on the second crib if you buy them at the same time so in the end you'd save some money.
     
  6. Danibell

    Danibell Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We made it to 9 months. It was definitely more challenging by the time they started rolling, but we managed. I would start each baby off at the opposite end of the crib, and at opposite corners. Most of the time they just ended up side by side by the time the woke up in the morning. We finished their room shortly after they turned 9 months old and separated them then.
     
  7. southernmommy

    southernmommy Well-Known Member

    Mine stayed in the same crib until they were around 2 1/2 yrs old. We had 2 cribs, one from our other kids and we bought a new one when we found out it was twins. They slept better together and still do. they're over 3 and still sleep together. 1 is a night owl and the other goes to bed early and they've learned not to disturb each other when they are sleeping.
     
  8. miss_bossy18

    miss_bossy18 Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Skip cribs entirely and check out floor beds. A great option and then you never have to worry about the transition to big kid beds. :)
     
  9. rayceryin12

    rayceryin12 Well-Known Member

    Ours made it until around 9 months. They ran out of room.
     
  10. FGMH

    FGMH Well-Known Member

    We made it to a year, but we had the crib next to our bed and were co-sleeping more than using the crib anyway: mostly they began the night in the crib and I then switched them in and out of the crib and our bed according to their wanting to nurse or cuddle. From the crib we moved to full co-sleeping - we did not have space for a second crib in our bedroom and they were still nursing so I wanted them close by, and we all loved it anyway.
     
  11. kingeomer

    kingeomer Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    We separated at 6 months. They were getting too big to share a crib.
     
  12. eagleswings216

    eagleswings216 Well-Known Member

    I separated them as soon as they started to roll over. I was worried about them getting on top on each other during the night. They were always in their own room, and space for a second crib wasn't an issue.
     
  13. daisies

    daisies Well-Known Member

    We separated them (at 5 months, i think) when DD started waking up DS. To this day, she is a 'wild' sleeper.. goes from one end of the bed to the other in seconds. (That should make the switch to big beds interesting.)

    Prior to that we always had them together in a single crib. We laid them down right next to each other because they loved to snuggle... even in the NICU they would wiggle to get close to each other. we moved them into their own room when we separated them.

    If space is a concern you might consider a pack-n-play for a while.

    Our LOs are in the same room (two cribs) at night but nap in separate rooms. DD naps in her crib and DS naps in a pack-n-play in our room. It is getting small for him now but for 18 months this arrangement has worked well for us.

    I think you won't know for certain if sharing a crib will work for them until they decide. You can start that way and make adjustments as needed.
     
  14. rayceryin12

    rayceryin12 Well-Known Member

    Adding we have their cribs next to each other with a small walkway in between, that way they can still see each other.
     
  15. rose.froula

    rose.froula Member


    So the SIDS concern is that one will roll in front of the other's face and interfere with breathing?
     
  16. rose.froula

    rose.froula Member

    Tell me more about floor beds.

    awwww . . . how cute.
     
  17. rose.froula

    rose.froula Member


    WOW! We are hoping that they will like to sleep together. We currently have one daughter (6) and two boys with the twins on the way. Our house has three bedrooms. So they will be in close quarters.


    Space.
     
  18. rrodman

    rrodman Well-Known Member

    Yes, that's my understanding.
     
  19. ECUBitzy

    ECUBitzy Well-Known Member

    We separated our girls around 4-6 months (I'd have to go look in the archives because my memory for twinfant stats is fading!).

    We separated them when one started rolling onto her sister- I'd felt that we were pressured info separating them by my MIL, but it wasn't much later (just a few weeks more) that one started pushing up and used her sister's head as leverage (pushing her face into the ground). It was a quick affirmation that we'd done well splitting them up!
     
  20. miss_bossy18

    miss_bossy18 Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Here's a basic intro to the idea: http://montessorionthedouble.com/2011/09/03/the-basics-of-floor-bed/

    If you google floor bed or Montessori floor bed though you'll find lots of posts & ideas of how to do it.

    We didn't do it with our twins until we transitioned them out of cribs at 18 months but our youngest has been on a floor bed pretty much since birth, although we bed share so it's a queen size mattress rather than a twin.
     
  21. FGMH

    FGMH Well-Known Member

    We have one of ours in a floor bed too. It just developed after we moved from co-sleeping to having them start the night in their own beds (around 2y4m) because DD did not stay in her toddler bed and was very restless, but once we gave it a try very happily settled for a mattress on the floor. DS on the other hand prefers his toddler bed but will sleep on a floor bed occasionally (we have one extra in their room for cuddle and story time, sleeping with sick kids etc.).
     
  22. paperclippy

    paperclippy Well-Known Member

    We separated as soon as we started finding them in a different position from where we put them down. I think that was about when they got to be 8lbs or so? My ages and timing are all off because I had preemies. Mostly we'd find one baby turned 90 degrees from where we left her, and we were afraid they'd start kicking each other in the head or get their sleep sacks over each other's faces. Their cribs are right next to each other though so they still sleep where they can see and hear each other.
     
  23. southernmommy

    southernmommy Well-Known Member

    My twins are our #6&7. So I was a little more relaxed on the sleeping arrangements. They spent half the night in bed with me when they were less a year old because of nursing but always took naps in the crib. I never had any issues with 1 laying on top of the over causing them not to be able to breath. My twins are big too, 95% for height and the only reason we took them out of the crib at 2 1/2 was because they could climb out. Space was never an issue, they like to cuddle.
     
  24. rose.froula

    rose.froula Member

    My 4 year old boy recently decided to sleep on a blanket on the floor. (He calls it his "mattress.") Don't know where he got the idea . . .
     
  25. tinalb

    tinalb Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Our two slept in the same crib until I moved them into big kid beds at just over 2 years old. They always slept best when they were together & still do but now we limit it to non school nights since they can take a bit longer to fall asleep when together.
     
  26. tinalb

    tinalb Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    Exactly the same for us, except babies #4 & #5.
     
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