Newborn schedule/routines

legaleagles · June 2014

I'm having a heck of a time getting my 5 week old di/di boys on the same schedule. They don't seem to ever sleep at the same time. I do one up both up for feeding, but the bigger twin (by about 3 lbs) never goes straight to sleep so by the time we get him to sleep, the smaller one has been asleep for a while and it's been almost 3 hours and time to feed them again (and littler one is waking up hungry).

Last night the bigger guy was up from 6 pm until 10 and he's now seemingly awake for the day since his 6 am feeding. I'm sure he's over tired, but I don't know what to do to get him to sleep more and on the same schedule with his brother.

I feel like I"m drowning and still struggling to think this will ever get easier.

Any tips/thoughts?

Also, I've been waking the boys if they get to 3 hours without waking to eat - at 5 weeks can I keep them asleep until one of them wakes? One boy is about 9 lbs and the little one only 6 which I think complicates things a bit.

jeephappygirl · June 2014

They usually say you can stop waking once they pass their birth weight. Might want to check with their ped. I was told at 2 weeks it was ok.

To get your bigger one to sleep have you tried swaddling? A swing? Mine always slept better on their sides. We always swaddled then put them in swings, rnp or on a boppy on their sides. These aren't truely safe since they can't be strapped in with the swaddle. At that age mine didn't move enough to fall out. Once they started sitting up we stopped the swaddles & used the harnesses.

It's never easy but it does get better. Aftet awhile I appreciated the one on one time I get with different schedules. I get nothing done around the house. I'm hoping they will start playing with toys & entertaining themselves someday. They are almost 7 mo.

rcnavywife · June 2014

I don't really have any advice as we are in the thick of things too. Our babies are 2 months adjusted and all on different sleep schedules although we feed at pretty well the same tome (or a half hour off for the third baby) I'm starting to work towards a schedule and would like to get them sleeping at the same time, so we'll see. I do wait until the first one wakes to feed at night, during the day I stick closer to the three hours, otherwise I find they sleep less at night.

basil2 · June 2014

Could the one up/both up be making things harder for you? (is it causing you to wake up the bigger twin when he needs sleep and making him overtired?)

I've been contemplating posting a question about one up/both up- so far it seems like some kind of a myth to me. Mine are only 3 wks, but are mono-di and much closer in weight (so they should be easier to get into the same routine?) I've essentially given up on trying to synchronize them (though I have to admit I didn't try that hard). It seems like they never want to eat at the same time- if I wake up the second- he doesn't really eat much, and then wakes up again later anyway on his original schedule. Mine also seem to be having growth spurts- but not at the same time- a few days ago it was the larger- past 2 days he's been eating more normally and the smaller guy suddenly needs to eat all the timuree. So I'm not sure if it's just too soon?? (I've essentially gone back to feeding on demand, but do need to reevaluate this question in time to work out a routine before I go back to work at 12 wks.)

As far as sleep- we swaddle as well. I never got anywhere with white noise with my first, but it seems to help these guys- I downloaded an app and they sleep with a rainshower on the phone in their crib. I'm not sure how you feel about cosleeping- but it can help- I swore I wouldn't do it with twins, but I have wound up doing it with one or the other for brief stretches and it does seem to help settle them.

No idea on whether you can stop waking at 3 hours- is he doing well overall? If so I'd guess it would be fine to go longer stretches, but checking with the pediatrician seems like a good idea.

Good luck!

Reilly626 · June 2014

Honestly there is no schedule at that young of age. It's so hard! It's eat-burp-up time- sleep- repeat. I will tell you I would feed the first one up, then wake the next to feed them or I could literally be up all night which I was in the beginning! At four months mine slept the nite and I felt a little human again. Hang in there! The swing was my best friend- I got longer naps out of them in the swing.

BabyVDM · June 2014

We were on the wake them at every 3 hours for about 9 weeks. Then we decided to feed them on demand. One starts cranking at 3 hours anyway most of the time. Although we have had several 7 hour sleeps!

During the day I will feed whomever wakes up first and then wake the other when I'm done. That way they get a little Mommy and Me time. At night we wake the other one and feed them at the same time.

I just made it through this my girls are just 13 weeks now. It gets better, I didn't believe anyone who told me it at the time but can reassure you now. It gets so much better in a few weeks. Especially when the wake up quiet and alert and smile at you instead of the instant hunger screams

ballygirl · June 2014

I was never able to get my girls on a schedule that young. It wasn't until about 5 months that they settled into more regular patterns and started sleeping better. We could never do one up both up until then because they were up every 2 hours all night and there was no way I would wake them since they were barely sleeping. Around 6 months we did some sleep training and they now STTN and as long as they wake together in the morning, it's easier to keep them on track.

