Twins Napping Once Out Of Their Cribs

by Amy
(Dallas, TX)

My two year old twins climbed out of their cribs really early. We transitioned to small beds as opposed to the crib tent because they soothe eachother by touching hands or passing stuffed animals. Bedtime is fine, but now naptime has become a battle. They just run around their room. Or if one is tired and one is not, the awake one won't let the tired one sleep. Our pedi suggested letting them fuss it out, but there have been so many ear infections and illnesses during all of this we haven't really been able to.
How do we get back to the solid nap schedule we had when they were in their cribs?

Comments for Twins Napping Once Out Of Their Cribs

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Feb 16, 2010
my 2 boys!
by: Erin

They are not napping, it's pretty bad. So far I have been letting them tire themselves out and today they didn't fall asleep for almost 2 hours. I know when I go up there to get them they will be diaper less and one will have a new bite mark. What am I to do? They truly need their sleep! Should I separate them to different rooms? Bedtime is a breeze, they go down with out any fuss even. If I stay in there with them they don't settle down. They are both self soothers. Any suggestions!

Oct 07, 2009
Twins Napping
by: Kellie Asaro (site founder)

Yeah, this is a tough one. I pretty much had the same thing happen, but not until my twins were about 2 1/2. I was no longer able to just put them in their cribs for nap time and they were definitely not going to settle themselves down when left unattended....Tried that, lots of jumping on the bed and throwing toys around..lol!

So basically, I just started letting them nap on their own...meaning, when they got sleepy enough they would fall asleep in the living room or where ever we happend to be in the house and then I could put them to bed. If only one fell asleep then I would just let that one have their nap. But generally, they would both fall asleep at around the same time. Either way, I didn't mind as long as they were each getting a nap. Not the best situation as far as convenience goes, but it's the best I could come up with for the time being.

Ironically, they have no problem going down for bed time....I'm thinking the darkness and maybe being a bit more tired at that time must help.

Anyhow, you may not get back onto that great schedule you had when they were in their cribs, but this is just one of the many unique challenges we as parents of twins face. We improvise, experiment, get creative and figure it out...lol! Best of luck....hope you'll let us know if you come up with a good strategy!

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