If you didn't BF, did your husband share night feeding duties?

Reilly626 · April 2012

I'm curious? My husband will be off a month before returning to work and I will be off all year, at our local twins club the leader said her husband an her did all the feeding together- they assigned each other a twin and kept them on the same schedule. I'm thinking that sounds pretty good.

macchiatto · April 2012

I BFed/pumped the first month and both before and after, we split the night shift evenly. I would go to bed REALLY early--7 or 8--and sleep until about 1 or 2 a.m. and then take over from DH and he'd sleep until he had to get up for work (which varied depending on the day of the week, but we each got to sleep 5-6 hrs). WHen I was BFing, he'd bring them in when it was time for a feeding but then take them right back out as soon as they were done eating and take care of diaper changes, getting them back to sleep, etc. We did that until 4.5m when they started STTN. After that we still had shifts in terms of who would handle the random night wakings but fortunately they didn't happen often after that!

macchiatto · April 2012

Oh and I should add, each having a twin all night every night would've sucked for us because our boys did *not* fall right back to sleep between feedings. Especially the second half of the night, they were up a lot, until about 3.5m when they started moving toward STTN. So there are a few ways to split night shifts--by the clock, or each take a baby each night, but I think which one works best for you will really just depend on what kind of sleepers your babies are.

flutepharm87 · April 2012

I breastfed for 6 weeks, but after that we did all feedings together (much to my MIL's dismay). We didn't necessarily assign each other a twin, but when they'd wake up to eat, he'd prepare bottles while I changed both boys. Then, he'd take a baby and feed him while I fed the other. Then back to bed.

They STTN now, but when we're home together, we still do feeding time the same way. Even solids. I get the food ready while he puts the boys in their highchairs and puts on bibs. We each feed a baby and we each clean up the baby we fed. It works really well and takes much less time.

We did try a different arrangement initially, where I would do nighttime feedings on the nights he had work the next day and he took them on the weekends, but it left me constantly exhausted and I quickly grew resentful. I mean, it took me twice as long to get back to bed and then I was the one to wake up and take the next feeding too. I'm sure it works for some people, but it definitely didn't work for us. If you have a DH who's willing to help, take him up on it.

FWIW, when I was breastfeeding, he still got up with me and changed the boys and switched them out for me (I couldn't get the hang of a tandem feeding). It was really helpful and gave him the opportunity to have a little bonding time with them since he wasn't feeding.

snoangel79 · April 2012

I wish! My husband helps with the last feeding 9-10 o clock at night and the early morning one. I take the 2 night ones... It's really hard... My mom comes on Wed and Sat, I do get broken sleep, about 2 and half hours between feeds because I push their night feeding to about 3.5-4 hours apart.

emschott · April 2012

I EBF but DH gets up with me at every feed. We each change one, I tandem feed, we each burp one and put the baby back to bed. While I'm feeding he washes/ loads syringes (first it was for thrush medicine, now it's Maalox for W and gas drops for E) reloads the diaper caddy, refills diapers, etc. Sometimes he just sleeps on the floor for 15-20 minutes, lol. If he went back to bed I'd never see him again- he is not very functional at night. I can do it alone but his help is appreciated and I get back to sleep sooner.

TripMomma · April 2012

Yes, my DH got up with me for every feeding. About the 4 month mark I started letting him sleep through one or two. At 5 months the babies were STTN!

ardilla · April 2012

Most of the time, we both got up and fed one and went back to bed. Sometimes if one of us was really wiped out, we would let that person sleep and the other would take both babies. They were sleeping about a 5 hour stretch overnight at about 7 weeks old, then by about 12 weeks, about 6-7 hours overnight, so thankfully the overnights really didn't last that long.

JosiePosy · April 2012

We were both up doing night feedings. I had to go back to work 3 weeks after they came home, so we both had to dive in and do baby duty.

OrangeSmoke · April 2012

Hell yes. If he was off work then we were on equal footing.

We did shifts. So their bedtime was 7. I would go to bed at 8 and he was on duty until 1am. I would only get up if both of them were up at the same time. Then I go on shift and the same double bomb rule applied to him.

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