Do Your Twins Share a Room?

Hello! I'm visiting from the FY Forum-- we'll be joining you soon! Here is my question for all of you:

Our plan had always been for the boys to share a room, but... well, it hasn't worked out that way so far. Right now, one co-sleeps with us in our room, and one has his own room. This works great for both of them-- one is very independent at night, one is needy & clingy (at night only!). Ultimately, we'd like to move our co-sleeping baby out of our room, though. We do NOT really have the space to give him his own room (thought we could), but I am leary of putting the two boys together in a room. Beyond the obvious concerns over adjustment and sleep for everyone involved, here is one of my big concerns:

I have heard horror stories of 2-year-old twins sharing a room and waking each other (and mom) at 4 am, ready to start the day. This seems it would be easier to combat if they didn't share a room. Any experience with this concern? Am I crazy for being worried about this?

Ultimately, I'd love to hear any input about the room-sharing issue... especially if you transitioned your kids to share a room later in their lives (relatively speaking :lol: ).

Thanks a lot!!!

 

QUOTE(twinboys07 @ May 4 2008, 03:00 PM) [snapback]754668[/snapback]
I have heard horror stories of 2-year-old twins sharing a room and waking each other (and mom) at 4 am, ready to start the day. This seems it would be easier to combat if they didn't share a room. Any experience with this concern? Am I crazy for being worried about this?



Hi there, my guys turned three in March and have been sharing a room since
they came home. I did separate them during naps until they were around 2.5 (one
would nap in his crib(Ryan), the other would nap in a pack and play in our room(Colin))

And that was only because during that time one would wake early and the other one needed
to have at least an hour more of sleep. Once Colin figured out how to climb out of the
pack and play, we put him back in his room for naps.

I was worried how that would go, but there have been no issues. I guess because they
were already sleeping together all night in the same room.

And now they nap in there and sleep in there.....we have never had any problems.....some
nights if neither is tired, we can hear them talking back and forth....and some nights Ryan
is still wanting to talk and we hear no sounds from Colin and eventually Ryan quiets down too.

I like that they have each other to talk to as they go to sleep, and that when they wake
up they are not alone either. I plan to keep them in the same room as long as they want.

 

Mine have been in separate rooms since 7 months and it works great for us. That way if one happens to wake in the middle of the night or early the other is not bothered by it. And it is especially great for naps since Trevor naps much longer than Emilie. Trevor rises earlier in the morning too and Emilie can sleep. It has worked very well for us.

 

Shared room here. We don't have much choice about that as we don't have the room to separate them. I figure they will share a room until they go to college. :lol:

We did have to separate for naps once they went to toddler beds. When we had a problem with one waking the other in the wee hours of the morning, we set up an incentive to leave Mommy/Daddy and brother asleep. It worked within 1-2 weeks. Now it's a huge ego boost when J announces that he didn't wake anyone up. And once we established that early waking of the family was not acceptable, he started sleeping longer. Honestly, I can't imagine separating them now. They love sharing a room and don't want to sleep without each other.

 

In theory my boys "share" a room, since we technically only have one nursery, but in reality we haven't had them together for naps since 5 months and they've be apart at night since about 9 months. They did start out together - in the same bed until 12 weeks, actually. We have a pack and play in the office and another in our room - and one of our sons is always in one of them, with his beautiful $300 crib sitting empty in the nursery. Our house is small and we'd have to do some re-structuring to accommodate two totally separate children's rooms. If it were up to me, I'd just bite the bullet and separate them completely, but my husband is hanging on to the hope that we can put them back together within the next few months. Every time we try, nobody gets any sleep!

 

Mine have shared a room since 3 months of age, prior to that they slept together in a P&P in our room. They don't wake each other up, and I like how they talk to each other before falling asleep and when they wake up in the morning. The "love you sissie" 's are the best!

They are still in cribs, and I don't intend to move them out of the cribs until 3, because with my duo I think toddler beds would bring on a big party in their room.

