Twin feeding and sleep schedule and sleep routines

Lindsey - posted on 11/28/2011

I have 5mo old twin boys. At first I was on-demand feeding...and only feeding whichever baby woke at night to feed. Once I started a 3hour feeding schedule in the day and woke both babies to feed at night even if only one woke up, then life was much easier and within 2-3 weeks they slept thru the night. 4 days before I had to go back to work they slept thru the night. 9pm til 8 or 9 am. Now that I am back to work, I have to wake them at 630am to feed them and get them to the sitters...now they only sleep til 7 or 8 on weekends...but we are blessed they are such great sleepers. Im all about the feeding schedule :)

Carrie - posted on 03/31/2011

Twins are two children with different needs. 1 of mine slept through at 4 weeks (which I wouldn't let happen, now, sleeping through under 6 months is a SIDS risk) and the other woke at least 3 times a night until he was over 12 months. Please read up on the risks before offering children under 6 months anything but breastmilk or baby formula.

Elizabeth - posted on 03/29/2011

well with my twins I put them down at the same time. the feeding part for the won't eat every 2 hours what I did was give my twins cereal since they were about 2 weeks and just enough to coat the milk so they can last a while between feeding and it work for me a lot since I was doing this all by myself. GOOD luck in all that you do.well that was 11 years ago today.

Chairettie - posted on 03/25/2011

I do the same thing with the paci - both of my girls take pacis but they only get them near nap time and bed time and when they go to sleep I take the paci's out of the crib, I'd like then to go to bed earlier but they eat at 8-830 and I don't want them to lay down right after they eat - both spit up if they lay down or play to hard right after eating :o( Hopefully soon that will change so I can get some mommy time instead of mommy tiem being at 11 at night :o(

Kim - posted on 03/25/2011

I have g/g twins that are 20 months I decide early on tht i would get them on a really good schedule.When they were younger if one woke up and the other didn't. I didn't wake that one i just let him/her sleep. a little longer. i had two boppies. i put them in them and feed them that way you can also use the bouncy chairs they work great too. during the day it wasn't that big of a deal if one woke up a little early or went alseep a little later. but at night. they both went down at the same time. I did not rock my kids to sleep because i had such a problem with my first tht that was the only way she would go to sleep. that i just layed them in the crib and they would go to sleep one sucked her thumb the other took a paci. They both are off of them. i didn't allow the paci all the time.and the other just decide on her own no more thumb. right now they go to bed between 7:00-7:30 p.m. 8:00 at the latest because of work sometimes. one of my girls does fight sleep and she does cry sometimes. but i have a 10 minute rule. if after 10 min. they are still crying i will go get them calm them down and then in another 5 min. i will go lay them down again. and again the 10 min rule. it's hard to let your kid cry but now most of the time they go right to sleep.

Miriam - posted on 03/25/2011

Thanks, that is so sweet. My husband is a great help though and so is my 8 year old. for the past 2 night our babies slept a 4 and 5 hour stretch!!!!! we were so excited!!!!!

Chairettie - posted on 03/24/2011

Bless your heart, I sure hope your twins will get in a routine and be sleeping through the night for you. I really can not imagine having to do everything you are doing. You are an inspiration to all mothers out there :o) God Bless you and your little ones Miriam :o)

Miriam - posted on 03/24/2011

thanks Chairettie :+) My 8 year old son didnt really sleep through the night till he was 1 yr. old so I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel :+)

Chairettie - posted on 03/24/2011

Whoa..yep your world is doing more than turning, it will get better...congrats with school and best of luck to you ;O)

Miriam - posted on 03/24/2011

wow!!! I have 2.5month old twin boys and an 8 year old, Im a teacher full time and finishing up Grad school (taking my last class) I am tired. my babies still wake up a lot at night. Its reasuring to hear that things get easier as they get a little older. Im hoping by 5 months they will sleep much much longer streatches!!!!

Katie - posted on 03/21/2011

I now have 7.5yr old identical twin girls..when they were babies i would feed them together (nursing and spoon feed) always. I used the double football hold when nursing (every 2-3hrs then later 4-5hrs) and they always slept together. Haha they still do. Later too, I supplimented with formula. I nursed for 5mo and then they were too long to fit in hold. Sometimes it would be off of each other but once they were used to it. It worked out. I also had two boys that were just 1.5yrs old and the other 2.5 yrs old when they were born. thats right 4 kids under 3yrs old. I stayed home a lot during that time and even fed them at the same time. I had to or i would be feeding all day. I would put a baby gate in my boy's room so they could play while i nursed. It gets easier as they get older. Hang in there. If I can do it, you can! Stay in prayer too. :) Enjoy them!!

