Routines for twins who were early

[w00d0]

Hi guys,

My twins were just over 5 weeks early and reached their due date this week.. At the moment, all they seem to do is eat and sleep with very little awake time, so we have a routine as such.. but my question is for those whose twins arrived early, when did you start a routine and what did it consist of..

Strange to say, but so used to them eating / sleeping all day.. I'm not sure what to do with them when they are awake and how much to do it..

Thank you...

Congrats! Mine were 6 weeks early. All I can remember at that age was them feeding and sleeping tbh. Used to bath them every day, and talk to them. I think you will be guided by them tbh.

Hi, congratulations
Mine were 6 weeks early.
Can't remember exact dates but..

First few weeks were in hospital, next few weeks were cuddling and feeding. Then we moved on to bouncy chairs when they started focussing, so they could look at stuff hanging down, or on a play mat on floor looking at hanging things, but really only 5 or 10 mins at a time, we built up slowly.
At this time they were taking naps in a moses baskes in living room.

At maybe four or so months old we started taking the moses basket up stairs in evening, probably about 8 or 9pm, to try to teach them difference between day and night, and we could start having baby free evenings. My husband worked hard to settle them upstairs, if my milky boobs walked into the room they would scream! We used a lullaby cd, muslin to snuggle (they seemed to like this) and dummy upstairs to give them some sleep associations.

We found the difficult thing with prem babies is the newborn stage does seem to last forever, when they could focus and have time on the play mat or bouncy chair things got easier, then when they could be propped up on cushions to watch the world go by I had free hands - woo hoo!

Life has been much easier for us from about 8 months, they are 1 on the 31st and absolutely gorgeous and brilliant.

First few months definitely lots of cuddling, go easy on yourself and don't feel like you have to do lots of stimulation or anything. Just mummy, maybe a song or two, and gaze into eachothers eyes is all they need!

One of mine is now trying to 'help' me type so I'm going!

ps we did go to a couple of baby groups, ones with lots of helpers so always a spare pair of hands, got us out the house several times a week, and a walk every afternoon.

Congratulations! Hope its all going okay! My girls were 8wks early, and came home after 5wks in neonatal unit. Its true, as you say, for the first few weeks you feel like its all very quiet! They really dont want to do anything but feed and sleep for the first few weeks, as one of the nurses at the hospital pointed out to me they should have still been in my tummy so treat them like that:)
After a few weeks they start wanting to be awake for little bit longer, and just sitting in their bouncers, cuddles with mum or dad, or a walk if you feel up to it. They get worn out really easily so even those few activities will be enough for a while. Just the routine of a bath and feeding and changing seems to be enough 'excitement' initially! Dont worry though all this will change soon enough so make the most of it, preserve your energy! Me and my husband laugh at the memory of us playing scrabble in between their feeds/sleep in the early days....
As for routine i would start as soon as you can, so that it becomes a routine for you all. Personally i found it a structure to the day if we had a routine of feeding, naps bath etc, even down to walks and visits. It helps maintain peace and calm when it gets a bit hectic!
Hope that helps, sorry its a bit vague if you need any other specific advise, give us a shout:)