 

Since about 4 months old our boys sleep in the same room at night and are separated for naps. One sleeps in a PNP in the office at naptime and the other sleeps in his crib. They both need different amounts of sleep- last month Paul took longer naps- this month Jack does! This way no one is bothered and woke up by the other. But, for night time they sleep together and it works well- so much easier to have both up in the morning together and put both to sleep at the same time!! Pretty much- even if one has an issue in the middle of the night it doesn't wake the other. They sleep through almost anything. They seem to enjoy going to bed together and chatting for a little while before going to sleep. We have their cribs on a long wall right next to each other and they do great! When one is really sick or something we have taken that one out to sleep downstairs on the couch with me or in the PNP- just to be easier on everyone else and be close to medicines, etc.
It has worked great for us- we do have other options as we have a 4 bedroom house- but not truly practical as the 4th bedroom is downstairs by itself. Maybe when our daughter is older she will like to have that one and the boys will takeover her room.
Lanie

 

Our girls have shared a room since the beginning. They sleep very well during the night and I haven't ever had any problems of them waking each other at odd hours of the night. They are so used to each other by this point that one will always fall asleep while the other is playing or crying (that just ignore the crying). They do tend to wake each other in the morning, but they are already naturally ready to get up. Even at naptime, one may not sleep and play quietly or sing while the other gets a good nap. All in all, we really don't have many issues with them sharing a room. They are still in cribs and can not bother each other, but you do hear an occasional "NO, Sarah!!" or "Stop it, Allison!!" when one wants to sleep while the other is singing or making noises. It's really quite funny.

 

Mine shared and I loved it.

 

Erin,

You are ALWAYS in my head . This is our EXACT situation and I just discussed with my husband that I think it's time that Braxton move out of our room. The concept seems absolutely absurd to me (that is, two babies sleeping in the same room and not waking each other). My boys cry at most naps and occasionally at bedtime too. I don't see how it's going to work-even after reading about all the mothers it works for. No advice, just letting you know I'd like a full report of how this goes for you guys

 

Hi! Mine have been in separate rooms since they were 2 and 1/2 years old. It's great because of the development of independence. Throughout the day, they go from one room to the other but at night. Each are in their rooms.

 

My two have slept together from the beginning. No major issues. Occasionally one will wake the other but that is rare. They generally sleep through each others crying. It is pretty amusing when one of them gets tired first and tells her sister, "Go to SLEEP please!"

 

My two share, always have. They just moved out of their cribs a couple of weeks ago to a bed, and we haven't had any problems with early wake-ups(much to my surprise!).

 

Our girls will turn two in August and they've shared a room since day one at home. We don't have any problems with them waking each other up, unless it's extreme circumstances (such as one wetting the bed and me having to go in and turn on lights to fix the sheets). Typically, one will sleep through the other's crying with no problems. They wake each other up in the morning, but it's kind of cute to listen to them on the monitors when they say "hi hi hi hi!" to each other in the morning. They do sleep in separate cribs with tents on them.

 

Mine are almost 4 and I would have split them if I could have, but I knew I wanted another baby in a fairly short time so I didn't split them because putting them back together would have been even more hard. Now DD has her own room and I would in a heartbeat split them up if I had 4 bedrooms upstairs. So until one is old enough to go to the spare room in the basement they have to share.

 

My 2 have always shared a room. They slept by our bed in a bassinet when they were newborns, then we moved them into their nursery in their cribs. They've always been good sleepers, though, so I haven't had them wake at 4am (unless something was wrong; nightmares, teething, growing pains, etc). I'd always suspected that ds woke 1st & then woke dd up, but after we converted their cribs to toddler beds I realized it was true! She's been getting more sleep, though, since we did that. Every night I put a gate up in the hallway & close all the door except to the kids & my room. That way if they wake up, they can come into my room but not the rest of the house. And sure enough, every morning ds comes into my room about 6 or 6:30 am but crawls in bed with me while dd sleeps a bit longer. Sometimes he keeps me up, but sometimes he'll watch a little Dora & I fall back asleep.

