Nap schedules

Michelle - posted on 03/07/2010

I have 16 month old twins boys who have been in a routine since a few months old. My best advice is that when you find a routine that suits you stick to it. For example, my husband and I always make sure that the boys are home for dinner, bath, bottle and bedtime. We have not gone out at night during the last 16 months. We have been criticised for this and at times I wondered if we were doing the right thing but now I can see the benefits. Their routine is:

7 - 7.30 wake
8-9am breakfast
9-11.30 play (when younger this was their morning sleep time)
11.30 - 12.30 - lunch
12.30 - 1.30 - play
1.30 - 3 sleep
3-6.30 pm - play
7pm - dinner
7.45 - 8.15pm bath
8.30pm bed

From the beginning I always put the boys into their cot awake and waited 5-10min before going back into their room (unless they were sick or their cry was a stressed cry) This was really hard at first but this habit has really made our lives easier now. The only issue that has developed from our routine is that my husband and I would give them their night bottles seperately as it was our quiet time with each of them. But now I need assistance if my husband cant be there for the night bottle (and yes I nkow I have to let the night bottle go soon!). I found the first 12 mpnths exceptionally difficult but I can reassure you that it is now getting easier. Hope this helps

Emily - posted on 03/05/2010

If you're a nursing/pumping mom... be VERY careful with Babywise... breastmilk is digested much differently than formula and following the strict schedule recommended by Babywise can cause serious problems.

I would echo Jacqueline... listen to your babies!! My twins also told me what they wanted, and I've tried really hard to listen, especially recently. They are fraternal twins, but still have pretty much the same (slightly weird) schedule. Their current schedule goes like this:
7am, eat, get dressed & play.
9-9:30ish Then they take a brief 10-15 minute snooze. They usually eat again after their snooze, play more, nurse again
11:30ish They go down for THE nap. They will usually wake to nurse again around 1pm, but then go right back to sleep.
2:30-3:00pm. Wake, nurse, play
5pm-ish Another brief snooze, nurse, play more
7-8pm bedtime routine, nurse to sleep.

They also wake 2-3 times a night to nurse, but they are in a side-carred crib and I can get to them easily. I also usually get a good nights sleep. Currently I'm having trouble getting that great nights sleep because I also have 2 older toddlers who are potty-training and constantly wake in the middle of the night needing to go potty. But my babies let me sleep. :) (BTW, my twins will be 6 months on March 14th.)

Jacqueline - posted on 03/05/2010

i will start by saying - listen to your babies! my twins told me what they wanted by 2 to 3 months - i just didn't realize it until about 3 months. Since then they have been great sleepers. At 3 months they started letting me know they wanted to go to bed at 7 p.m. and at 20 months it is still the same. They both took long morning naps (and still do) and shorter afternoon naps. The afternoon nap went away at 16 months for the most part but some days we can still get that in. I never set a schedule for my twins - they set there own schedule and i have been so lucky so far. For a mom with twins a have always (after the first 2 months) gotten a good night sleep. Good luck!

Karen - posted on 03/05/2010

Babywise is Awesome!! That's how I got my twins sleeping through the night & on a schedule by 2 months. With my first (single) I let him sleep, eat, play when he wanted. But, with two, each on their own schedule I was exhausted. By following Babywise I was able to nurse both of them, get the rest I needed, and still get things done.

Jocelyn - posted on 03/04/2010

I had my twins taking 3 naps and sleeping through the night at 4 months old. Read the book Baby Wise and it will teach you how. It's a quick easy read but hard to explain. Basically you run a 3-4 hour routine. You wake and feed, then playtime, then nap. Feed, play, nap. You don't feed to sleep and it teaches your babies how to sleep on their own. It was easy to follow and my boys picked up on it right away. I'm telling you it's the best! Baby Wise helped me so much.
As they get older and start eating the schedule will shift but the basics are there and easy to follow. Good luck!

Britta - posted on 03/04/2010

I have my girls on a pretty tight schedule now but it really didn't start until they were about 6 months old. At four months we introduced solids and tried to stay on a feeding schedule and they still kind of slep as they needed too. Slowly we transitioned to a 2 a nap day schedule with meals scheduled around that and a bedtime snack/feeding to help them sleep through the night. Now this is our schedule:
Wake up - play and get dressed
BReakfast: 8:00 then play
10:00 - morning naps (my girls will usually sleep for about 1-1:30 hours)
when they wake up we play a little bit more
12:00 - lunch and then they play a little more
2:00- afternoon naps (again usually sleeping 1:30 hours sometimes 2 hours)
then we play or go out if the weather is nice for a bit.
5:00 - dinner again followed by play (my husband comes home for work then so I get a chance to rest or what not)
6:00 or 6:30 everyother day they get a bath - I let them play in the tub until they get fussy - They love their baths and I always put them in together and they like it. I have a normal size tub too nothing huge and it still works.
7:00 change into PJs and get ready for bed
Bed around 8:00 at the lastest.

They now are 13 months old and we have been using this schedule pretty much since 6 months and they sleep through the night 90% of the time and wake up at about 6:30.

I hope it helps. Just remember babies needs and schedules change with those needs so you still need to flex. IN the beginning it was more or less an eat - play - sleep schedule. A book that really helped me sell my hubby on a schedule was the "The Baby whisperer" - her theory is EASY - eat, activity, sleep, you time. And it works.
Good luck
Britta

Carrie - posted on 03/03/2010

If I remember....mine never slept but the doc said they should nap once in the morning and once in the afternoon and eventually that nap should be one long one mid day by the time they were reaching one...it never happened for me. The only way I could get them to sleep was to sleep with them which worked out because I was exhausted. And when they got older I would put them in the stroller and walk, walk, walk...thats the only other tool I had. I was alone a lot so it was all on me. We family co-sleep....otherwise I would have never gotten any sleep at all.

Abby - posted on 03/03/2010

well I started my twins at about 2 months on a schedule, after they started sleeping through the night.

in between 8 - 9 am up and eat breatfast

after that let them play on the floor or in a bouncy seat

in between 11 - 12 feeding lunch than after about 30min of sitting up (to help with spit up) I put them down for a nap

between 2 - 4 I get them up if they don't get up by themselves feed them again and let them play some more

between 5:30 and 6:30 I feed them their supper and have a little bit of snuggle time with each one.

between 8 and 9:30 I feed them a cereal bottle let them sit up about 30min (for spit up reasons) then put them in bed.



when I feed them I give them a 8oz cereal bottle in the mornings then wait about 30 to an hour to give then a jar a baby food. I give them a jar of baby food and 5oz to 6oz of formula either before or right after their nap. Depending on which one I do, i'll give them just 5oz to 6oz formula before or after their nap. For their supper I give them a jar of baby food and 5oz to 6oz of formula and then right before bedtime I give them another 8oz cereal bottle.

The reason I give them the cereal in a bottle is because they refuse to eat it from a spoon, and since they need the vitamins from the cereal thats how i have to do it. I only put 2 Tablespoons in each cereal bottle.



I try to never put them in bed when they are asleep in my arms because I do not want them getting used to going to sleep like that. You may not be able to but even if they cry after I put them down I let them, unless they go more then 10min without stopping.