SAHMs- when did you

Everyone says you have to have a schedule to survive twins... and I'm beginning to understand that. But as of now, my boys are just a constant eat sleep poop and eat again, without any sort of consistency. I assume they'll become more "schedule-able" as they get older, but when does that happen? And how did you go about getting your routine in place? Thanks for any words of wisdom!

 

for me, the first 3-4 months were "eat sleep poop and eat again". i started putting them in their cribs for naps at 5 months, to try and get some sort of schedule going. they were always on a good eating schedule, so that is easy. most days they eat at the same time. sometimes, the schedule gets thrown off if one naps longer, etc. it all works out though. i just really tried to keep them together, if everything gets out of synch, it makes for a long day i really use my journal too...keeping track of when they ate last, how much, did they pee/poop, and any other notes, meds. etc. it really helps me.

right now at 8 months, they get up, have a bottle, play, have solids, then nap, get up bottle, play, etc. they are still at 3 sometimes 4 naps. it depends on how early they get up and how tired they are. they go to bed between 6-6:30pm.

i'm sure other moms will chime in here w/ ideas.

 

For me it was more like 6.5 months, they did not sleep through the night until 6m. I always tried to establish a schedule from day one and eventually it fell into place. It got a little better form then on but probably around 9 months when they were on solid food, they had more of a routine, 3 meals a day, 3 snacks even though their napping still wasn't that great they did the same things everyday and at the same time. By 1 it got even better with no bottles and they started to nap 1.5 hours twice a day, now I am just having fun with them and everyday I know what to expect. GL!

 

A true schedule really started at 6 months...I could predict when their naps needed to be and when to feed them. It really becomes like clockwork. I always tried to push a schedule on them (with no success) and I would get sooooo frustrated because I felt like I was failing at the scheduling-thing. And, I was tired and just wanted a plan. But, I finally resigned to the fact that was not going to happen...and then...it just started falling into place.

Instead of writing my own schedule for them at 5 months or so, I would write down when they napped and wanted to eat. Then, I could devise a good schedule that met their needs and mine. I followed their lead and things fell into place.

hth

jen

 

I'd say our schedule started around 6 months when they started taking consistent naps.

 

6 months here too, but I started working towards it at 4-5 months. We have a schedule sticky at the top of the forum so you can see what is in store for you!

 

5 1/2 -6 months for us. Before that it was so hard!

 

I got on a good schedule at 8 weeks for the night, and at about 10 and a 1/2 weeks for the day. It takes A LOT OF EFFORT and you have to miss out on a lot of time running around town if you really want them to do well with napping and going down in the evenings. But your babies will be happier the more sleep they get.

My babies eat about every three hours during the day and twice during the night (they go down about 6:30 and are up around 7, but that's with two feeds in between). I put them down for a nap after 90 to one hour of wakefulness. I watch for cues of sleepiness (yawning, a lull in activity, a certain cry, tired eyes) and I put them down as soon as I see it (usually 60-90 minutes of wakefulness for one baby, 90 to 2 hours for the other). I swaddle them, draw the black out blind and turn on the white noise machine in their room whenever they sleep. This is of course restrictive for me. It's hard to get to the grocery store or take a walk within such a short window when your kids are napping and eating on a schedule. So one nap per day is usually a car/stroller nap (not good, I know) but the other two are in the crib, non-negotiable. I stopped letting them nap in their swings in their 10th week. I was worried it would become a habit. For one baby the transition was easy and he can nap for an hour or two. The other has had a harder time adjusting and needs rocking to sleep and only sleeps for 30 to 45 minutes. But I think this will improve with time (fingers crossed).

I follow a combination of advice from "The Baby Whisperer" (E.A.S.Y. method from day one) and "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". I don't let them cry it out - I find good timing avoids the crying. One of my babies has had colic though, so he has been a challenge.

C.

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ May 25 2007, 01:07 AM) [snapback]267970[/snapback]
6 months here too, but I started working towards it at 4-5 months.


