Bedtime routine

Everything I read about establishing a bedtime routine seems so easy--if you have one baby! We don't do baths before bed (too complicated for 2, just a wipe down of face/neck/chest/privates). Our babies bottle feed one after the other (how to do them at once is a topic for my next post!).

How do you do a routine with 2? If only one parent is doing bedtime? What do you do with one who is crying while you tend to the other--it's hard to read/sing a lullaby with howling as backup. Looking for ideas, advice, etc. Our babies are 4 month, but 1.5 adjusted (and in reality, somewhere in between).

Thanks!

 

I'm not sure how you can get around the other one crying, but if anyone has an answer I'd love to hear it! I am so thankful DH is usually here in the evenings to help me with the routine...it's so much easier with 2 people!

Good luck.

 

Our babies bottle feed one after the other (how to do them at once is a topic for my next post!). Bobby on either side of you and hold each bottle both will get feed at the same time. If you do not have boppies you can use a couch cushion or sit on your floor with a bouncer (if you have those) on either side and hold each bottle..it will save you about a half hour if you feed at the same time.

At around 3 months I would bath them in our kitchen sink the other would be in their bouncer, then I would switch put the one bathed in their bouncer and bath the other then bring them one at a time in their bouncer with towels on them back into the living room and dress one at a time, unfortunatley they are not always going to be content and sometimes you just have to do the best you can. After they were big enough to like their high chairs I did the same thing with them in the highchairs. GL!

 

I don't do it by myself often, but when I have, it seems to work.

I bathe my guys every 3 nights (I know, but they have eczema and the baths tend to make it worse). On bath nights, I bring them both up to the bathroom (one in a Papasan chair and the other I carry up). The one in the chair plays with toys while I bathe the first one. They tend to get really fussy after their bath, so I always have their bottles ready. After I'm done bathing, lotioning and dressing the first, I switch them. The one in the chair gets a bottle that I prop (I use stuffed animals as proppers) and then I bathe the other one. The first one is usually dead tired after his bottle so he's not fussy after the bottle. I get the second one dressed, lotioned and start his bottle (propped of course while sitting in his Papasan). While the second one is eating, I burp the first one, put him in his sleep sack and off to bed (I don't rock them, they go down on their own). And then I do the same with the second one.

On non-bath nights, I have a MUCH easier time. I put them both in their Papasan chairs and I either prop the bottles or sit in between them and hold the bottles (I usually have them watching Baby Einstein while they eat to keep them calm). After they're done eating, I burp one and put him to bed and then I do the same with the second.

Good luck. I couldn't imagine doing it by myself every night - especially bath nights!

 

We don't do baths before bed either because it tends to wake them up more. I put them in Pj's then I give them both bottles around 8 pm. Here's how: I sit on the couch and lay them both across my lap--one on each side-- with their heads in the middle and legs to each side. After bottles, they are usually pretty drowsy, but we usually end up talking to them or just sitting with them for a little while. I usually sit in the recliner and rock them for a little while until 9 or 9:30. Parker likes to be up on my shoulder and Riley likes to lay stretched out on my lap with his head on my arm. Usually Parker cries for a little while because he's a sleep fighter, but Riley will go to sleep anyway. If I'm by myself, I carry them both upstairs to lay them down but if my husband is home, he takes one. They are usually good until 7:30 am.

 

I have done bedtime alone for years. I always fed them one a time, all day long I mean, in hopes that they would be ok waiting their turn at bedtime (if they are used to eating at the same time then most likely they will both be huingry at the same time but if they are staggered all day long then there is a chance they will continue that stager at bedtime). What I did really depended on them. Our routine consisted of going into their room with no lights on, just the light in the next room and the door open just enough for me to see diapers and dribbles. I would change the diaper, put on jammies then sit in the rocker to give them their bottle. Once burped they went right into the crib whether awake or asleep. I then moved on to the next child. Where the second child was really depended on their mood, sometimes I would put her in the swing in the living room (Kayla usually went second because she took longer to eat, I could get Kyle fed very quickly so it just made sense to feed the quicker baby first), sometimes I would put her in her bouncy in the living room, sometimes I would lay her on the floor in the living room, sometimes I would put her in her rocking bouncy and bring her in the room with me and rock her with my foot while I fed Kyle, sometimes she layed on the floor in the bedroom with us.......it really all depended on her temperament that night. If she was happy in the living room then I was ok with her there. If she was not quite as happy I would bring her in with us and comfort her while feeding her brother.

