question from expectant twin mommy

Hi Ladies, I am popping in from the expecting forum...very excited to be 31 weeks pregnant with boy/girl twins and I will be a first time mommy. Couple of questions. Can you recommend a really good book that is specific for caring for twins. Also did most of you keep the twins in your bedroom initially? I want them to sleep in pack n plays in our bedroom for the first month or two. My husband has been told by friends of his that the babies should go directly to their own bedroom as soon as they are brought home. The problem is our bedroom is on the first floor and the nursery is on the second floor on the other side of the houses...seems to make more sense to keep them with us at first. One more question...when one baby wakes up in the middle of the night should you wake the other baby up and feed him/her too so that they stay on the same schedule? Seems like if you didn't do that you would be literally up all night. Thanks in advance for your advice and wisdom!!!

 

Hi Congrats on your twins!! To answer your questions, yes we kept the babies in our room until they were 3 months old, even though they slept through the night at 7wks...just didn't have the heart to move them yet. Yes it makes more sense when you are getting up so frequently to have them right beside you Some people do it different but we did wake the sleeping baby to feed them at the same time bc yes, I still felt like all I was doing was feeding them! It kept me sane even if it killed my back to sit on the floor between bouncy seats!!

Good luck, can't wait to hear your birth story and see you in first year!!

 

:wavey:

I read this book and found it interesting and somewhat prepared me, though nothing can like actually going through it. :lol:

AS for the sleeping arrangements, you do what you see best for you and your family. I had my two in our bedroom until three months of age because it was easier for feedings. ARound three months old they started sleeping longer periods of time and I didn't have to go in as often. :good:

At the beginning I did wake up both to eat at the same time and then found that at around 2 months, my ds didn't want to eat as often so I started letting him skip a feeding and letting him sleep. But I definately recommend feeding them at the same time.

 

We have the same situation. We now have five kids with the twins, in a 3 bedroom house and the other two bedrooms are upstairs and our room is on the main level. We have the nursery set up in our room and will be that way for the forseeable future. I can't see how moving them upstairs will be feasible until at least one, maybe two. I don't know. It is working okay for us. Our strategy for handling the nights is ... he's assigned to one baby and I take the other, so that way we are both up with a baby only a couple times a night rather than all night long. Its working okay, we stay fairly rested, well as much as you can with two anyway.

 

:wavey: I didn't really read any books, so I can't answer that question. But, my twins were in the same crib in my room for the first 6 months, and then 2 more months in separate cribs. I was up so often between the two of them, I can't imagine having them anywhere but within an arms reach! GL with the rest of your pregnancy!

 

Not much of a book reader here, but with all of my kids, I kept them in our room for the first few months. I just found it easier with night feedings to have them right there with me. When one woke to eat, I always woke the other so that they stayed on the same schedule.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and your delivery! Look forward to having you join us here in a few more weeks!

 

I am one of the weird people that put them in their own room from day one. I do not have a monitor and they sttn at 9 weeks. I think I was able to sleep better because I could not hear every single sound they make and they make LOTS of noise. They were able to wake me up when they were hungry. Also, I think it helped them to learn how to self-soothe.

Jenn

 

Congratulations on your twins! We kept our babies in their pack and play for probably the first two or three weeks. Then after that we moved them into their nursery (just right down the hall) because we had a twin bed in there. At least that way, one parent could get several solid hours of sleep in our bed until the next feeding. We would just switch off feedings and it worked great. If you can afford it and space isn't an issue it's an excellent way to go.

I didn't read any twin books on caring for twins - I felt like the caring part would just be double that of a singleton and since I was having boy/girl twins I didn't worry about telling them apart, treating them differently or as individuals, etc. I just knew all of that would be a hands-on learning experience.

We did wake up both babies at feeding time because schedule was so important to us. They adapted quickly and soon everyone was on the same schedule. Feeding, changing, burping and getting to sleep took us about an hour total every 3 hours. Something to remember, they only know the schedule you give them. So waking them up from sleeping might seem strange or even mean if they could go another 30 minutes, but they will eventually wake up to eat so why not do it all at once?

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

 

I also have boy/girl twins - first babies. There was no way when they came home that I would have personally felt comfortable putting them in their nursery. Mine slept in a single pnp until they were 6 months old in our bedroom. At 6 months, we moved them to their own cribs, but they still share a room. The transition was seamless. As far as waking, I started trying to feed one and then the other, so they were about 30 minutes off. Quickly I started waking and feeding at the same time to allow myself to sleep some. At 10 months old, they are still on the same schedule and I'll sometimes let one sleep 20 minutes or so more, but that's it.

Congrats and good luck!!

 

We are also doing this...they both get a bottle at 9PM and go down for the night, one usually wakes up at 3AM and the other usually sleeps until 5-6AM. I usually get them both back on the same schedule for the 9AM feeding. Our LO's sleep in their bouncies because of acid reflux, but I plan on putting them in their cribs at 3 months.

