Two to Kiss, Two to Love: When Should I Separate my Twins?

Those cute babies of yours have slept together, in the same bed, since they were born. No, no...since BEFORE they were born. But now they are getting to an age where you’re thinking, “Do I need to separate my twins now? If not, when do I need to?”

Now, I personally haven’t had my twins share the same bed since they were born. If you’re wondering why I chose that, read this post. So I asked a bunch of twin moms and came up with some great answers for you!

The most common answer is FOLLOW THEIR LEAD. If it’s working for you, don’t change it. If your twins are waking each other up from moving around, or just trying to play with each other, then, it’s probably a good time to separate them.

If your twins are kicking each other, also probably another great time to separate them. If them sleeping in the same bed is cramping your style, separate them. There is no strict rule on when to separate them. In fact, if your twins never have issues sleeping together, there's really no reason to separate them.

Just always make sure you're keeping your twins safe, especially if they are little, from issues like SIDS. (You can read all of that in this post too.)

Also, deciding to separate them may look different to one person than to another. For example, maybe you only separate your twins for naps, but at night, they sleep fine together.

Kate Allgood Cowley, a mom of 3-year-old twins, said she had to separate her twins for their naps because they were keeping each other awake. But at night, they are back together, and sleep just fine.

Other twin moms said they separated their twins when they started rolling, about five or six months old, but then put them back together when they got older. One twin mom said she separated them at 5 months because they were kicking each other, and now at 4 years old, they are back together in the same bed.

As shown in this picture, do NOT leave space between side-by-side cribs. There should be plenty of space between the cribs, or they should touch COMPLETELY.

That may seem like a long time to have them separated before putting them back together. And maybe you're thinking, "Why even put them back together at all?" But the fact of the matter is, your twins might decide to get in the same bed when they are older.

My newly 2-year-old twins sleep in separate cribs. Their cribs face each other on the ends, rather than side to side. (Sidenote: if your twins sleep in separate cribs, make sure their cribs DO touch COMPLETELY, or that there is a large space between them. If your cribs have a small space between them, your twins could strangle themselves. How? If they try to climb out of their cribs, they may fall in that small space, and instead of slipping all the way through, they might slip half way through, get their head stuck, and accidentally strangle themselves. EEEEEEEK. Don't do it.) Well, my one twin learned how to climb out of her crib. During nap-time, she would get in the other crib, and my twins wouldn't sleep-they would just run around the crib and play. Because my cribs are a little different, I thought my sneaky twin would have a harder time getting out of her sister's crib. So, I decided to switch what crib they slept in. And, I was right...for a week. Ha. She figured out how to get out of that one and get into the other crib. So I switched to my next option. I pulled their cribs far apart for naps, making sure the space between was a safe distance. As of right now, they can't get out of their cribs.

When they do figure out how to get out of their cribs, I imagine I will buy them each their own toddler bed, as I did with my older daughter. (I don't have one of those convertible cribs since I have hand-me-down cribs.) But...will they just decide to sleep in each other's bed anyway? Would buying a second bed be a huge waste of money? Should I really be buying them a queen bed, so they can sleep together? I don't know the answers to those questions yet, but I will let you know when the time comes!

So, when should you separate them? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it's working for you, leave them be. You'll know it's time when that day arrives; I'm sure of it!