Keep a schedule for everything in the first year-and keep the twins on the SAME one

If you’re currently expecting twins or a new twin Mom, you may be freaking out about how the heck you’re going to manage two babies at the same time. I am here to tell you - you can do it....and it is totally worth it!

The idea of putting one baby on a schedule seems daunting - but TWO(?). Honestly, I think having two gave us the excuse to make a schedule and stick to it - plus, since we don't have twins in our family, anyone who helped-out understood the importance of not deviating from the schedule.

My mom (who raised 4 kids) was in town when the twins were born. I remember telling her that we were going to wake one when the other woke....and let me tell you, she looked at me like I was nuts. "Never wake a sleeping baby" - but I say "Always wake a sleeping twin"

Here is what you need to know:

1. Eat, Play, Sleep Twin Schedule

We never worried about a time-based schedule when the babies were born. Instead, we focused on the eat, play, sleep schedule. Meaning - when the babies woke up, we fed them, changed them, played with them, and then back to sleep they went. This repeats itself about every 3 hours in the beginning.

2. Wake Them At the Same Time

You read that right. If you want your twins to sleep at the same time, you need to wake them up at the same time [see my note above]. This was something we continued to do until the girls were 18 months.

3. Feed, Feed, Feed!

With primarily bottle feeding, we were able to make sure they were getting enough to eat at each meal and each day to help with their sleep cycles (hint: hungry babies wake more often). We used to have to strip them down to their diapers or rub their feet when I nursed them to help keep them awake, but once we moved to syringe and bottle feeding this was no longer an issue.

4. Establish a Daily Wake Time

Once we found our groove, we worked to establish a morning "wake time" which would start our day. A feeding at 5:30am was not helping anyone. I was rarely able to go back to sleep, but it was too early to officially start our day. We opted to start a bit later in the beginning (knowing that it would likely creep earlier). This was easier when we started to track item #3 and make sure they were getting enough to eat in the day so it would help them sleep for longer stretches.

BONUS - As the twins got bigger, this would also help with their bathroom schedule. Hint: they would have a dirty diaper 30-40 minutes after they ate, which makes it much easier to plan outings without having to juggle diaper blowouts and changing them on the go as often.