5 Practical Sleep Strategies Every Twin Parent Must Know

1. Stop Eating Late — Your Sleep Is Rotting from the Inside

It’s true that we can’t sleep well with twins screaming every 2 hours. But what you eat — and when you eat — can either help your body recover in those short windows of rest or destroy it. And for the longest time, I was destroying it. Quietly. Repeatedly. Every night even before my babies were born.

After a whole day of hospital work and then taking care of babies, I used to sit down at 10:30 PM and EAT — sometimes junk, sometimes “normal dinner,” sometimes whatever the hell was there. I convinced myself it was “well-deserved.” But here’s the truth no one tells you:

Late-night eating wrecks your sleep on a hormonal, metabolic, and digestive level.

When you eat late, your body produces insulin, which suppresses melatonin — the very hormone your brain needs to wind down and trigger sleep. So even if you collapse on the bed at midnight, your body is still in “digestion mode,” not “rest mode.” You’re not sleeping — you’re just unconscious and inflamed.

And digestion isn’t some passive background activity. It takes blood flow, energy, and neural focus. Instead of directing those resources to healing, detoxifying, or repairing the damage you’ve done during the day, your body is busy processing that stupid packet of potato chips you ate at 11 PM.

I decided to draw a hard line: No food after 6 PM. Period.

The first week was like withdrawal — my stomach protested, my head ached, and emotionally, I felt deprived. But slowly, everything began to shift. I started fallingdeeper, cleaner. I began waking up less bloated, less irritated. And here’s the insane part: Even if I got just 4 hours of total sleep, it felt more restful than the 6-7 hours I was getting earlier while digesting late-night crap.

This one shift — fixing my food timing — was more powerful than any supplement, meditation, or breathing app ever will be. It’s basic physiology: Let your circadian rhythm work with you, not against you. Our digestive enzymes naturally drop in the evening. Our gut motility slows down at night. The body is biologically wired to rest after sunset — not to digest a full meal just like its lunchtime.

But modern parents like us? We abuse that system, then cry when our sleep is broken. So, here’s my ruthless advice: Close the kitchen before sunset. You’re already losing sleep because of your babies. Don’t lose what’s left because of your own undisciplined habits.

Let the stomach sleep before your head hits the pillow — or stay trapped in this cycle of fatigue, fog, and frustration.

Your choice.

2. Your Phone Is sleep-Killer, Not Your Escape

Scrolling your phone at night before sleeping is self-destruction. Silent and slow.

After an exhausting day at work and taking care of babies when at home I reward myself with screen time after my babies’ sleep. I’d lie down, open YouTube, and dive into endless scrolling. I told myself it was “me time.” That I deserved it.
But what I was really doing was this:
Stealing whatever little chance I had at real sleep.

Here’s the biological truth — your phone emits blue light, which directly suppresses melatonin, the hormone that signals your brain it’s time to rest. So instead of calming down, your brain gets excited. And then comes the content — fast reels, noise, opinions, overstimulation. Your nervous system is already overloaded from the day. And now you’re feeding it more chaos.

You’re trying to relax by feeding your brain the very thing it’s begging you to avoid.
The result? You lie in bed tired and restless. Scattered. And soon, it’s 2 AM and the baby’s up again. And here’s something most parents never think about: Your phone use isn’t just ruining your sleep — it’s disturbing your babies too.

When you switch on that screen in a dark room, even at low brightness, blue light floods the space. Your baby’s eyes — still developing, ultra-sensitive — pick up on that light. Their brain, too, is wired to respond. It confuses their internal clock. Disrupts their melatonin. Even a few seconds of exposure can break their sleep cycle, trigger irritability, and create long-term sleep resistance. You may think, “But they’re asleep.” No — their brains are wide open to environmental cues. Light, sound, and vibration are messages to a baby’s nervous system. And your phone delivers all three.

I’ve lived this. I used to say, “Just five minutes.” That five minutes became an hour. Then I’d crash into bed, restless, wired, irritated — and within minutes, the babies would cry again.
It was a cycle of self-destruction. And I was the one fuelling it.

So, I made one critical change: Phone goes off at 9 PM. No exceptions.
I place it far away — out of reach, out of temptation. And I replace it with silence, or soft breathing, or just lying in the dark and letting my nervous system settle. This one habit — putting the phone away — gave me back a part of myself that I never knew existed before

So, here’s the truth you may not want to hear: If you’re sabotaging your only window of sleep every night with your phone, you are making life harder — not just for you, but for your babies, your spouse, and your entire household. No reel, no headline, no quote is worth your mental collapse — or your baby’s sleep damage.

