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Okay, so my current worries are around keeping the boys on the same schedule when they are born. How did you do it? Did you do it? Tips?
I am concerned what to do if one is sleeping and the other is up and fussy. Do I wake up the sleeper or does Mr. Fussy skip that nap, etc? Just trying to figure out and learn what other twin mommies have done and what worked for them:) Thanks for your help in advance...You ladies are great!
During the day I let them make their own schedule and feed on demand. Starting at their 10pm feeding (last feeding before I go to sleep) I feed one, and then the other right after, even if she not super hungry. Then when the first one wake in the middle of the night, I feed her, and when she done, it the other twins isn't waking up yet, I wake her and feed her also. HTH!
I woke mine up, if one was eating I was going to feed the other :) otherwise I felt like I would be up constantly.
I had family staying with us the first 4 weeks so during that period, we just went the boys schedule. (From early on, I nursed one DS and bottle fed one DS- I was not good at tandem nursing). Once I was on my own all day, I fed them together during the day. Occasionally, I made an exception b/c one of their naps was really screwed up but that didn't usually work out great. Babies are babies so things do go off the rails and you just do the best you can. At night, DH and I took shifts. After they were back to birth weight, we let them each sleep as long as they wanted at night in order to foster moving in a direction of sleeping thru. A lot of it will come down to your personality and your babies personalities and you'll have to figure out what approach makes all of you most comfortable. I hope thing go smoothly for you!
We've always had a fairly flexible routine. If I fed one, I fed the other. I tandem nursed for about 2 months and now I nurse them consecutively. If one went down for a nap, we'd put the other one down, too. And they shared a bed for about 8 weeks, too, and they slept very well together. So, in other words, when one would wake up or be hungry, that baby would eat and then I'd feed the other baby. I think it has paid off because now, at 8 months, they pretty much have the same routine and it's quite nice for all of us. :)
ETA: I also had either dh or my dad around for 5 weeks after they were born to help with the bigger kids, etc. so I could stop and feed and take care of the babies whenever they needed it. :)
My boys are 8 weeks now and are on the same schedule... When one eats the other eats... I will wake one up if he is still sleeping and feed them together. I have learned to feed them both at the same time either using car seats or both in my lap propped up on my legs. If they don't eat at the exact same time I will finish with one and wake the other and feed him. It all sounded soo hard and I was soo worried about it but as soon As you get home it will come sooo natural to you. You will find what works best for you and you babies. Mine are on such an identical schedule they even poo at the same time, grunt and whine at the same time as well as wanting held at the same time lol. The only thing off in their schedule is around the 9-10 feeding one baby will be up for 2 hours and then at the next feeding the other baby will be up for 2 hours( I am working on changing that VERY soon, I am up until at least 2am every night because of it lol)
Thank you, Ladies...you have all made me feel so much more at ease!
During the day, they set their own schedules, and they're pretty much on opposite schedules. That works for me, as I don't have both up and demanding my attention at the same time. At night, they also set their own schedules now because Elena sleeps so much better than Alex. The first few weeks I'd wake her to feed her when he woke up, but now she sleeps a good 10hour stretch, whereas he sleeps like a normal 12wk old (meaning one longish stretch of 4-5 hrs at first and then every 2hours or so after that). It works for us. As they get older and start taking more regular naps, I'll try to get them on the same nap schedule. And maybe someday Alex will take his sister's cue for nighttime sleep! :laugh:
Oh yes, in the beginning I tandem nursed, and now I pretty much don't do that anymore. They seem to get in each other's way!
We're just all sorts of crazy feeding times here. We're working on getting them back on schedule but have one who wants to eat every hour to two hours, one who wants to go four & the other you just never know what she's going to do. As exhausting as it seemed at the time, it was so much easier when they were on schedule.