Sleep training and routines with twins
Hi all, I have non id twin boys who are just over 6 months. I started off trying to get them into a feeding routine when I left the hospital but whenever someone came round to 'help' they would just try and give them a bit of a feed whenever they cried etc and wouldn't listen to me when I said no, this includes their dad who if forever insisting that they are hungry and need a feed, only to be projectile vomited on after he has given them a feed that they don't need....anyway the point is that my routine, although I would try hard at it was unsuccessful. What I would like advice about is what to do now really, both boys never take a full bottle now and still wake at least 3 times each a night. How can I get them to eat more during the day and possibly to a schedule so that they sleep at night and I MAY be able to get them out during the day without needing to take feeds for just in case? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
Hi Jess,
We were very routine-based with our twins and set up a system where we didn't necessarily do things at set times, but left roughly the same intervals between feeds each day. Something like, milk at waking, then 'breakfast' around 90 mins later, then a snack 90 mins later, lunch, etc. I did enforce a bit of a gap between 4pm and bedtime so they were hungry for bedtime feed (but not always). We did find that over time, they fell into the routine fairly well.
They may well not have room for a full bottle - their stomachs are still pretty small (especially if they aren't big).
Have you started solids at all? It could be worth trying a baby rice 'meal' or something like that at dinnertime.
I would add though - ours didn't sleep through until 9 months, and that was something we had to work on. What weight are they?
Hope this helps. Personally I found routine worked for us (if only as it gave us the confidence that we knew what was coming next, and we could plan trips out) and did enable me to take them out - especially if you can move them onto some solid snacks that they can hold, which keeps them busy too! Best of luck
Thanks Lozza, they are pretty big - had them weighed yesterday and Dexter is 16lb 3oz I think and Stanley 21lb 3oz (25th and between 91st & 98th centiles) and have been on solids since 4 months because of problems with reflux so they are on 3 pureed meals a day now (no teeth yet, but major teething problems so hopefully soon!) I would like to give them stuff a bit more chunky but Stanley chocked on his first whole pea ( with the skin broken) the other day and it has frightened me a little so I thought I might wait until those little teeth pop through. I am going to a weaning talk next week since I really don't know much about it and thought that I should probably find out. The main problem really I suppose is that I would like to put them in some sort of routine but I'm just not sure how I would go about it. Oh and do something about the fact that they are both still up on average 3 times each a night (but only taking one proper feed and the rest just messing around) and the sleep deprivation is just killing me!
Cool. The weaning talk will be useful, hopefully, we used puree too at first but it did improve when we could give them rusks, toast, stuff they could hold. They still gag with teeth
but they do get better at it over time (mine still choke at 5 when they shovel too much in!)
Do they have dummies? That could help with sleep maybe. It does sound like you might need to do the one feed, but with the others, are you staying up with them, or do you put them back into bed? There's some useful techniques around for teaching them to settle themselves back down (easier said than done but worth a try).
For the routine, we literally wrote it down, and put it up on the wall, and then just worked through it each day. Then it became natural to us, and over time, to them. I could try to remember exactly what it was if that'd help, although obviously it was designed for our little fellas so no doubt would need adjusting.
Hi Lozza, sorry my reply has been a long time coming - but you know what it's like with twins!
No they don't have dummies, which I am glad of since I can imagine getting them off them when they are a bit older would be something else I couldn't bare dealing with. What are these techniques fr helping them to settle themselves? At the moment Daddy is on the sofa with one in the travel cot and I have one in bed with me since I am only in a tiny one bedroom and they wake each other up if they are together
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Would be great if you could pass on your routine since I am at a complete loss here.....x