Put it away. You’ll gain more than sleep. You’ll gain clarity, calm, and control.

3. Night Duties Need Teamwork, Not Chaos

One of the most effective changes that we made to improve our sleep was treating night duties like a team project, not a crisis.

In the beginning, both of us used to wake up for every cry — both alert, both exhausted, both operating without a plan. But this wasn’t sustainable. We were losing rest and doubling the mental load unnecessarily.

So we changed our approach.

We divided the work clearly:

• One baby each — bottle, diaper, burping — everything.
• If one baby cried, only one of us got up.
• If both cried at the same time, we split — without overreacting or waking each other up unless needed.

Sometimes, we even took time-based shifts — one parent handled the babies for the first half of the night, the other for the second. That way, at least one of us got 2–3 hours of uninterrupted rest. And even that short stretch made a huge difference in how we functioned the next day.

What we didn’t expect was a hidden advantage:
As we focused on one baby consistently, we slowly started understanding their unique patterns.
We noticed when they usually woke up, how often they pooped, how long their deep sleep lasted, and what kind of cues they gave before waking. This clarity made night care more predictable and less stressful — we weren’t guessing anymore. We were responding with awareness.

When both parents stay up unnecessarily, no one wins. But when you trust each other and divide the load with clarity, it creates space for genuine rest — and better care for the babies.

Decide. Divide. Stick to it. Adjust as needed.
Teamwork at night isn’t optional — it’s essential.

4: Prepare at Night or Suffer at 2 AM

If you don’t want to suffer the whole night— then night preparation is non-negotiable.

Every evening, we made sure everything was ready before bedtime:

• Bottles washed, sterilized, and filled with warm water
• Formula powder pre-measured
• Diapers, wipes, cloths placed within arm’s reach
• Extra clothes, burp cloths lined up

Because here’s the harsh truth — if you take too long to prepare the milk after the baby cries, the baby becomes fully awake. And once that happens, even after feeding, it takes a long time to soothe them back to sleep.

But if you’re quick — if the bottle is ready within seconds — the baby often drinks drowsily and drifts back into sleep instantly. That window is short. Miss it, and you’re stuck rocking and walking a wide-awake baby for another hour.

This 10-minute setup every night became our insurance against 2 AM panic. You don’t want to wake up your partner just because you couldn’t find the wipes. You don’t want your baby screaming while you’re scrambling to mix formula. You don’t want to spill hot water in the dark or wear your frustration on your face.

Trust us — if your night time set up is not prepared before hand, you’ll suffer. Your baby will too.

Be proactive, not reactive.
Night peace begins before the night begins.

5: Lie Down. Shut Up. Breathe. That’s Your Survival Mode.

This is not some inspiring line — this is raw truth for every parent running on fumes.

You’re not going to get 6–8 hours of sleep. Forget it. Sometimes you won’t even get 2 hours at a stretch. But that doesn’t mean you don’t rest.

You steal rest from wherever you can.

When there were no patients in my OPD, I’d just put my head down and close my eyes. Not even sleeping fully — just disconnecting.
I’ve taken short naps in the cab — going to the hospital or coming back.
Even at home, when my body was buzzing and I couldn’t sleep, I just lay flat, no phone, no sound — just lying down with eyes closed.

There’s no shame in this. It’s not weakness. It’s smart survival. You’re not in a luxury phase. You’re in a recovery phase. Your job is to recharge in bits, wherever possible.

Even if you don’t feel sleepy, lying down and staying silent can give immense clarity and energy. Your brain resets. Your breathing deepens. You feel a little more human again.

So, stop scrolling. Stop trying to “use” every minute. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is:

Lie down. Shut up. Breathe. Recharge.
That’s your new rhythm now.

Conclusion: This chaos won’t last forever

In the thick of it, the sleepless nights feel never-ending. But here’s what we’ve learned: it does get better — and faster than you expect — if you move as a team.

Once we started tracking one baby in shifts, we noticed clear patterns — when they woke up, when they wanted to feed, when they went into deep sleep. Understanding these rhythms gave us the power to plan. We weren’t reacting anymore — we were anticipating.

We also made peace with the fact that perfect sleep is a myth for a while. But that doesn’t mean chaos has to rule. When your team is alert, when duties are clear, and when night preparation becomes a habit and most importantly you ate right food, avoid junk, go to bed empty stomach— you get through the worst phase much more smoothly.

There will still be tough nights. But they reduce. You stop snapping at each other. You stop feeling helpless. You start trusting each other. And you realize — you’re stronger than you thought.

This season is brutal, but it doesn’t last. Your only job is to hold the line — together.

Remember — this phase will end. What matters is who you become in the middle of it.