bedtime routines

Right now, my husband watches one twin while I get the first one ready. Our routine essentially involves pj's, lotion and then nursing to sleep. Once the first one is in bed, then I get the second twin and do the same. However, I don't want him waking the first twin, so I get him ready in a different room then nurse to sleep in the bedroom.

I feel like my routine only works if I have DH to help and if both boys are in a mellow mood. Can you all post some of your bedtime routines and what you do with one twin while the other is getting put to bed. Also, where do you get the second one ready after the first is already in bed?

 

I used to get mine ready at the same time. I would usually just put one in a bouncy waiting for the other, and vice versa. Then I would dress them both in pjs and give them their bottles. Can you tandum feed or pump for them to have a bottle at the same time? I always put mine to bed at the same time as well so there would be a seamless transition to bed when they need to fall asleep on their own. Good luck! :hug99:

 

i used to feel the same way until one night my DH got stuck working a double shift. he's a correctional officer so it happends sometimes and he has to work another 8 hours UGHHHH. well what i do is i put them both in a high chair and give them a bottle at the same time. then they usually fall asleep afterwards and i pick one up and put them to bed then come for the other one. since your BF can you BF both at the same time? if not can you pump and give them a bottle or one breast one bottle? then you can put them to sleep rock them both and put one in bouncy while you put one in crib then get the other one.
try different ways maybe you will find one that works for you. how do you manage nap times when he isnt home?

 

DH works 1PM-9:30PM, so I have been doing night routine M-F since they were 8 weeks old.
At that age, I would bath one and let the other one watch a baby einstein video (around 23 minutes or so). I had laid out the outfits, diapers, and whatever else I thought I would
need before hand.
Bath, nurse/bottle, bed for the first and repeat for the second.
I would switch out who bathed first everyday, or whoever was exhibiting the most tired signs at the time. And I was militant about bed time, always bath at 6:30 PM and both in bed by 7-7:10PM. But I worked for us.
As soon as they hit around 9-10 months, they went into the bath together. And even now when one wants a bath sooner than the other two (tired early or sick), usually the two that did not want it, end up in there too.

 

well i am on my own most nights since dh works until 11 most of the time, so my babies kinda tell me when they want to go to bed. I have been lucky because they start getting cranky around 5, I bathe them every other night at 7 by placing one twin in their crib while I bathe and change the other, then switch. Of course the one not being paid attention to cries, but I do what I have to do. Then after all are clean, I feed them by placing them in their baby seats and tandem bottle feeding at around 8 and they are in bed by 9. I do have to listen to them cry for a few min before they drift off, but they know mommy isn't going to come running so they settle down and sleep all night until about 7:30 AM!! Its awesome and I realize how lucky I am.

 

DH works evenings so I do the bedtime routine alone too.
I always bathe DD first because she's more calm after. DS cries in the living room in his swing, but I try to give him toys to play with. I bring DD upstairs and let her 'air dry' a little. (I leave her wrapped in the towel and with a blanket, but I give her bottom some diaper free time.) Then I bathe DS. I bring him upstairs and they get 'night' lotion (lavender scented) and their pj's and swaddled. Then I tandem feed them on the couch. Back upstairs and they are laid in their own crib. I read a story to one and then the other. (I switch who I start with every night.) Then the noise machine goes on and the lamp goes off. Both get kisses and I'm out the door.

From start to finish it takes me 45-50 minutes, but they know it so well that they go down without a peep now. And I always start at 9:30pm sharp. (They sleep very late in the morning due to DH's weird hours- we all usually wake up around 11am.) They are snoozing by 10:30 every night.

 

The hard part for me was accepting that they were likely to wake up after tandem feeding, so training them to fall asleep on their own was an important part of making the solo routine smooth - and it still isn't as relaxing as when DH is home.

The bouncy chairs really helped with this, because they made the baby feel more "held" and cuddled while I was getting the other one ready. We do baths before bed, too. So the routine was bathe and dress one while the other waited in his seat, then bathe and dress the other while his brother waited. There was almost always crying involved, especially if they were tired and hungry. The vibration on the bouncy seat helped with this, as did a lot of singing, preferably the same song over and over.

Then I'd take them to the nursery and tandem nurse them. One would almost always fall asleep hard enough that I could set him into a bouncy chair at my feet without waking him. (At that age we were still setting them upright for 20 minutes after eating because of reflux, so the bouncy was a familiar routine.) The other guy was usually mellow enough by then to fall asleep in his bouncy. Once we stopped with the sitting upright after eating, I'd put the one who was closer to sleep down at my feet, and grab the other one in one arm while I unlatched the pillow, then set him in his crib. Then I'd go back and get the first one and set him in his crib. Even if they wake a little during this process, they're tired enough that just a little cuddling and rocking helps them back into dreamland.

Then go pour yourself a glass of wine. You'll have earned it.

I think I posted with the exact same title about 8 months ago! I got lots of good tips, but we still had to work out the details for ourselves. Just know you can totally do it alone, and you'll be an expert yourself in a month.

 

I have had to do bedtime solo since they were born 3 nites per week. It has gotten 100 million times easier and now I don't even sweat it a bit.

I do baths every single nite.

Bathe 1 baby, pjs and put him in jumperoo or wherever..

Bathe 2nd baby, pjs, jumperoo (i have 2 of course LOL) and make bottles.

Feed one baby 1/2 of the bottle (4oz) and put him in walker so that he can burp.

Feed 2nd baby 1/2 bottle put him in walker- remove first baby so I can finish the rest of his bottle.. and switch. This allows me to NOT waste time burping (standing up- they burp on their own) AND I get 1/2 of the bottle in each of them immdiately so no one is PO'd waiting for their food.

In the beginning it was HARD but now that they are 6 mos-- NO SWEAT. I do not breast feed so I cannot speak from that angle.

Once they have eaten 8 oz each, I put them in their sleep sacks and into their cribs. They are WIDE awake but it's 6:00 pm and that's bedtime so I put them in their cribs and within 10 minutes-- OUT! I have never rocked or bottled them to sleep EVER. They just go in their beds awake and don't see me until 6:30 the next morning.

Hope this helps--

 

I do bedtime almost every night alone since the beginning. When they were your kiddos age, I got them ready for bed together. On bath nights, one would lay on the floor on a blanket or sit in the bouncer while the other was in the bath, and then I'd switch. On non-bath nights, I just put their pjs on one after the other. Then one would lay in the boppy pillow or in the activity center or on a blanket with toys while I fed the other, then we'd switch. Then I brought them into the nursery at the same time to go to bed. Things aren't much different today except they hold their own bottles, so we lay on the floor in boppies and they have their bottle and then we all walk into the bedroom to go to bed.

Once you find your rhythm it will be fine. Some nights go more smoothly than others, some nights there is some crying. GL and :hug99:

 

I get them both ready at the same time - I've always done it myself too. I constantly have a bouncy beside me, so whatever I am doing while holding one, the other is right there in the bouncy. Bathtime is kind of like an assembly line (since my 3 year old insists on being in the bathtub also) but it's the same thing, while one is being bathed the other is sitting in the bouncy right next to the bathtub then they just switch places.

Fortunately since I've always done it alone, Abby always gets fed 2nd and Rylee first; Abby lays in her crib and chills out while Rylee is being fed so they are used to the routine.