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By Daniella Gray
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A New York mom has revealed how her young babies are able to comfort each other to sleep.
MariLuz Roth, from Long Island, captured her identical twin girls, Maple and Fiona, chatting, reading and cuddling together before eventually drifting off face-to-face.
The sight holds special meaning for MariLuz, a developmental specialist, because it mirrors how they spent so much of their time while they were in the womb.
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"This is how they fall asleep most nights," she told Newsweek. "It almost feels like that's simply their default setting."
According to MariLuz, who shares the twins with husband Glenn, there was no secret method behind the heartwarming routine.
"Every family is different, and parents should do what feels right for them," she said. "The one exception I truly believe benefits every child is having a consistent, predictable routine."
After dinner, the twins say goodnight to their dad before settling down with books, conversations and plenty of affection.
A story that might take a few minutes to read often stretches much longer as the family pauses to discuss pictures, answer questions and invent stories together.
"Most nights they spend anywhere from a few minutes to quite a while talking to each other, playing quietly or reading together before naturally drifting off to sleep," MariLuz said.
The twins have shared this close bond since infancy. After initially co-sleeping with MariLuz, they moved into their own room at around 10 months old.
Their cribs quickly ended up side by side because they seemed happiest when close together, often sleeping with their hands threaded through the rails.
As their language and independence developed, that comfort evolved into something more.
"There really wasn't one moment when they suddenly started helping each other fall asleep," MariLuz said. "It happened naturally."
The mom of two shared the baby cam footage in a reel on Instagram (@doublethemilestones), which has gone viral on the platform, amassing 1.3 million views.
In the comments, users couldn't cope with the wholesome nightly routine, with some calling it "precious" and "beautiful."
Fiona and Maple were just over 2 when the footage was captured, and looking back, MariLuz remembers being struck by how instinctively the girls cared for one another.
"I didn't want to interrupt it, I wanted to nurture it," she said. "As they've grown, their emotional awareness has continued to surprise me. They instinctively comfort each other when one is upset, celebrate each other's accomplishments and genuinely seem happiest when they're together."
Watching the twins' bond grow was what inspired her to start documenting their lives online.
"I remember thinking that if I could capture these little moments, maybe they would remind people what genuine innocence, empathy and love look like," MariLuz said. "In a world where we're constantly exposed to negativity, I hoped these moments might bring people back to something gentle and hopeful."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sirena Bergman and Emma Lee-Sang
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