You are running on empty. Two babies waking at different hours can make a full night of sleep feel like something that happens to other people. It does come back.
Sleep training twins takes more patience than training one baby, but it works. Below we cover the methods that suit multiples, the right age to start, and how to run two babies in one room without burning out.
Key Takeaways
- Expect a longer runway: twins often take more sessions than a single baby, so steady consistency matters more than speed.
- Start around 4 to 6 months: use adjusted age for preemies, when most babies can go longer without a night feed.
- Pick one method and hold it: gentle No Tears, the Chair Method, Pick Up Put Down, or Ferber all work if you stay consistent.
- Separate cribs, same room: the AAP advises separate sleep surfaces for twins, paired with white noise and a fixed routine.
Identical Faces, Different Sleepers
Before any method, one thing to accept: even if your twins look identical, they are two separate people with two sets of sleep needs.
Their temperaments and their ability to self-soothe will differ. One twin might sleep through the night in three days while the other takes three weeks. That gap is normal, not a sign the training failed.
It does not make sleep training impossible; it means you manage expectations. If your twins were born early, track their milestones by adjusted age, not their birth date. You can land them on the same schedule, but it takes patience.
When Is the Right Time?
Choosing when to start is hard. You want sleep, but you also want the babies developmentally ready. Sleep training teaches babies to link their sleep cycles, which is what eventually gives you the night back.
Here are the general windows, with adjusted age in mind for preemies.
Newborns
For the first two months you are in survival mode. Newborns feed often and rely on you for comfort, so skip formal training. Focus on feeding, bonding, and getting through the fourth trimester.
At 2 to 4 Months
This is the groundwork stage. Start a simple bedtime routine and practice putting the babies down drowsy but awake. Most babies this age still need night feeds, so full training is usually still a struggle.
At this age, your babies’ circadian rhythms are still developing, so it’s not unusual for them to wake often day and night.
Editor's Note:
Michelle Roth, BA, IBCLCAt 4 to 6 Months
This is the window most experts point to. Sleep training is commonly recommended between 4 and 6 months (1), when most babies can go longer without eating and have not yet learned to pull up or stand in their cribs.
Watch for the 4-month sleep regression around here. It is frustrating, but holding your routine steady is what carries you through it.
At 7 Months or Older
If you passed the 6-month mark, you have not missed your chance. It is just a bit more physical now.
Your babies may be crawling, standing, or protesting louder, and separation anxiety may have arrived. You can still train; just expect to walk your twins back to their cribs or lay them down again more often.
Sleep Training Methods for Twins
People often use “sleep training” and “Cry-It-Out” as if they mean the same thing. They do not. Cry-It-Out (Extinction) is one method, and there are gentler options if listening to crying is not for you.
Here are the four methods that adapt well to twins.
1. The No Tears Method
This is the gentlest route. The aim is to keep crying to a minimum by offering comfort right away.
You move at the babies’ pace, which might mean rocking them down, using a pacifier, or co-sleeping safely. A common variation is the fading technique: soothe them until they are very drowsy, put them down, and pick them up again the moment they cry, repeating until they drift off. It takes longer, but many parents find it less stressful.
2. The Chair Method (Camping Out)
This one sits in the middle. You stay in a chair beside the crib while they fall asleep, offering a quiet word or a pat but no pick-ups.
Every few nights you move the chair closer to the door, until you are out of the room. It suits twins because your presence settles both babies at once.
3. Pick Up, Put Down (PUPD)
This method is effective but hard on your back. You put the baby down awake. If they fuss, you pause; if they cry, you pick them up and soothe only until the crying stops.
The second they are calm, they go back down. You repeat the cycle as many times as it takes.
Parenting Tip
4. The Ferber Method
Popularized by Dr. Richard Ferber, this is also called Graduated Extinction. You put the babies down awake and leave the room.
If they cry, you wait a set interval (say 3 minutes) before a quick check. You offer a brief pat or a few reassuring words, no pick-up, then leave again. You stretch the intervals (5 minutes, then 10) between checks. It teaches self-soothing while showing them you have not disappeared.
Tips for Success With Multiples
Can They Share a Crib?
Only their own separate cribs. Some parents co-bed newborn twins for comfort and to save space, but the AAP advises against it. Each baby needs their own sleep space from the start, and even more so once they begin rolling.
The AAP advises separate sleep surfaces and no co-bedding for twins, in the hospital and at home (2). The safest setup is each baby in its own crib in the same room, ideally close to your bed for at least the first six months, which lowers the risk of SIDS. Sharing a room also lets them get used to each other’s noises without physically waking one another.
Use White Noise
White noise is close to non-negotiable with twins. It builds a sound buffer between the two babies, so if Twin A starts screaming, the machine helps Twin B sleep through it.
Go with a steady, continuous fan-type sound rather than birds or lullabies.
White noise helps because:
- It reduces stimulation: it masks household sounds (the dishwasher, older siblings) that can trigger a stress response (3).
- It smooths sleep transitions: babies partially wake between sleep cycles, and steady sound covers the sudden noises that would otherwise fully wake them.
Strict Bedtime Routines
A predictable routine tells the brain that sleep is coming. Children with a set routine reliably fall asleep faster (4).
Keep it short: bath, pajamas, song, bed, in the same order every night. With twins you can bathe and read together, then split for the final goodnight if a second adult is free.
Handling Night Feeds
There is a real debate here: “wake one, wake both” versus “let them sleep.”
For general scheduling: during the day and for the late “dream feed,” the usual rule is to wake the second twin to eat when the first wakes. This keeps their hunger cycles lined up.
For sleep training: once you are actively training (usually after 4 to 6 months), many experts suggest not waking the sleeping twin, so each learns to connect sleep cycles. If Twin A wakes crying and it is not feed time, use your chosen method. If Twin B sleeps through it, good. If Twin B wakes too, use the method on them as well.