But even now we have off days. Some days one girl just isn't sleepy and then it just doesn't work. I think some babies may just be easier in this respect. My nanny has lots of twin experience and told me my girls were much harder than others she's cared for. Not much to do about it except to keep trying and toughing it out on the harder days.

shelly2314 · June 2014

Just lurking here for when our turn comes. This is a big concern for me

rcnavywife · June 2014

These responses make me feel a lot better about our lack of schedule!

TheDairyQueenx3 · June 2014

Mine are almost 7 months. If you figure it out before me let me know your secret! I'm betting mine will never be on the same schedule dispite our one up both up routine since birth. Mine have their own agenda it seems and I'm convinced, thinks it's hilarious moms up all night nursing and rocking babies since they giggle every time I lay them back down and the other fusses again.

meldoo2002 · June 2014

I would talk to the pedi about not waking every 3 hours. We stopped waking every 3 hours when they were 2 weeks adjusted so 12 weeks old, but they were still only around 6 lbs. by then. They were eating every 3 hours during the day (and always did until we dropped bottles at 1 year) and as soon as we stopped waking they started going longer stretches. At first I'd wake them both up when the first one woke up, but after a very short time I decided to wait to see how long they'd go. They quickly lengthened their sleep so that they were only getting up 1x/night when I went back to work when they were 12 weeks old. At that point we assigned a twin to each parent so one person wasn't getting up with both at 2 different times. It's worth a shot.

BeesKnees181 · June 2014

Thank you for this post! My di/di girls are growth spurting and I struggle with the same schedule thing lately. It has gone from 3 hours, to 2 hours, to sometimes no schedule/constant eating and burping on repeat. I am calling the pedi today to as about one up both up and 3 hour scheduling today. The girls are now 5 weeks and twin B is one pound bigger than twin A. It seems like they may start sleeping longer at night if I wasn't waking them. I appreciate all the encouragement in this thread.

legaleagles · June 2014

Thanks all. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is struggling with this. So many people have said "get them on a schedule" "one up both up" etc. Our night nanny who comes a few nights a week thinks we should start seeing how long my chunky monkey can go b/c he might be able to go longer. We're letting them go tonight since it's the weekend to see how they do tonight.

KatieGummow · June 2014

My guys are just now getting on the same day schedule at 7.5 weeks old... If that helps in any way. GL momma

you're doing great.

LittleLady77 · June 2014

There is no schedule that young, at least not for us. We only do OUBU at night, which is one-three feedings. One thing that has helps tremendously is a bedtime routine. Once I noticed they started falling asleep at around 8:30-9:30 I implemented it. It's bath, bottle then bed. Sometimes I throw in a quick walk before all that to calm them down. The baths a super quick and I usually put a drop of lavender essential oil in there. Then it's bottles, swaddles and into the nursery. In the nursery we have a sound machine and night light. We try to keep the environment in there conducive to night time sleep so they associate that environment with sleep. I think it worked because after a few weeks of that they go down easily at night. Once they are calm I can put them down in the crib and they will self sooth and put themselves out.

legaleagles · June 2014

LittleLady77 said:

There is no schedule that young, at least not for us. We only do OUBU at night, which is one-three feedings. One thing that has helps tremendously is a bedtime routine. Once I noticed they started falling asleep at around 8:30-9:30 I implemented it. It's bath, bottle then bed. Sometimes I throw in a quick walk before all that to calm them down. The baths a super quick and I usually put a drop of lavender essential oil in there. Then it's bottles, swaddles and into the nursery. In the nursery we have a sound machine and night light. We try to keep the environment in there conducive to night time sleep so they associate that environment with sleep. I think it worked because after a few weeks of that they go down easily at night. Once they are calm I can put them down in the crib and they will self sooth and put themselves out.

Thanks. We have been working towards this - noticing their longest stretch of sleep (which is only about 3.5-4 hours) is after we put them down first thing - usually between 8:30-9:30 as well.. Usually closer to 9:30 b/c DD's bedtime is 7:30-8 so somtimes it goes over, but we put them down in the nursery with white noise, etc. I think we just need to keep at it and know that things will start to stretch out. During the day they eat around the same times, but sometimes one needs a snack or just wont fall asleep so it's hard to always get them going at the same time.

LittleLady77 · June 2014

We got the night time worked out a few weeks ago and they are just starting to be more consistent with their naps in the day (my smaller twin simply didn't sleep for more than 45 min during the day for a while). We just started recording their sleep patterns and that has helped tremendously. I think in a week or two we will have their day time schedules more solidified, at least that's how it's playing out in my head... We will see what reality has in store for me

LittleLady77 · June 2014

By the way, our twins' longest stretch is that first one too. It started out at 3.5-4 hours too and at 6 weeks they randomly went 6 hours one night! Then they started jumping between 4 and 6 hours. Now, at 10 weeks they jump between 5 and 7 hours for that first stretch. It's glorious. I hope the same thing happens for you!

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