Speaking of schedules..

Hopeful1!

We are not on a schedule and I really want to be on one but I don't know how to do it. We consistently dreamfeed at 11 pm and then feed both of them depending on who wakes up first in the middle of the night. Other than that their schedule is all over the place. I always seem to have one baby take a short nap or skip a feeding so they get off sync by mid-morning. On top of that I have one really easy baby who goes with the flow and one high maitenence one who refuses to sleep in his crib. How can I get them on a schedule or even a routine when they are both going in different directions???

mrs.cam

At 3 months the best you can do is just try to stay on a schedule. We are super super scheduled people but until 4 months sometimes it was hard to stick to. If you arent already, i would suggest waking them at the same time every day to start the day on schedule. From there just come up with a schedule and stick to it is best you can. Pretty soon their naps and stuff should become more consistant and it will get easier. And read babywise! It isnt for everyone but i loved it and it really helped us.

ydda

awwww...what cuties!!!  After countless nights of sleeplessness, we got our girls on a very strict schedule at around 7 months.  It has been the best thing EVER!!!!  They were all over the place w/ naps, wake up, bedtime...I was back to work full-time and a complete zombie, I couldn't even enjoy them because I was exhausted.   I had bought so many books, and finally came to 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child,' and I swear I'm giving it as a gift at all future baby showers I attend!!  The first day I tried it, it worked.  I totally thought it was a fluke, and my dh didn't believe me, but that day, for the first time they both took 3 solid naps at the same time, AND slept through the night.  They're now 16 months, they wake up at 7am every day, go down for 1 nap from 2-3 hours, and are asleep by 7:15pm.  I honestly believe this has made them happier kids, and healthier too.  I know they're well-rested and aside from 1 minor cold, they've never been sick (knock on wood).  I was a skeptic and got my book on amazon for $0.99.  Best money ever spent!!  Good luck.  I hope you find something that works for you. 

lovebugkim

We have had ours on schedule since day 1 and they were seperated in the hospital. One was with us and the other was in the NICU. We all got to go home together and they were off by about 30 minutes which was fine, but we just decided to get them on schedule together so it wouldn't be so tiring and time consuming for me. The only thing we did was feed Baby A 30 minutes earlier to get him on track with Baby B. It worked out the very 1st time and by the next feeding they both woke up together. Then when DH went back to work, I thought about it and didn't want to drive myself crazy dealing with trying to feed one and the other crying, so again we fed Baby A 30 minutes early and then fed Baby B. It worked out just fine and ever since they have always been about 15-30 minutes apart. Just enough time to feed, change, put down for nap or play and then on to the next one!!

MrsLnt

Are you letting them sleep through feedings during the day?  I've found the adage "Don't wake a sleeping baby" doesn't apply to multiples.

The way we set our schedule was after about 2 weeks at home, we figured out they were eating about every 3.5 hours.  So we set concrete feeding times.  From there, we did an eat-play-sleep rotation.  We gave them their last bottle at 7:30 and they were in bed by around 8.  We did a dreamfeed at 11pm.  By 11 weeks they'd dropped the middle of the night feeding and they'd eat again at 6am and DH would put them back to bed.  I'd get up for the day around 8 and I'd wake them to feed at 9:30.

It's hard when one takes a really short nap or something.  I'd usually put the awake one in the swing and pray they'd fall back asleep, and not do too much activity as a way of indicating that it was still time to rest and not time to eat or play.  Sometimes I had to make the judgment call to wake the other one early and we'd have some play time before the feeding.   Feeding times were set in stone but, if it got moved up for any reason, it got moved up for both.  I was also big on making sure they always finished their bottles so they wouldn't be hungry before the next feeding time.