Set a schedule and STICK TO IT and before you know it, you’ll have your twins on the same schedule!
This will be the advice you hear from experienced twin moms.
And this will be the advice in turn you are giving to expecting twin mamas when they turn to you for help and encouragement.
Welcoming twins into your family is an incredible blessing that not everyone gets to experience.
While twins are double the joy, they are double the work.
Handling feedings, diaper changes, laundry, baths and naps for two babies can easily take up every second of the day, but mama, you need a break, a moment to breathe or maybe shower.
Trust us, we’ve been there! It would be easier to just let your baby sleep when they don’t wake to feed, to let them dictate their schedule and even nap on the go.
But you aren’t the mom of a singleton, you are a mom of twins, you are a force to be reckoned with!
Syncing your twins sleeping and feeding schedules are really an absolute must for every mama juggling two babies.
You can do this with lot of consistency and some patience.
Soon you will come out of the fog, start to feel like a functioning human being and confidently begin settling into your new life with twins on the same schedule!
6 Tips for Getting Your Twins on the Same Schedule:
Let the nurses be your guide —
Although your schedule won’t be very predictable from the beginning, you can begin establishing a routine at the hospital so you are on the right track when you take your babies home.
Follow the lead of the nurses in the hospital and begin caring for (changing diapers, feeding, or laying down to sleep) your babies AT THE SAME TIME.
Whether your twins spend a few months in the NICU or just a few days in the hospital, the nurses that care for your new family will help you to get them on a sleeping and feeding schedule.
Write down the routines you started in the hospital so that you can continue to follow them at home.
For the first 6 weeks or so, your schedule will be pretty loose and dependent on your babies’ cues, but the consistency in the routines you follow will help in getting your twins on the same schedule when it becomes more predicable.
Take Copious Notes–
When you are beginning to establish a schedule for your twins or even just making shifts in their schedule, take a few days and write down the details of their day.
Keep track of when they ate, how much, when they slept and for how long, and information about each diaper change. After a few days, you will begin to notice patterns that you can use to set your schedule.
Writing everything down will not only help you sync their schedules, but will also help a sleep-deprived mama keep track of the day in and day out details of two babies.
If you have any extra helping hands in your house, note taking can also ensure they are keeping your twins’ routines consistent and on your schedule.
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Yes, mama, wake that baby!–
The popular saying, “never wake a sleeping baby”, unfortunately DOES NOT apply to twin moms. When one baby wakes to eat, you need to wake the other to keep your twins on the same schedule.
It may seem easier to let one baby continue to sleep, but I cannot tell you how many times I would be up feeding that little one only just a few minutes after I got the other baby fed and back to sleep.
During the night, as your babies are ready to begin sleeping longer stretches, you can experiment with letting one baby continue to sleep, but during the day, wake them and feed them at the same time.
Set the stage for sleep–
Ok, we may sound like a broken record, but we cannot emphasize enough the importance of sleep or bedtime routines. Getting two babies to sleep at the SAME time can be quite a challenging task.
A well established bedtime routine and sleep associations that encourage self-soothing will signal to your babies that sleep is coming and help you more easily get them sleeping at the same time.
Adjust Sleeping Arrangements–
Twins are used to sharing space from the very beginning, so it would only seem natural that they would have an easy time sleeping in the same room.
Early on, your twins probably won’t have issues sleeping (and napping) in the same room and even in the same crib for some time.
As they grow older, you may need to separate them for naps to ensure that they are both getting the amount of daytime sleep that they need…..no one wants two cranky, tired babies!
Remember...overtired babies have a harder time getting to sleep and staying asleep, which leads to more night wakings and a sleep-deprived mama. Share on XBabies won’t sleep as deeply during the day as they do at night and you may find that they are waking each other mid-nap or becoming distractions for each during nap time, making it harder to fall asleep.
Roll with the punches–
As your twins develop, especially during the first year, their schedules will change. What works at one period in time inevitably will need adjusting as they grow older because their needs change.
Be flexible and roll with it.
Regression is usually pretty short lived. Your patience and consistent routines will get you back on track in no time and help you successfully shift their schedules appropriately.
Living by your schedule will be your saving grace as a twin mom!
It will take a lot of work and you will have some frustrating days, but if you consistently follow what seems to work for you and your babies, you will be able to establish routines for your twins
……and IT IS WORTH IT!
Do you have any other tips that to help new twin mamas get their babies on the same schedule?
Chat with us in the comments! We’d love to learn from you!
