20 month old twins and a newborn - advice and support on how to manage

[Verona11]

My DTs will be 20 months when number 3 is born and I have no idea how I will manage all 3 of them. If anyone else had similar circumstances, how did you manage bedtime/routines etc?? Having a panic at the moment (possible pregnancy hormones!) and would be grateful for any advice/tips on what worked etc for you and your little ones. Thanks!

Hi,
Didn't want to leave you unanswered - I have a 20 month gap between DD1 and my DTs (now 5 1/2 and almost 4), and while some of the specifics will be different, just wanted to let you know that I've been in a similar boat and survived!
I imagine (!) you will find having a newborn baby easier than having newborn twins. Maybe get a good sling so you can tote the baby around easily while looking after the twins?
I guess flashpoints will be feeding/bedtime and getting out of the house (so not much then!). When my babies were little I gave DD1 her main meal at lunchtime as the babies were easier to manage then and she could just have toast etc in the evening. When they were little I used to call in help from other people if DH wasn't going to be home for bedtime as I just couldn't do it (sorry, that's not helpful!). I tried to get DD1 used to not having her familiar routines followed like clockwork (eg missing bath sometimes).
Think about how you're going to entertain the twins when you're feeding the baby - don't think DD1 had ever watched tv until we had the twins, but In the Night Garden got me through many a tricky feed. Also - pens, stickers, building blocks etc that they can play with reasonably easily (and maybe don't have access to all the time for a bit of novelty).
We had a fair amount of family support for the first year, and also spent money on making our lives easier (we had a cleaner/takeaways etc which we don't any more now the main craziness if over). We also took up offers of help, when we were accustomed to managing without them!
Don't know if that's much help really, but they're waking up. Will try to think of more.
Also, nowadays, it is a brilliant age gap - they all get on well a lot of the time and have loads in common! It was hard at first, but it's so, so worth it...