 

Mine have always shared a room. It was great in the beginning since they were both right there and I was nursing and to only have one changing table was good.

But now I wish they had their own. The main reason is because sometimes they wake each other at nap or play which makes them cranky the rest of the day.
My second reason is because I really want to decorate their own rooms. They are kids #3 and #4 and I have 2 older DDs. I really want to do a little boy's room.

They get along well, I just wish there was more space as well.

We are going to move in a year or so and they will have their own then.

 

Mine are sharing and have always shared. They shared a crib until 7 months, though, and are very used to each other's company (they also have the same sleep tendencies). They're napping right now and one just woke mid-nap and fussed loudly for 5 seconds before going back to sleep. His brother didn't stir. They seem to be immune to each other's outbursts (but me entering the room on tiptoes to retrieve a cup for the dishwasher wakes them both). I may feel differently after the conversion to beds and them sharing a room has been one big reason to wait until after their 3rd birthday for that change.

 

Mine shared a room for the first 9 months or so, then we separated them due to crying at bedtime - one went to bed easily, the other cried and screamed and woke the first up.

Back in December, at age approx. 34 months, we put them back together for nighttime sleep, and it's gone really well. Yes, they talk and sometimes keep each other up at bedtime on some nights, but they almost never wake each other up during the night. In fact, since they've been sharing, they almost never wake me up at night either (I had been getting up almost every night with one or the other before then). I think that if one wakes at night there is comfort in knowing the other is there . . . who knows what it is, but it works. I was surprised by how easy the transition was in putting them back in the same room

Of course, like many others, I still have them nap in separate rooms. If they talk for an hour before going to sleep at night it's not a big problem. But if they talk for an hour before going to sleep at naptime, that's a big chunk of nap they miss out on.

Good luck!

Rachel

 

Mine share a room and there isn't any other option.
I've never wished our house was big enough for them to each have their own room--if we did have a spare room it would be a computer room or we'd host an exchange student, we would not put the girls in separate rooms. The idea that kids some how "need" their own room is very American. Most children in most of the world to not have their own rooms. It's fine if you have the space, but please remember it is a luxurary not a necessity!

 

You have to do what works in the moment.

For us, at the beginning we split up. I went in the basement with one and my hubby stayed in our bedroom with the other. (One baby would wake the other and we were so tired and cranky that it made for fights so this worked for us)

At about 5 months we put them in the same room. They have been together since then. They moved from Pack and Plays to toddler beds.

It works for us, for now.

 

Shared room since birth and we didn't have a choice we had to switch my SD's room to the supposed baby's room when we found out it was twins since they would of never fit in that room. I honestly have never had problems outside of the norm they weren't very good sleepers as babies and horrible nappers so whether they were together or seperated I would of still had the same problems IMO. For awhile now they have had a consistant 2hr afternoon nap and both sleep 8 Pm-6:30am.

 

My girls have shared a room since they were born and we haven't had a problem so far. They do have several white noise machines in their room though - to drown each other out and their older sister. I've been blessed with good sleepers so far so I haven't had a problem with them waking each other during the night. On the few occasions that one has woken up because they are sick, the other sleeps right through it. I frequently go into their room after naps to get them and will find one still asleep so they must have learned how to sleep through the other.

 

I wish we could split, only so they could have a little more space. They never really had a problem w/waking each other up. Honestly it is kind of sweet to listen to them talking and giggling (eventhough this can be frustrating as well LOL) at night. They occasionally wake each other but they seem to go right back to sleep. Even as little ones they would wake up almost just to be sure "someone" was taking care of their brother, and as soon as I would get in the one not crying would lay back down and go to sleep. Odd I thought but kind of neat. At this point it may take a little time adjusting. Do you use white noise? This may help. Good luck

 

QUOTE(anicosia @ May 4 2008, 03:17 PM) [snapback]754987[/snapback]
My two have slept together from the beginning. No major issues. Occasionally one will wake the other but that is rare. They generally sleep through each others crying.


