New Mom HELP!!

I am a new mom of twins. They are actually 10 weeks old but came home from the NICU last week. I am losing my mind trying to figure out how to get them on a schedule. I have heard to let them feed when they are hungry and I have heard to feed on a specific time schedule then I have heard a combination of both. My husband and I are trying to get them to sleep through the night and I am CLUELESS on where to begin. Right now they are feeding about every 4 hours.

Help me before I lose my mind!!!

 

I am a new mom of twins. They are actually 10 weeks old but came home from the NICU last week. I am losing my mind trying to figure out how to get them on a schedule. I have heard to let them feed when they are hungry and I have heard to feed on a specific time schedule then I have heard a combination of both. My husband and I are trying to get them to sleep through the night and I am CLUELESS on where to begin. Right now they are feeding about every 4 hours.

Help me before I lose my mind!!!

 

I feel you! I had a HUGE case of the crazies those first few weeks. I have to say that the schedule worked out for everyones sanity in the long run. I found it also helped them sleep better. Three hour schedule was best for us and always feeding them at the same time, even if that waking one, is better. Then you aren't feeding all day long!

Good luck! Let us know how it works out for you!

 

We stayed on the 4 hr feeding schedule and fed them at the same time. But we did not wake them up during the night to feed them, if one of them woke up then we'd feed them, if it was 3-4hrs after they last ate. We followed HSHHC and didn't try to put them on a schedule until they were 12 weeks (if they were early, then you'll need to adjust for that). They started to sleep longer spans during the night right before I went back to work at 12 weeks. One of the other really helpful things I learned from HSHHC was to not keep them up for longer than 2 hrs at a time when they are that young, and that helped us immensely. Prior to us doing that, they'd get really cranky and we had no idea why!

 

Congrats on the babies coming home! Ours are also 10 weeks old!

We had the on a three hour thing up until a couple of weeks ago - now they are going through a growth spurt and want to eat all the time. We still haven't gotten them to sleep through the night yet. We usually try to feed them at about 11:30 and SOMETIMES they will sleep until 5am (about half the time they wake up at around 3am).
Hope that helps!

Angel

 

Did they have a schedule when you brough them home from the hospital? If so, I'd stick with that. Since they have been in the hospital for 10 weeks, they are used to be fed on a certain timetable and may get confused if they are suddenly offered bottles every time they cry. The fact that they have been on that schedule for so long and were growing well enough that they were discharged from the hospital also means that the feeding schedule works well for them.

 

Congratulations on your boys coming home!! I know we had posted back and forth on the NICU forum and I'm so glad to hear that the boys are home That's wonderful news...I'm very happy for you!!

Our girls will be 9 weeks this week. We actually stuck to the schedule that the NICU had them doing...the pedi agreed that we should stick to this for awhile. We feed them every 3-4 hours and if they aren't up at 4 hours we are supposed to wake them, even in the night. This was working very well up until recently...

We have noticed that they would probably sleep for longer stretches at night if we let them and when we wake them up they really don't want to eat very much. In that case, they will wake up again about 1.5 hours to eat again...this is tough during the night. For my own sanity while my husband is at work I think I may start trying to feed them at the same time during the day. They seem to be waking each other up more now than they did at the beginning, so having to wake one when the other wants to eat may not be as much of a problem. Otherwise, I will be feeding them all day since one of our girls is a really slow eater.

We have our 2 month pedi appt tomorrow and I'm going to ask if we can start letting them go for longer stretches at night vs. waking them. They seem to be gaining weight very well, but we'll see what the pedi suggests.

It's so hard to know what's best. I can't wait to find something that works well for us!

Good luck!
Shelby

 

At 10 weeks, you can try a nighttime routine, that you do every night consistently, and they will eventually get it down, and begin sleeping through the night. Mine however didn't sleep through until 4 months of age.

Congrats on your twins!!

 

At that age my girls were feeding every 3 hours so the fact that you are going every four hours is impressive! Unfortunatly, they didn't get on a consistant schedule and start sleeping through the night till they were about 3 1/2 months. It will get easier, i'm sure you hate hearing that right about now but it will. Good luck!

 

Congrats on your babies coming home! At that age sometimes mine ate every 2.5 hours and sometimes 4 hours at night. They were not consistent. My ped. said I had to feed every 3 hours (even at night) until they reached 8 lbs and then I could start letting them go a little longer. Those were the HARDEST days and nights of my life. My husband and I were sooooo exhausted! Mine did not start sleeping through until 5.5 months. I know this seems like forever away. I didn't believe everyone; however, it did go by very quickly. We are finally starting to recover from sleep deprivation. I know this is a tough time . . . do what you need to do to get through it. Best of luck!!!

 

Try and keep them on the schedule they awere on while in the hospital. and slowly make it work for your life. Hang in there it will get easier. Tracey

 

I agree with pp i would try and keep them on the schedule that they were on in the hospital. Then start to do whatever feels right with you. Mine where getting fed every four hours in the hospital so i just kept them on that untilll they started to find their own schedule. Again i didnt wake them through the night, i waited for them to wakebut if one woke up i woke the other too(i found it easier and quicker to feed both babies at the same time). Hope this is helpfull x

 

We brought Mira & Maya home from the hospital (only a 2 week stay) with orders to wake & feed every 3 hours. Once, okayed by our pedi, we would let them go as long as they would (usually 3-4 hr), & would always wake the 2nd to feed together.
Ours did not sleep through the night until 6 months old. My husband used up his vacation while the babies were still in the hospital, so for his sanity at work, we ended up having someone stay overnight 1-2 nights/week for the first 2 1/2 months. That person would get up & bottle feed (pumped breast milk) the babies so that we could sleep. (I would still get up to pump, but I had everything ready to go, so I was always back to sleep in 15 minutes. We also had friends offer to come stay a late evening shift (8p-12am), to care for the babies so we could sleep. Just getting a few more hours of sleep did wonders for our sanity.
Good luck, & hang in there. You'll get settled in to a routine. Just take everyone up on any offers of help.