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Multiple births

When do you start showing with twins? What is life with twins like? Join the conversation on our Multiple Births forum.

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Original poster

what to do with my newborn twins....

19 replies

rubyred84 · 23/07/2015 18:35

my b/g twins are 12 days old today and after a 6 day hospital stay, we are settling in at home.

the problem is I don't feel like I am interacting with them much and instead am just doing things for them. we are breastfeeding and bottle feeding EBM so I know we get interaction then, but they both fall asleep by the end of their feed and so we put them in their cot to sleep until their next feed, and so the cycle continues!

I've picked them up a few times to cuddle them and woke them up, meaning feeds got out of sync so won't be doing that again! and sometimes they fall asleep on me or my husband so we leave them there for an hour or so, but for example we haven't given them a bath yet as they just feed and sleep (I know I shouldn't complain!)

they were born at 34 weeks so are only just starting to have alert time after feeds, am I just worrying over nothing? should I be letting them fall asleep on me after every feed? I don't want to make a rod for my own back!!

have just read that back and not sure it makes sense, ramblings of a new mum I think....

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Nolim · 23/07/2015 18:41

Give them time. Nothing wrong with feeding and sleeping specialy for premies.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 23/07/2015 18:46

Just hang tight. At the moment their needs are incredibly small and their awake time is little to none. Within a week or so they will eventually have a bit more alert time.

If one wakes before the other give them a quick bath while you wait for the other to wake.

chocolatedonut · 23/07/2015 18:48

I found my newborn DD would only be awake for 10 mins then she would want her feed and go back to sleep. I loved those 10 mins DD always fell asleep on me and it hasn't caused any problems at all. I would pop her back in the basket if I needed to do something. We only bathed her every couple of days and it only took about 5 mins (I would hold and DH would wash). I watched a lot of Netflix back then and really didn't do much else if I'm being honest ....

SurlyCue · 23/07/2015 18:49

Draw fake moustaches on them and take photos for us to laugh at?

Seriously though, relax youre doing grand. Take their down time to have some yourself. When they wake, sing to them, chit chat, read, take them for short walk in the pram. Just take it easy. Dont put pressure on yourself to be doing things all the time.

andadietcoke · 23/07/2015 19:06

That's absolutely fine. Enjoy it! At 23 months I still worry about interaction as they play so well together; at the point you're at I was mostly worried about getting through to 5pm when DH came home.

Original poster

rubyred84 · 23/07/2015 20:24

thanks everyone, you have made me feel so much better, currently sat with DH with one each on our chest :)

another quick question....when do I find time time to bath them? they haven't had a bath yet, but as they just feed and sleep I don't know when you try and fit it in!!

OP posts:

Waggamamma · 23/07/2015 20:33

My DS both fed and slept until around 10weeks where they might gaze at toys on a playmat for 10-20mins before falling asleep again. enjoy this phase, it's such a special time and passes so quickly.

MrsLeighHalfpenny · 23/07/2015 20:35

Newborn babies sleep for about 22 hours a day. You'll be looking back on these first few weeks with longing once they find their voices!!

Waggamamma · 23/07/2015 20:35

I bathed my first son every night from around 6wks old, my second I had no time for that and he's bathed about twice a week whenever we have a lull in the day, usually morning or evening after dinner.

They don't get that dirty when they are small as long as you keep their bums and faces clean

avocadotoast · 23/07/2015 20:41

We didn't bath DD for a week. And then the day after she had another bath because she did a truly enormous poo that went everywhere. Baby wipes couldn't handle it.

Anyway... She's 8 weeks now and we still just bath her once a week, with flannel/sponge baths as necessary. At that age I think it's better for their skin not to overdo baths anyway. It's not like they're out rolling in dirt!

Katsite · 23/07/2015 20:45

mine were like vegetables, loveliest vegetables ever, but vegetables. It took them an hour on the bottle and the rest of the time they slept. I don't even remember them crying.

SheWhoMustBe · 23/07/2015 20:58

Someone said to me when I was in exactly the phase you are in now that babies start smiling at about 6 weeks because it's Mother Nature's way of stopping you going nuts - otherwise with no reward you'd go mad with the "feed/sleep/change bum/repeat" routine. I definitely think there's something in that.... And as another poster said, keep face and bum clean and don't worry too much about baths at this point. You sound remarkably sane for 12 days in with twins, well done you!

WorldsBiggestGrotbag · 23/07/2015 20:58

Jealous of all these newborns that sleep a lot! Mine is 2 weeks old and is awake at least 10 hours a day. Older DD was the same. Enjoy it while it lasts!

littlegemsem · 23/07/2015 21:21

My twin boys were 34 weekers and twin 1 didn't really wake up until his due date!! He was to wake for every feed until then! Twin 2 was a bit more of a livewire. As others have said just enjoy this time. Whilst it's important to let them learn to self settle, cuddles are equally as important!
As for bathing, mine were bathed once a week for the first few weeks and then turned into a nightly thing when developing bedtime routine. I just woke them about half hr before their evening feed which was usually around 7pm.
Congratulations twins are amazing xxx

andadietcoke · 23/07/2015 22:42

We only bathed them about once a week at first, then at about 8 weeks once I started trying to establish a bedtime 'routine' we'd bath them every night and split their bedtime feed either side of the bath.

TwinsPlusAnotherTwo · 24/07/2015 01:00

I found it easier to do baths in the morning between feeds, babies less cranky and I had more energy! Basically find what suits you, but def don't stress about bathing loads at this age.
Congratulations on your twins!

RockerMummy184 · 24/07/2015 09:44

I have no experience of newborn twins yet as mine are still cooking but when my singleton was a newborn I felt useless at first because he did NOTHING. All he did was eat and sleep, I had sooo many naps in the first few weeks it was fantastic! I wondered what everyone was going on about when they said babies were difficult!

As for the baths, I didn't give my DS a bath for about 2 weeks as he suffered from really bad dry skin and HV/MW said (since they don't do anything to get dirty at that age) not to bother. Although I can see why you're eager to do it! Baby bath time is lovely!

Congratulations on your babies!

seastargirl · 24/07/2015 09:48

I remember reading in the baby whisperer
book that for a newborn baby, getting fed and having a nappy change was all the activity they needed, made me feel better as I felt like I should have been doing something.

The time will come when they want entertaining and you'll be wishing they were asleep again!

juneavrile · 05/08/2015 16:42

Mine were sleepy too - my mum complained that she hadn't seen a picture of them awake in their first three months, but that's how it was. Use any spare time for yourself while you can.
Both hated baths for first six months. It was once a week. Then the swimming pool and splashing made it much more acceptable.

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