7 week old twins schedule

Hello!

We try and keep the girls on the same schedule. We feed every 3-4 hours around the clock...most of the time having to wake one of them since the other is screaming as if she hasn't been fed ever before LOL.

When should I consider only feeding the baby that is waking in the night and letting the other one sleep? I don't want to encourage waking up if they are capable of sleeping longer but I also don't want to be up in another hour feeding the baby I let sleep.

I am also looking for help on getting them on a better schedule if possible. Right now they are starting to have some more awake time but sleep whenever they want.

I don't want to hurry things too fast but I want to make sure I get them on a good feeding/sleeping schedule when I am supposed to as opposed to them keeping me on their schedule LOL

I am ready for them to be 3!!!!

 

We didn't really have a schedule until they were more like 3.5 months, which is when they stopped eating at night. Once they didn't need to eat at night, I made their first feeding at as consistent a time as possible (I wanted DH to help me feed them before he left for work for the day, so it ended up being around 6 or 6:30am for us as he had to leave at 7:15am).

Maybe others have had different experiences, but to me, 7 weeks seems a bit young to not be eating at all at night. We did a 10pm "dream feed" from about 3 months to 6 or 7 months, which helped my guys not have to eat at night starting at 3.5 months. I understand really wanting a schedule, as that definitely makes life easier, but it may be too early. Of course you could just TRY letting the one asleep stay asleep one night and see what happens. My boys were very fussy early on due to severe reflux, so having them both up wasn't usually a problem for us because they were both up so much.

 

My kids all started sleeping a 5-6 hr stretch pretty early, anywhere from 6-9 wks for all four of them. However, for the sake of my sanity, I continued to wake my sleeping twin when my hungry twin woke at night to eat. I tried 1 night of not waking the sleeping one, and ended up feeding them on opposite schedules the rest of the night. I spent the whole next day getting them back onto the SAME schedule and didn't fiddle with it anymore until they both started sleeping longer stretches together! I did "encourage" my hungrier twin to sleep longer by not getting up immediately when she started squeaking. I used the pacifier to extend the feeding times by about 15 mins each time. It only took a couple more weeks for them both to sleep a good 6 hr stretch together.

I also didn't really get onto a set schedule until 3-4 months old, 7 wks is pretty much still eat, sleep, poop, cry, repeat

 

I would say that until you feel differently about the bolded, continue waking your sleeper. What you could try though is dreamfeeding them - just giving the bottle/nursing them in their sleep. That way they're getting their feed but their sleep isn't interrupted.

I agree with everyone that 7 weeks is early for a schedule. Definitely not too early for a flexible routine though (I always like EASY - E=Eat, A=Activity, S=Sleep, Y=You. Then wash, rinse, repeat. Ad naseum).

At 3.5 months, my little guy is just now starting to have a consistent morning nap. But after that, it's anybody's guess when he'll sleep or for how long. I'm letting him lead the way & it's working well for us.

 

Exactly...couldn't have said it better myself! We always woke Jack who was our AWESOME sleeper bC JT was hungry. We also followed the eat, play, sleep schedule and it worked great It wasn't until 4-5 months that mine became consistent nappers and it wasn't until closer to 6 months that they started napping consistently *together*

Where in Ohio are you from? I am near Sandusky

 

Most of the books I read (my mom bought me a lot of twin books lol), suggest waking them upto until three months or twelve pounds (assuming they are 12lbs at three months), and then letting the sleeping baby sleep after that.

 

I agree with Rachel, I remember trying to let them sleep, and I swear I put my head down and just went to sleep when the other woke up screaming...it was a nightmare. At 7 weeks, more than likely they just aren't ready for that long stretch of sleep that you are hoping to get, keep waking them for now.