At What Age Did You Separate Your Opposite Sex Twins?

[Anonymous]

DH and I are expecting boy/girl twins and are trying to decide about the nursery. My thought was that they would probably share the same room for a few years. DH was thinking a couple of months. I'll be nursing and would rather have us all together at least until they are sleeping a good 5-6 hours at night. At that point, I would put the kids in the nursery together. I thought that we would keep them together past then as they might be happier being together and be on a similar schedule. DH is worried that we'll have a case where one is constantly waking up the other and that they should be put into separate bedrooms (we have the room).

So, when it comes to opposite sex twins, what has been your experience?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

My 2.5 year old b/g twins still share a room. I probably will not separate them until they want/need to be separated.

[Anonymous]

My twins are almost 2 and share a room. THey very quickly get used to sleeping through each other's cries and rarely have woken one another. I don't know if that is typical, but it is our experience.

My twins are same-sex, however. It never occurred to me that it should matter if they were same or opp sex at this age. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Twin advice from a twin:

I second the advice from the PP who said not to separate them until they want to be separated. Gender only makes a difference starting around age 4-5, when you'll see that matter in the classroom as well. Until then (and maybe even later), I think that it's a great gift for them to have each other.

I never had problems with my identical twin until my parents decided that we should have separate rooms, separate hobbies even separate schools. (They were listening to the pop psychology drivel in parenting magazines, I think). That's when all the rivalry stuff got started.

If my parents' experience is any indication, one twin might wake the other twin in the night, but they'll also entertain each other in the mornings so that you can sleep an extra few minutes. My parents say that we used to "talk" to each other and toss our bottles back and forth between the cribs. We kept each other company, so we didn't need the constant parental attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Twin advice from a twin:

I second the advice from the PP who said not to separate them until they want to be separated. Gender only makes a difference starting around age 4-5, when you'll see that matter in the classroom as well. Until then (and maybe even later), I think that it's a great gift for them to have each other.

I never had problems with my identical twin until my parents decided that we should have separate rooms, separate hobbies even separate schools. (They were listening to the pop psychology drivel in parenting magazines, I think). That's when all the rivalry stuff got started.

If my parents' experience is any indication, one twin might wake the other twin in the night, but they'll also entertain each other in the mornings so that you can sleep an extra few minutes. My parents say that we used to "talk" to each other and toss our bottles back and forth between the cribs. We kept each other company, so we didn't need the constant parental attention.

PP- that sounds so sweet..

[Anonymous]

Not a twin parent...but my 4 year old DS and 2 year old DD share a room and love it. They won't be separated until one of them wants to be, or when one of them hits pre-adolescence.

[Anonymous]

A different view here. I separated my opp. sex twins at 6 months though it had nothing to do with their genders. One twin babbled at the other twin in a daily effort to wake that one up when the babbler woke up. It took its toll on all of us trying to keep one sleeping and one quiet. So we moved one crib out and all has been well ever since (they are almost 6 now and the best of friends). Sometimes decisions are made for you with twins. : ) Congratulations and good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the responses. I was thinking that the opposite sex thing didn't make a difference until the pre-school years, but DH is worried that if they are boy/girl that they might be different sizes and thus be on different feeding and sleeping schedules. Is it just folklore or is any truth to the theory that boys tend to need more sleep and nap more than girls?

All the responses have been helpful. I think to some extent we just need to play it by ear. It is funny though, but it wasn't until last night that DH finally understood why I kept talking about a gender neutral nursery theme!

[Anonymous]

My friends with opposite-sex twins have kept them in the same room with no problem. They're 4 now, still no problems, still love being together. I think your husband is worrying too much!

[Anonymous]

I believe its folklore that boys sleep more then girls. In fact, there is also folklore that the exact opposite is true. I think sleep and eating are very individual child-to-child.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, my boy twin was so much larger that my girl twin that his stomach could hold more milk and he could go longer (and thus sleep longer) between feedings.

[Anonymous]

I have girl/boy twins that are 22 months.

They shared the same crib until 8 months and still share the same room. We plan on keeping them together for the indefinite future (until age 3, 4, who knows?) Keeping them together has been SO beneficial in terms of sleep for us. Many nights they chatter together before bed and they generally will keep each other occupied for a full hour after they wake up in the morning before screaming for us. Who needs mom and dad when you have a friend in your room!? My son does wake up earlier than my daughter but she sleeps right through his early morning stirings. Twins get very good at sleeping through their sibling's noises. Anything else will wake them but generally not each other's crying, etc.

Congratulations on the twins! It's been a crazy journey but having them is the best thing that has ever happened to me.