Q&A Forum

17/8/21

Natalie

Hello, I am expecting twins in December & I’ve read & heard of some conflicting advice about how twins should sleep. Some say to put them in seperate cots, others say the same cot is fine. What is the recommendation? I want to do what is best for the babies, I have no preference. Thank you!

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Posted a response on 18/8/21

Red Nose Education

Red Nose recommends that the safest place for all babies, including twins, to sleep is in their own cot.
However, for various reasons, including when twins are in Neonatal unit (or special care) or when at home they may be co-bedded for a short period of time.

Red Nose has the following information
Sleeping twins in the same safe cot (known as “co-bedding”) is dangerous if one part of the body of one twin were able to accidentally cover the face of the other, causing an interference with breathing.
There is a risk that this can happen if the twins are sleeping side-by-side.
https://rednose.org.au/article/sleeping-twins-in-the-same-safe-cot

Although surveys demonstrate that co-bedding twins at home is common (> 50%), current evidence shows that the safest way to sleep twins at home is to place them in their own cot and follow the Red Nose safe sleeping guidelines. These guidelines aim to reduce the risk of SUDI, including SIDS and fatal sleep accidents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises separate sleep surfaces and to avoid co-bedding for twins (and higher order multiples) in both hospital and at home.

Co-bedding twins would be dangerous if one part of the body of one twin were able to accidentally cover the face of the other causing an interference with breathing. A small observational study of 10 twin pairs sleeping in various side by side and head to head configurations showed that twins sleeping side by side occasionally impinged on, although did not obstruct, the airway of the other twin.
https://rednose.org.au/article/co-bedding-twins

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