Twins - sleep / bedtime routine 😊

[KMG30]

Hi twin mums!
im a FTM so just looking for some advice
my twins just turned 7 weeks
ill like to start looking at implementing a proper routine during the day and bedtime to start helping with going longer stretches at night then eventually sleeping through
they are currently feeding at 7pm then 10pm then I let them wake me for next feed which is usually 3am then 7am

please can you share with me what routines you had with your twins at a similar stage ? Thank you

I was quite strict (was a single parent of 3 under 4). So dt fell into routine of dc1. I never rocked dt to sleep, they slept together and if one woke for a feed I'd wake the other so they were on the same routine. Make a routine that will fit with you and your lifestyle. By the time dt were 6 months I could have them all in bed by 730 but at 7 weeks was probably more like 10pm.
Bath, breast feed while reading story to dc1 and then straight down to bed.
At first I'd have to sit with my hand on them to settle but over time I'd just pop them down and leave with no problems. I think it got easier from 3 months and then easier by 6 months.

At that point we were still in chaos! So good on you for starting to think about this. We managed to implement a sort of routine at about 7 weeks adjusted, basically bath, book, milk, bed with a dark room and white noise machine at about 7pm, dream feed (which we did start waking them for) at 1030, then normally a feed around 3-4am which we started trying to push out as long as possible with resettling and shhhh, then 7am, 1030am, 1pm, 430pm feeds roughly.

We also (like PP) tried to avoid picking the boys up as much as possible to avoid them getting used to it, and also because I physically couldn't get two up and rock them, so we did a lot of bum patting, gentle forehead stroking etc. They seem to be able to settle themselves much more easily at a younger age.

The other difference we found with them sleeping was moving them into their own rooms which we did at 4 months. Obviously that is not official safe sleep advice and I did my own research before doing that but we were all waking each other up all night and I was so sleep deprived that the alternative was me having a breakdown or accidentally crashing the car / walking out under a bus.

The boys are really good sleepers for the most part now although the full nights sleep for us didn't really happen until they were eating a decent amount of food during the day. I do think having a bed time routine from really early has helped with them being comfortable going to sleep independently.

My T2 had a bottle of milk at about 3am until 20 months. He would wake, shout for me, have a bottle of milk (took 10 mins) then sleep until 7am plus. He was tiny, and just needed the milk. 🥰 He sleeps like a rock now. 🤣

Routine- we gave milk at 7pm, 11 (approx), then when they woke- about 4. My T1 didn't need the 4am feed eventually. They'd go back to sleep after 4am feed.

It's OK to establish your own routine. You've got this!

Fellow twin Mum here 👋🏻
Your routine sounds pretty similar to what I was doing when my twins were that age.
What I Found helpful was following “waking windows” determined by their age. You can google it, or just use a simple format like this image.
Once they were a few months old I really committed to it, settling them both down for a nap even if the nap only lasted 10-15 minutes or so. And always together, it was the only way I could stay sane and get things done if they both slept at the same time. Particularly as their daytime naps got longer which meant I could have a stretch during the day to rest myself! 3 years on and they still sleep at the same time and are generally good sleepers (although absolutely wild when awake- but that’s another story!)