The key for me was to start the routine early enough to try to prevent having someone fuss. When that didn't work I would just do the best I can which sometimes did mean crying but that was very rare.

Good luck, once we got a routine down what seemed like an impossibility actually became second nature and bedtime became a part of the day I looked forward to (sitting quietly, rocking, feeding etc).

 

I am still getting my routine down but recently I have been feeding them in their bouncy seats and use these holders. http://www.greatbabyproducts.com/Baby_Bott.../prod-mm220.htm
They definetly are helpful. I still need to put them on a blanket to keep them in a good position and keep on eye on them because the babies will knock them out of their mouths. The reason I really like them is while I am burping one the other can continue to eat. When they are all finished I have to keep them upright for a half hour due to their reflux so I bounce them to sleep, they love it.

 

So it seems that nobody reads a story or sings a lullaby as part of the bedtime routine--just wash, feed and off to bed. I really want to have story time (esp. once they are 6 months old) or sing, but I'm not sure whether that should be done one at a time or both together and at what point (after the first one is fed, read, then put to bed? Does #2 get another story or does that count?) Since we switch who eats first depending on who's fussiest, it could be a break in routine if the story comes before/after feeding.

I know I'm being a bit anal, but I'm just trying to figure out the best way to do things for us. Thanks for all your help!

 

QUOTE(Jen S @ Dec 17 2007, 11:45 PM) [snapback]538576[/snapback]
I am still getting my routine down but recently I have been feeding them in their bouncy seats and use these holders. http://www.greatbabyproducts.com/Baby_Bott.../prod-mm220.htm
They definetly are helpful. I still need to put them on a blanket to keep them in a good position and keep on eye on them because the babies will knock them out of their mouths. The reason I really like them is while I am burping one the other can continue to eat. When they are all finished I have to keep them upright for a half hour due to their reflux so I bounce them to sleep, they love it.


That's really neat. My babies throw their heads around so much during feeding and have to be burped throughout, I wonder if I would be able to use that. That must be great for you!!!

 

I would sing during feeding each baby. I tried the book reading thing initially after they were both in bed (sometimes one would be asleep) but honestly I found myself soo tired and thinking of all the things I still had to do that it was not enjoyable for me. I then decided to read to them after dinner but before the bedtime routine would start (I didn't want any lights on during the bedtime routine so I had initially tried using a flashlight but like I said it just wasn't working for me). We would sit in the living room, I read the story then when the story was done it was time to start bedtime. K&K are now 6 and we still read a book in the living room before starting our bedtime routine!

 

I was by myself most of the time and yes, there was a lot of crying in the beginning. They get a bath every day, so while I was doing one, the other one was in the swing, crib or Exersaucer (depending on age and mood). I would have to make sure everything was ready and in the right position. Then I would do #2. In the meantime, my oldest would be in the bath as well, another one down. Once the twins were ready I would put them in their bouncies, and get my oldest out and get her dressed. Once they could hold their bottles (6 months) I would get them started with their bottle before I would get her (the bathroom is next to the babies' room). I also used Podee when they couldn't hold their bottles yet.

Then I would get the twins ready for bed (bottle, story, song, clean diaper and/or cream), while my oldest waited (reading a book) in the babies' room and then I would do her. It was more the combination of the 2 then just the twins that made it hard for me. The babies would just sit in their bouncies for books and songs. My oldest would sing a song for them too and pick out a book that she liked (short ones only).

Starting in time (= early), would eliminate the amount of crying big time. At first they were going to bed at 6 pm, now 6.30 pm. However they were on a 2 nap schedule since 4 months.

 

i can't believe how much is a blur. I started reading to them very early...usually just good night moon, it's a pretty short book.

For our nighttime routine, at that age, we were just starting to bathe them every night, but bathtime was quick, real quick. After bath, they got a bottle and we sat on the couch and read. (I think?). At the time, they were both in daycare, so sometimes one would be asleep in their carseat until like 8 or 9.

Once they were sitting up well, maybe 6 months, i would bath them together. I would dry and dress them...and then at that point i think they were holding their bottles, so i would sometimes read them while they took their bottles. Then they went into the crib. However Jake didn't start really sleeping in his crib until almost 7 months, so he would often sleep in his car seat or a papasan chair.

From about 8months on, we have had a good bedtime routine:

Dinner
Sometimes a little playtime
Bath
Bottle/Story

With their stories now, because they won't sit still, i put them in their cribs (or together in one crib) and do a very dramatic reading of the stories - they love it. I wish I could hold them, but it just doesn't work right now