Same here. I was guilty of leaving the house almost daily if they wouldn't nap well just to give them a car nap for my sanity. I stopped that around 4 months to try to get them used to sleeping at home. I wouldn't stress over it at all. Get them on a regular eating pattern (maybe log it) and go from there. I was always so stressed about a schedule and in retrospect, I wish I had relaxed a little bit.

 

Our schedule happened around 4-5 months. It wasn't anything I came up with, they just fell into sync and I went with it. Just hang in there sweetie, those first 3-5 months can be a real killer! :hug99: Feel free to come here to vent anytime!

 

You'll fall into a groove. You might have to journal a bit to see who's doing what when now - maybe there's already some kind of pattern there but it's just hard to see when you're in the thick of it.

BTW: I totally jinxed myself with that last post! The boys went down at 6 and were up again at 7! We had to call it a nap and start from scratch after the next feeding. Ha!

 

I've never tried to force a schedule on the boys, I just followed their lead and figured they know when they need to sleep, nap, eat, etc. For the first few weeks I was making sure they woke every 3 hours at night to eat, and after a few weeks, I made sure they ate every 3 hours during the day but let them sleep however long they needed to at night. And when one woke, I would get that one changed, and if the other one hadn't woken by the time I was done (which he usually did) then I would wake that one to eat as well so they both stayed on the same schedule. And slowly over time the night feedings have dwindled to where we are now at either one or none. As for daytime and naps, they only started getting some kind of schedule about a month ago, where they would wake by 7, nurse, play for about an hour and a half, then down for a nap, but naptimes differ every day. When we started the nighttime "tubtime" routine, that really helped set a schedule and now they know what "tubtime" means and that bedtime is coming soon. Tubtime is at 6 or 615, then nurse, then bed.

They still aren't on a consistent napping schedule - sometimes its 2 hours, sometimes 40 minutes, but things are working themselves out. In the beginning, you are right, it's just eat, poo, sleep, repeat. With some crying thrown in there. Hang in there, it's rough!!!!! :hug99:

 

when mine were in the nicu they basically had them on a schedule of eating every three hours because of their size.....when we got home we just implemented that schedule and adjusted the eating times as they got older. So I guess mine were on one since birth. A schedule was my sanity at the beginning.

 

This is all good info! Thanks ladies! (and do you like how it took me a day or so to be able to find time to get back on here and READ your responses!? :blink It's good to know the common time is 6 months- makes me feel better for still feeling like a train wreck! And thanks CHJH for posting those book titles-- I'll check them out! :good: Boy this is fun huh??

 

I feel like we diddent get into a schedul till about 7 months. i tryed, but once they started sleeping thru the night it sort of fell into place. ")

 

For infants under 3 months it is hard to set a 'set' schedule. They pretty much do what they want, when they want. I started a routine that I practiced each day and night, (night's especially) at 3 months. Around 4 months they really began to get it more. At nights I would always do the same thing over and over. Solids, playtime, bath time, bottle and to bed. Consistency is the key.

 

They pretty much set their own schedule. I just followed their cues, and about 6 months is when things really started to fall into place.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ May 25 2007, 10:12 PM) [snapback]269027[/snapback]
My babies eat about every three hours during the day and twice during the night (they go down about 6:30 and are up around 7, but that's with two feeds in between). I put them down for a nap after 90 to one hour of wakefulness. I watch for cues of sleepiness (yawning, a lull in activity, a certain cry, tired eyes) and I put them down as soon as I see it (usually 60-90 minutes of wakefulness for one baby, 90 to 2 hours for the other).

C.


This sounds about like what we did. HSHHC is a terrific book to have if you don't already. We were pretty much on a schedule by following the feeding and awake/alert intervals. Since we didn't have other children, I was always home when they needed to be sleeping. I always, always, always put them to sleep in their cribs - generally while they were still awake. We have never had an issue with them putting themselves to sleep because they don't know what it's like to be soothed to sleep by anything but themselves. I wanted to cuddle and snuggle them to sleep, but I'm glad that I didn't. Things were so much easier. Agree with PP that consistency is key. They don't start to pick up a pattern until 3-4 months.