ryanandowensmom asks: "I am looking for some advice on getting my twin boys on a schedule. They are 11 weeks corrected age (they were born 3 months early). They were in the NICU for 3 1/2 month and have both been home since mid July. Initially, I was breastfeeding them both and keeping them on the same feeding schedule. Had to stop breastfeeding one twin, so now bottle feed him expressed milk and nurse the other twin still. They eat every 3-4 hours during day and go every 4 hours at night with some 5 hour stretches for one of the twins. Since I started bottle feeding, I stopped keeping them on a schedule with doing feedings, etc., and it is getting tough especially at night. Any suggestions for what I can do to help? Not only would I like to get their feedings back together but naps too (unless they are too young?). Right now I feel like their is no consistency to my days. I was thinking I would set a time to do morning and afternoon naps. HELP!"
Keeping infant multiples on the same schedule does seem to make things easier for parents, but it can be difficult to establish and maintain. It's important to remember that the babies are individuals, with individual needs, and a schedule can't take the place of common sense when it comes to meeting their needs. However, many parents are successful in developing routines that give their days -- and nights -- a sense of order and consistency, making things more manageable for the whole family. This poll and the associated comments confirm how parents can accomplish this.
What advice would you give to this schedule-seeking mom of twins? Please stop by the message forum and share your insights on this topic. How did you keep your twins on a schedule?
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I hear you! Keeping a schedule with one breast feeding baby and one bottle feeding baby is almost impossible. My twin boys, now a year, are different boys from yours so I can’t comment on what will work for you and your boys. They were also in the NICU for 30 days and came home on a brilliant 3 hour schedule. It was hard at night, but we stuck to the schedule. I tried bf both and it was crazy, feeding almost every hour when they were out of sync with each other. I never left the couch. Pumping and bf one child at the same time was OK, but the bottle feeder got to eat more and therefore lasted longer between feedings. So I\’d swap them each feed, but still had 2 1/2 hour feeding time. The best way for us was bottle feeding them as they could drink the most and last the longest between feeds so we could have a life. We switched them to a 4 hour schedule by about 3 months old, and that was great. I pumped until 1 year old and bottle fed (with some supplementing). I found you had to breastfeed both or bottle feed both for the schedule to really stick. Good luck finding your groove, which will always be changing, maybe there are some ideas here.