Same here! My twins have always shared a room and I haven't had any problems.

 

Mine have also been in the same room since the begining with no problems. One can whine and cry at night and the other one will only sit up if I have to turn on the light for some reason. They can wake each other up in the morning/end of nap, but its usually about the normal wake up time anyway, so they're both used to it. Occassionally Alina will take an hour or so to fall asleep at naptime, so I just go in as soon as I hear Madison wake up so that Alina can get her full nap in.

 

Mine sleep in the same room because there is no choice (not enough bedrooms). They also sleep in toddler beds and have for a while. They occasionally wake each other up but generally, they sleep through whatever noise the other is making. Sometimes, we separate for naps and sometimes we don't. Occasionally, we hear, "Go to sleep, Whit" but generally, it is not an issue.

 

yup, our big kids share a room and the twins share a room. When they get older I will move girls wtogether and boys together but for now it works out great.
The babes actually share a bed too. They have their head on either end.

 

Mine have always shared a room, but they get seperated for naps. THey dont keep each other up they just fool around for a 1/2hr before they go to sleep. I wish they could have there own room but not able to right now. Before we moved they 3 of them shared a room, that was trouble. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

 

I'm really jealous of all of you who have twins who share a room without incident!

 

My boys have always shared a room. They even shared a crib for quite awhile. For a short time, we did separate them for naps, but they didn't sleep any better apart. They aren't good nappers, and separating them didn't do a thing to help it (might have even made it worse). They don't wake each other up at night or at naptime. They just tune each other out. I would guess, though, that this is because they've never known any different. Since yours would be new to the sharing business, you may have a period of adjustment where they do wake each other up. Hopefully if you can press through that period, they'll get past it and be fine together. I definitely wouldn't judge success based one one or two nights.

We have two rooms to devote to our boys, and we are hoping they'll want to share a bedroom forever so the other room can remain a playroom, computer/study room when they're older, game room, whatever. If they decide they need their own rooms at some point, they can have them, but there goes the playroom. We're hoping having a playroom is enough motivation that they'll want to continue sharing a bedroom (then we don't have to decide who gets what toy in his room!).

 

Yep mine share a room... They have been in seperate beds since 3.5-4 months old. They are seperated for naps thus far though. It is easier for us and all works great. At the sitters they sleep in pnp next to each other and there are no issues.

 

They have shared a room from day 1.
There are times when one sleeps through what the other is doing and times they do not. I think they would be lost if we seperated them now b/c I think they entertain each other either until they fall asleep or when they wake up until I go in and get them. It has worked for us.

 

QUOTE(Babies4Susan @ May 4 2008, 05:31 PM) [snapback]754802[/snapback]
Mine have shared a room since 3 months of age, prior to that they slept together in a P&P in our room. They don't wake each other up, and I like how they talk to each other before falling asleep and when they wake up in the morning. The "love you sissie" 's are the best!

They are still in cribs, and I don't intend to move them out of the cribs until 3, because with my duo I think toddler beds would bring on a big party in their room.


Ditto...They have always slept through each other waking up during the night, and I don't have any intentions of transitioning to toddler beds anytime soon. I'm leaving the room separation decision up to them.

 

Mine share a room for two reasons. The first is space. We have four kids in a three bedroom house. The second is because I want them to share. They've shared since they were born. If one cries it doesn't wake the other. I think they've just gotten used to the noise. Eventually I'll put them in the same room with our older daughter (8 yrs) and move our son to his own room since he's the only boy. I won't do that till the little girls are ready for a bed, though. Thankfully they are still in their separate cribs! GL! HTH!