Routine

Hi everyone,

when did you start a bedtime routine for your twins and how did you enforce it ?
My girls are a week old and since we've been at home they have been sleeping in my bed, feeding on demand and nursing to sleep...
we really don't have much of a routine at all, it seems a little dangerous and although it's working ok now, I know it can't go on much longer.

They have cots, but I'm really enjoying having them with me, does anyone else do this?
I don't know if I'm doing this all wrong or if it's quite right to do whatever working.

 

Oh wow - congratulations! Don't worry about a routine yet! We didn't start until just about 3 months, and even that was a little early, I think. Right now, just do what you need to do to get by!

 

DH and I started a bedtime routine for them around 4 weeks (not that they understood or got what it was about) but we figured by getting them used to some kind of routine to wind down from the day, eventually they'd understand. We would do quiet voices, low lights, clean them up (either bath or wipe down with damp cloth), lotion them, give them their bedtime bottle and then we would put them to sleep in their crib. Those early days though, we really had to do what worked. DD could sleep fine in the crib but DS needed to sleep in the bouncy seat and when he woke for his first night feed, I could transition him into the crib. We also played soft lullabye music in their room to aid them in relaxing and sleeping and kept a nightlight on.

 

We started a routine from day one. It helped with our sanity and when I was away, I knew that DH knew what to do to get the results he needed. I also find that having the routine made the boys so much happier and they new what was expected. It maybe because I am silly to think that they understand, but they really do seem to know what is going on in the house.

The routines we do are anything from naptime to bedtime to tummy time to....you name it! Everything is a routine here! Never too early!

Jenn

 

It never hurts to go ahead & develop a routine that works for you. It will probably change over time & can be as simple as some quiet time with a bottle/nursing or it can be much more elaborate. You have to work out what is right for you, but a routine can help them learn when it's time to transition from day to night/sleep. My two slept in my bed as much as their own for the first few months. I didn't sleep as soundly with them there & it did take some time to get them out of the habit, but if it works for you right now, I wouldn't worry too much about it. The most important thing is for you to be getting as much rest as possible!

 

the only reason we worried about a routine that early was to try to teach them the difference between day sleep and night sleep. we let them sleep in the daylight and made daytime noises during the day, but we darkened the room and ran a noise machine at night. i think it helped, because we never ran into a problem where they were mostly sleeping during the day and waking up more at night. but who knows?

 

I agree with Jenn - we had a routine from day one and the boys slept in their cribs from the first night they came home from the hospital. In general we were really happy to know what was happening when. In the early weeks when they slept much more, we would wake them to feed every three hours. At night, we did bath, cream, lights off, feed and bedtime with music and shushing. Now that they are four months old, I feel like they really know the routine and are petty easy in terms of falling asleep by themselves and such.
I hope you figure out what works best for your family - I really believe that anything that makes you as parents content and happy will ultimately be reflected in the kids' moods and behaviours as well!
Good luck!
Rachel

 

We had a routine going at the beginning but didn't really keep to a schedule and we were really flexible with it. Basically, we did bottle to fall asleep. We didn't really start a serious bedtime routine until about 3 months when they were sleeping longer periods at night. We did bottle, (teeth when they got older), and then bed w/ music box. For naptime we used a nature cd and left it on during the entire nap.

As for sleeping in the bed with you, Dr's and studies show that it is dangerous to the baby(ies). A parent (especially a sleep deprived one) could roll over onto a baby. It is a personal choice though. They sell bassinets that attach to the bed, but keep you from rolling into that section. Here is one co-sleeper I found, but I'm sure there are more. When my DH was deployed, I put the boys in their car seats on his side of the bed so they were right there with me and I could rock them back to sleep when they woke up.

 

We started a good routine around 8 weeks. Before that, we were just in survival mode and were doing whatever we could to keep our heads above water and get some rest. GL!