Routine with your babies if one like to be held more than the other...

janabelle3

Just seeing what your routine is like during the day for you guys..  One of my girls likes to be held all the time, and the other one can be satisfied in a swing a lot of the time and I don't have to hold her. (although she does scream all day for her paci) . ugh. But with two babies it's almost impossible for me to hold one a lot and tend to the other one. It's a juggling act as you all know!    And it's stressful for me to say the least. How do you cope and manage throughout the day if you have one that is only happy being held to fall asleep? My husband and I want to encourage self soothing and not have to hold them ALL the time..  Thanks!!! 

MADforever2009

I'm in the same boat. I do have a high maintenance boy. I try to calm him and set him back down... If he should be sleeping. If it's their waketime I do my best to play and hold both.

meldoo2002

I wore the one that needed to be held.  I used a Moby and then I had a hand free to do whatever I needed... I could even feed the 2nd baby.  I wore a baby alot of the time. I didn't worry too much about attending to both of them because they go through phases where one needs me more for one reason or another so they get me shared between them pretty equally.  

parsleyqueen

I had about a month-long stretch when my girls were just a couple months old where one needed to be held ALL DAY LONG.  I wore her in a wrap pretty much all day.  She'd fall asleep in there but if I took her out she'd wake up immediately and scream.  So I pretty much only took her out when I had to nurse or pump.  It was hard, and exhausting, but it kept her happy!  Thankfully her sister was happy to relax in the swing.  I'd also bounce them both on an exercise ball (wearing the fussy one and just holding the other), and could play with the non-fussy one in the bouncer or on the floor while wearing the fussy one.  My back was always tired but it kept everyone quiet and it did not build any habits.  It was just a way of coping with a bump in the road.

I didn't worry about self soothing until they were 3 months old.  I found Happiest Baby on the Block very useful and so I made it my policy that for the first three months, I would just meet their needs and not worry about whether or not it would create habits.  Just keep them happy and focus on teaching them that the world is a safe place where their needs will be met.  Just because you do something now doesn't mean they'll expect it (or even remember it) in another month.

Hang in there.  You're in the thick of it now, but it really does get better!