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Multiples
Married 6/25/10**TTC #1 July 2011**BFP 11/1/11**EDD 7/11/12**U/S shows TWINS!!! 11/30/11
Fraternal girls born at 35+4. Slow down baby girls!!
Needing advice/support today
I just don't know how I'm supposed to do everything. I don't mean keep the house spotless and knit mittens for an orphanage, I mean the things that have to get done like washing the bottles and pumping. My girls are horrible nappers. They won't nap for more than a few minutes unless they are being held. As much as I love snuggling them I there are a few things that have to get done every day.
Today I've had a little bit of success with getting DD2 to nap in the swing (about an hour) and DD1 to nap in the RNP (about an hour) but they are out of sync so I haven't had many free moments. I feel like they live in the RNP and I feel so awful about it. I'm also stressing because I really want to keep up pumping (actually I would love for them to have BM exclusively, but I have to be able to devote way more time to it for that to happen.) I'm starting to think about quitting and going back to formula full time.
Any advice from EPers on how to juggle? Any nap suggestions? I feel so defeated today.
Married 6/25/10**TTC #1 July 2011**BFP 11/1/11**EDD 7/11/12**U/S shows TWINS!!! 11/30/11
Fraternal girls born at 35+4. Slow down baby girls!!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Needing advice/support today
Are you doing one up, both up at night? That helped my girls to stay on the same nap schedule. Like you, I had terrible nappers. For us, there was no magic cure but things did get significantly better around 4 months. I tried to stay really consistent with the EASY routine and soothe them back to sleep when they would wake.
Hugs, mama. You're in a rough stage. It will get easier.
Have you had any offers of help? I'd enlist any willing helpers, even if it's for a short time each day.
I've done one up, both up the last two nights. DD1 is a better sleeper/doesn't need to eat as much as DD2. DD1 can sleep up to 8 hours but DD2 is pretty regular at needing every 3-4 hours overnight. Because of that, at 2:30 last night I gave DD2 a 5 oz bottle, instead of 4, and she ended up sleeping until 8:30, while DD1 got up at 6:30. So I guess that middle of the night bottle really messed my day up, huh?
I just get so unsure of what to do bottle-wise because we go back and forth, pumped BM in the day and formula at night. I know they say BF babies don't need to drink much at a time, so I feel guilty that I'm overfeeding them. I think part of what makes parenting hard (for us anyway) is that so much of it is just a stab in the dark.
As far as help, my mom usually is here during the day but she's had some GI issues for a week and I don't want her around the babies, just in case ya know?
Married 6/25/10**TTC #1 July 2011**BFP 11/1/11**EDD 7/11/12**U/S shows TWINS!!! 11/30/11
Fraternal girls born at 35+4. Slow down baby girls!!
Mine only got formula, but, how many bottles do you have? If you have a dishwasher, get enough bottles to have a day's worth ready to go and run the dishwasher daily. I think we had 20 bottles or something in rotation at one point.
Are you swaddling and will yours sleep in the swing? If you haven't tried the swing in awhile, try it again. Mine didn't like it around 4-6 weeks but around 8 weeks it was the magical vessel for sleep.
Don't worry about overfeeding. If you're overfeeding them, they will let you know by returning it.
Even though it was painful at the time, I always woke my better sleeper and fed her at night when her sister woke up so that they'd be on the same schedule for the day.
And you're right, a lot of parenting is just trying things and figuring out what works. It can be overwhelming sometimes.
I never BFed but the one up the other up routine really does help to keep them on a schedle. Schedule is everything w/ twins. I would always try to put them down in their cribs even if one was more awake than the other for naps and bed time at the same time. And always fed them at the same time or one right after the other. Try this for awhile and see if it makes a difference. Your LO's are still so little and the first 3-4 months it was so hard to have much a routine..but once they get to that mark and STTN or atleast longer stretches their naps and your "me" time will get better! PROMISE!
I'm so sorry weeks like is are so hard! Like pp said, maybe try swaddling? I had one great sleeper and one that wasn't and it was hard to wake the sleeping baby at night, but keeping them on the same schedule made me a better person. I thrive on a schedule and I really wanted them to get into the same routine. I know exactly what you mean about feeling like they are always in the same thing, I try to switch it up between the play mat, swing, and bouncy seats but i feel like they are always in one of those things. I was EPing for 13 weeks and honestly there were just times where they had to cry. I would tell them that if I didn't pump, they didn't eat. I would up them in their boppys on the floor and sit between them. Thankfully they took nuks well so I could usually get my 20 minutes in. Hang in there girl, once they sleep through the night you will all feel like new people!