Pushpa - posted on 03/20/2011

I faced your ame problem, my elder child was 2 yrs when the twins were born, my doc gave me the advice of feeding them and putting them to sleep at the same time, i used to wake up the twin and used to feed using the double football method, this helped me a lot and they slept together... it was a bit hard in the beging, by the time they were 5 or 6 months, they settled down.

Victoria - posted on 03/19/2011

My b/g twins are 3.5 months old and about a month ago I put them on feeding scehdule of 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm and 11pm and then when ever they woke at night.
Prior to this they were feeding nearly every 3 hours (sometimes shorter) so I was suprised how well they fell into the routine.
I am not unflexable with it but if one wants their feed say 30mins earlier I will also feed the other. They then have their naps at the same time.
My 2 year old has a mid day nap still, so most days I have all three asleep by midday and able to have lunch in peace.
I have just upped their feeds to 180mls - though they do not always drink this much.
I used to wake the other twin at night when one woke up, but now my boy twin sleeps from his 11pm feed to 7 or 8am. My girl still needs a feed at around 3 or 4am but I do this in dream feed style - leaving her wrapped and do not change her bottom...let her drink until she falls back to sleep and then put her back to bed - last night this took 15-20mins.
I think it is important that you take control of the schedule otherwise you will be all over the place. It is also handy when I am planing to go out - I know roughly what time they will feed and will plan around that.
Good luck

Susie - posted on 03/18/2011

My boys now are 19 months old and they have been on a schedule from the beginning. If you haven't introduced solid food yet or cereal, they will go longer without eating when you do. My boys slept through the night after 3 months old, so I have been blessed. They are fed and put to bed at the same time. They both are so used to the schedule now, that they tend to nap at the same time as well now.
Good luck

Amy - posted on 03/18/2011

My pediatrician told me that if they were getting hungry in less than three hours to increase their bottle by an ounce. Also, not to wake them up in the night to eat, let them wake up when they get hungry. (I'm not sure cause my twins were full term, but I think if they are preemies, you HAVE to feed them every two, in that case, this wouldn't work.)
Also, when they were three months old, I wouldn't let them sleep past 6pm. At 8 pm everynight, they took a bottle and went to bed and slept anywhere from 8-11 hours without waking...and still do. Just an idea. I keep a schedule with the twins (boy/girl), but I am not super strict with it. You got to live a little, if I went by their schedule every day, I would never go anywhere or have anything done. Hope this helps.

My twins will be one year old on April 5th

Andrea - posted on 03/18/2011

We have 4.5 yr old twins. We followed the Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child schedule, and they were napping at the same time around 4 mo. It worked great for us.

Diane - posted on 03/18/2011

I always just nursed on demand and nursed them to sleep at night, trying to worry about keeping a specific schedule was too difficult with 2 older kids to care for.

Kim - posted on 03/17/2011

I think every baby naps and eats differently. Just keep doing your best to keep them on the same schedule. It will pay off in the end. My twins are 15 months old and are like clockwork. But when they were 3-4 months old, it was very hard to keep them eating and napping at the same time. Eventually it will pay off in the end. Just do whatever you think will work best for you. Just remember the goal is keep your sanity! lol

Chairettie - posted on 03/16/2011

I was 8mth twin girls and my husband travels alot so it is just me sometimes for a month at a time and i do not know anyone or have friends where we live due to the move just before my twins arrived. I sat them in the boucy eat (now in their high chairs) and I sit between them on the floor to feed them. I keep a pretty tight routine -they eat and sleep at the same times all the time. It is ok if one eats more than the other, as long as they are both gaining weight they are fine is what my pedi told me. I did try holding one until she fell asleep then the other and whoever got the most cranky or tired first was the one who got help/rocked first and all that did was wear me out. It will get easier as the get older- with a routine it did for me. I know it is tough...but trying to feed them/put them down for naps at the same time realy does help. Good luck.

Pip - posted on 03/15/2011

My twins are turning 3 in June but when I had them I also had a 2 yr old son and another 3 older kids. I found the easiest was to try to keep them on the same routine. It normally was around every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs that they had their milk and then after that they had their sleep, I put them down together, swaddled and they quickly learnt to self sooth and go to sleep by themselves. Then it was time for a little attention for the 2 yr old and some cleaning/housework. They normally slept for around an hour and then would have floor time or a walk or something and then back to miljk and then bed. Ther were tonnes of times they strayed from routine but I tried to basically stick to it so I had some sanity and time for the other kids. Best of luck, it gets easier.

Liz - posted on 03/15/2011

When my b/g twins were younger my daughter for the longest time was on a three hour clockwork feed due to NICU. My son went about every four hours, and refused to eat when his sister did usually. What I usually did when I didn't have anyone home to help was feed them together, and then put them to bed, or if it was a bath night I'd let one play for a little while longer while i got the first one bathed and bottled, and to bed, then I did the same thing for the other one.

My twins will be three in June and I also have an eight month old son.