 

Congratulations! My girls slept together in a PNP for the first month, then in my bed on boppy pillows (I know, not recommended but the only thing that worked due to bad reflux) for 3 months, then in bassinets in my bed. One baby is still sleeping in the bassinet and the other baby is back in the PNP in my bed room (husband sleeps in another bed room with our 23 months old son).They are almost 7 months old now and I will move the one baby into her PNP soon. I will keep them in my bedroom for now as I get up very early to get ready for work and I don't want to wake husband and son. You do what works for you.

 

Congrats on your twins. mine were our 1st children as well.

Ours shared a PnP until around 3 weeks then they were moved in their room (1 story house) and shared a crib til they were nearly 6.5 months old. I moved them early because DH was a light sleeper, so in order for him to get some sleep we went ahead and moved them.


ETA: We Always kept ours on the same schedule. If 1 was up i woke the other up...They were fed at the same time and woken up at the same time

 

I read this book and while it didn't really teach me anything, it was funny as heck and helped me put the whole "twin" thing into perspective. Mostly, that anything can and WILL happen, so learn to roll with the punches!

We also kept the babies in our room with us. I moved my oldest two out at 8 and 10 months. The babies are still sharing a crib at 6 months in our room, we hope to have them into their own room at 10 months, we still have to convert the room for them.

I don't feel comfortable having my babies so far away from me (our room is across the house from the kids rooms) when they are first born, I enjoy having them in our room, especially for all the nighttime wakings!

We also woke one twin up to feed them at the same time. We tried to let them go on their own a few nights and it was awful, I was up nearly every hour with one or the other babies. Waking the second baby worked best for us!

Congrats and good luck with your b/g twins! :wub:

 

Congratulations!

I found this forum to be much more helpful than any book, but did enjoy La Leche League's Mothering Multiples and Twinspriation. Moms On Call was great for schedules and basic newborn care.

We woke them both up to eat so they'd stay on the same schedule. I decided to try to feed on demand one weekend and was up every hour, so that didn't work.

Our house is set up like yours, master on the main floor and spare rooms upstairs and across the house. Mine are STILL in our bedroom (in separate cribs, pushed next to each other) as I just can't see myself going up and down the stairs all night. Mine have slept through the night since 5 mos, but still wake once or twice a week for something (lost paci, lost lovey, sippie of water, bad dream, etc.), and if I can tend to it right that second, they go right back to sleep without needing to come out of the crib and I can go right back to sleep too. Mine wake before me in the mornings, around 6:30, and will talk and play and look at me, but not cry. I even get up and drink one cup of coffee before getting them out of their cribs at 7am and they are fine with that. We all get along really well in the same room. On a few brutally early mornings I've tried putting one in our bed and they've hated it. I'm so glad I never started that as I'm sure they'd cry to get in our bed being so close, but that has never been a issue. We play a white noise machine really loudly so they don't hear us getting ready for bed and we can talk in bed without disturbing them.

I've got a new baby coming soon and have considered moving the twins upstairs, but doubt I'll make that move. What's one more crib???

 

I won't even bother you with my answer about scheduling and books...I read nothing but Jenny McCarthy's book on pregnancy and then learned everything else from this forum. AND as far as schedules go...I'm the last person you want advice from on that.

However, I will weigh in on the sleeping thing. I am probably one of few moms who cannot sleep with babies in the room. I had to put them in their own room and in their own beds. They slept better, I slept better and it was better for everyone all the way around. My kids are 8 months old and I don't think I've messed them up too badly!

 

this is the only book I had, but I think I learned more here than I did anywhere else!!

I didn't keep my girls in the bedroom, but our nursery is right next door to our bedroom with paper thin walls. The only time I had any trouble hearing them when they woke was when we briefly had a humidifier running in our room, otherwise, I always hear them. I think if we had your setup, I would want them in the room (or at least a room very close - just so I'm not trekking all the way across the house for the middle of the night feedings)

For us, yes, when one woke, I woke the other and fed her. I think I stopped that around 2-3 months, at that point, one of my girls (Maddie) was sleeping through pretty consistently (the other, elizabeth, took until 7-8 months to sleep through, but she never woke her sister up, so I just let Maddie sleep while I fed Lizzy in the dark)

 

I am one of those paranoid people, who need to be reassured. My daughter stills sleeps in my room sometimes and she is 2.5! My twins are only five weeks old, and they are in our room in the Arms Reach Cosleeper. It is so much easier, if you are breastfeeding, to have them near you so you don't have to waste time moving from room to room at night. I am so sleep deprived right now, that any time saver is a good one! Also, I like the reassurance that they are ok, so I often wake up and just check on them. I know a lot of people that believe your children should sleep in their own rooms from day one. I however, am not a believer of this theory. My children have their own rooms, but in these early days I feel it is better for us to share. Good luck with your pregnancy!!!! Looking forward to hearing your birth story!