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It's important to follow safe sleep guidance to avoid the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). This is when babies die suddenly and unexpectedly in their sleep for no explainable reason - it's more commonly known as 'cot death'.
Babies who are born premature, and/or have a low birth weight, can be more at risk of SIDS and so twins, triplets and multiples are often in the high risk category. Please follow safe sleep advice every time your baby sleeps, not just at night time.
Safe sleeping advice for all babies
Do
- Use a firm, flat, waterproof mattress that's in good condition.
- Always ensure that babies are unwrapped and remove hats if you go from a cold to a warm place.
- Make sure the cot is free from toys, pillows and loose bedding.
- Keep babies sleeping in the same room as you for the first six months - for both naps and night time sleep.
Don't
- Do not smoke during pregnancy, or let anyone smoke in the same room as your babies.
- Do not share a bed with more than one of your babies at a time.
- Do not share a bed with your babies if they were born prematurely (before 37 weeks), or were under 2.5kg (5.5lbs) at birth.
- Do not sleep on the sofa or armchair with your babies.
- Do not use pillows or duvets for babies under one-year-old.
- Never leave your babies unsupervised on a bed or sofa.
You can find further advice on safe sleep from The Lullaby Trust.
How to put your twins and triplets down to sleep safely
It's possible that you will want to co-bed your babies in the early months - this is fine as long as you follow all of the safe sleep guidance above, ensuring they are laid flat on their backs. This will also help with space, so that you can ensure that you are sleeping in the same room as your babies for the first six months.
As soon as your babies start to roll or move independently, they must be moved to separate beds.
It's important to remember that they may have slept differently in the NICU, with blankets and in a tilted cot, however they were being closely monitored in a hospital so it's important to ensure that you are following the safe sleep guidelines as soon as they come home.
Explore more advice about sleep
Access further resources as a registered user
Personal stories from parents of multiples
Hear personal stories about how people have experienced sleep with their multiples and how Twins Trust services like our Twinline helpline supported them.
Diana's story
Twin mum Diana Daborn called Twinline in despair over sleep and routines issues in 2016 – now she volunteers as a Twinline listener herself.
David's story
“It was a difficult time for all four of us,” said David. "The routine that we had suddenly was not working for us.
Further help and resources from Twins Trust
Sleep for twins, triplets and more is one of our most asked about topics and we understand that there are lots of questions you may have about how your babies are sleeping. We're here to support you during this stage of your children's development and the below resources have lots more useful information about sleep.
