Tell me about your bedtime routine for twins...

KAB2008

My boys are 6-weeks old and just coming home from the NICU.  I'm not sure how their bedtime routine should be going.  Thanks!!

weemodin

Honestly? ?We didn't have a real routine until they were 2.5 months, or 1.5 months adjusted. ?Then, we started bath at 6-630, pjs, bottle in the dark, to bed. ?Works like a charm. ?Now that they're on solids, they eat dinner beforehand, too.

MNheidi

We didn't have time in the NICU but I credit starting our bedtime routine early for having such good sleepers - they STTN at 4 mos (after they dropped their mid-night feedings), they fall asleep on their own in their cribs).

DH and I made it a point to have 2 people put them to bed for the first few months.  We started it around 9pm but I soon moved that up to 7:30 or so - no matter what their feeding schedule was, we would go to the nursery and feed them a bottle in the chairs (we have 2 in the nursery).  We would also play lullaby music which really helps them.  We put them in their cribs and left the room.  We still do this when we can...

All babies are different but this is what really worked for us.  Babies have a built in time clock for nighttime sleep but how they get there can be guided by parents.  IMO

goldenmama

ours is pretty much the same as the above posters but they are asleep by 6:30pm.

lajolla09.30.06

We definitely didn't have a bedtime routine by that young, but our routine now is dark room w/ white noise machine, bath, jammies, bottle and bed.  We put them down when they're drowsy but not totally asleep, but we do always wait until they're asleep to leave the room.  They are down by 730.  When they were younger I think they probably went to bed more like 9 pm or so.

Shamrock2003

We started our routine within the first month home (except we didn't do bathtime every nite). We do bathtime at 5:30, jammies, bottle fed in nursery with lights low and lullabies playing, in bed asleep by 6:30/7pm.  They will tell you when they are hungry and when they are tired, so that's how we came up with feeding them at 6pm...we try to bathe them at 5:30pm.

Bathing is a two person deal. One bathes while the other preps for feeding/changing diapers/getting into jammies. When first one is bathed, she gets diapered and jammies on then gets fed. This keeps her from getting all worked up and therefore not being able to go to sleep. While #1 is getting fed, #2 is getting bathed then parent #2 diapers, puts on jammies and feeds her.  Both are in bed sound asleep by 7pm. Parent who fed #1 cleans up the bathroom!

Happy Homecoming to your babies!!

weemodin

Oh yeah, we do the white noise, too. ?The routine is key -- they are awesome to put down at night. ?