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What do I do now? Newborn Twin Schedules

Newborn twin schedules 

When I was expecting twins I started to think hard about my twin schedules.  I didn’t want to have one twin sleeping and the other awake.  I knew I had to be intentional in my planning.

Now that I am raising twins I am so glad I took this time to think through the schedule!  I don’t have one baby eating while the other is sleeping.  Our days run well.

I really like reading other parent’s feeding schedule and sleeping schedule, especially for that first year.  I like to see if I can be more efficient in anything, if they have any good ideas I should try to implement in our lives, or if there is anything else I can learn about baby sleep.

It can be comforting during times of mommy-doubt to see that other people are doing things similar to what we are.  (If other parents’ days look like ours, I can’t be the worst mom ever, right?)  It also helps when things are just not working to see what works for others and get some new ideas.

When the kids are little, the schedule is soooo important.  A good routine can be the difference between everyone being fussy and crying all day, and having a great day.  I also know that in the early days of a new baby everything can be so chaotic.  Having some form of routine to follow gives me a sense of control (even though it is usually all in my head), which makes me feel better about our days.

If you want to learn how to put your twins on a schedule this will help—> How To Get Twins on a Schedule

Newborn twin schedules from a real twin mom. Get your twins sleeping and eating at the same time to help your family thrive. #babywise #newborntwin #newborntwinschedule #newbornschedule #twinschedule #newbornsleep #newbornbreastfeedingschedule #newborneatingschedule #twinsleepschedule #twinnapschedule #infanttwins #babytwinschedule Team-Cartwright.com

In the hopes of helping out another twin parent googling away as I have (and probably will do in the future), here are the schedules I used for the girls in their first few months.  These are the bare bones, eating and goal nap times.

Newborn Twin Schedules

1 month old

Picture of twin babies sleeping facing each other on a twin nursing pillow

Honestly, it was still a lot of on-demand nursing and sleeping for these new twin babies.  We had a lot of people coming to visit, so I didn’t try to implement anything.

We did have a daily wake time of 8am for the first nursing of the day, and loosely followed a 2.5-3 hour schedule after that.  I didn’t let the girls go longer than 3 hours between feedings.  (Yes, I broke the ‘never wake a sleeping baby’ rule. Wake those babies up to eat!)

This isn’t too soon to start a bedtime routine for twins.  This will help in the future as you help your twins sleep.

2 months old

newborn twins sleeping on nursing pillow with foreheads touching
8am: Official wake up and nurse
9am: Nap
10:45am: Up and nurse
12pm: Nap
1:15pm: Up and nurse
2:15pm: Nap
4pm: Up and nurse
6:15pm: Nurse
7:15-9pm: Nap and cluster feed as needed
9pm: Upstairs to nurse and into bed
Middle of the night: nurse as needed, usually 2-3 times
At two months it was much easier to feed my twins at the same time, and you can see this is a breastfeeding twins schedule.  It works for formula feeding twins as well.
If you need help feeding newborn twins at the same time, read this —> How To Breastfeed Twins: The Logistics of Tandem Nursing

3 months old

smiling 3 month old twins with heads next to each other
7:45am: Official wake up and nurse
8:45am: Nap
10:30am: Up and nurse
11:30am: Nap
12:45pm: Up
1:30pm: Nurse
2pm: Nap
4:30pm: Up and nurse
5:30-6pm: Nap off and on in bouncer
6:30pm: Nurse then to bed
9pm: Dream feed
Middle of the night: nurse once, usually between 4am and 5am.
(Around 15 weeks was when we switched from cluster feeds as needed to the dream feed.)

Babywise moms will probably notice I took some liberties with the eat, play, sleep cycle around the middle of the day.  I knew I wanted the girls to nap at the same time as Ben as soon as possible.

In order for that to happen, I set that afternoon nap time (our anchor nap) and worked nursing around it.  I made the middle of the day nap a shorter one and did nurse the girls right before the longer afternoon nap.

That middle of the day time is also when we usually get out of the house, meaning the girls got catnaps in the car.  Not always ideal, but it got us closer to the goal of everyone having the same afternoon nap time.

Don’t be afraid to work on these sleep times with your twins sharing a room—> Sleep Training Twins in the Same Room)

Text: 1,2, and 3 month schedules  Picture: Smiling 3 month old twin girls giggling at each other

So there it is!  Three months of how we tried to go about our days.  Of course, every day wasn’t perfect.  If the girls were hungry earlier I fed them earlier.  If they were tired the slept more.

Having a routine helped make those first few months of having twins so much easier.  I knew when they would be hungry, which made being able to get out of the house possible.  The girls also started getting into the rhythm of naps and started taking longer naps.

It takes effort to try to use a schedule, but those efforts are so worth it (especially when those babies become toddlers!).  We are already seeing it pay off with good naps and happy babies!

-Kim
picture of sleeping baby twins with text overlay Baby Twin Tips What You Need To Know To Thrive In The First Year With Twins

picture of twins sitting against a wall with text overlay: Toddler Twins Tips How to handle the unique challenges having twin toddlers can bring
The Ultimate Resource Guide to Breastfeeding Twins. This is a must read for twin moms and those pregnant with twins. Learn about how to keep up milk supply, the best nursing positions, how to tandem feed, the best breastfeeding supplies and nursing pillows. Even learn how to breastfeed twins all alone (or with a toddler around!) #BreastfeedingTwins #NursingTwins #MilkSupply #NursingPillow #TandemFeeding Team-Cartwright.com
Twin Sleep: Your guide for the first year. Everything you need to know about getting your twins to sleep. Twin beds, twin cribs, naps, nighttime sleep, safety. Help from a real twin mom. #twins #baby #naps #sleep #eatplaysleep #twinnap #twinsleep #twincribs #safesleep Team-Cartwright.com

More Resources

We know there is so much more to taking care of newborn twins than just attempting a schedule.  Here are some more resources to help you out with your newborn twins.

Breastfeeding Twins: The Ultimate Resource Guide

Taking Care of Twins Alone: What To Do When They Both Cry

How To Get Out Alone With Twins

Twin Sleep: Answers To All Your Questions

Twin Gear: Essentials on a Budget

Twin Schedule Tips

These resources will help you get your twins on the same schedule.

Newborn Twin Schedules. Sample schedules for newborn twins and tips to get your twins on a schedule. #twins #newborntwins #twinschedule #newborntwinschedule #babywise #babywiseschedule #babywisetwins #eatplaysleep #eatwakesleep Team-Cartwright.com

And if you are a new twin mom (or still in the pregnancy stage) and have questions on setting up your twin schedule, feel free to email me!  I would love to help: [email protected].

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Erin R.

Monday 24th of July 2017

Hi Kim,

I have 13 week old twins girls and I'm curious about your 3 month schedule! When you got them at up at 12:45 pm and then nursed before their nap, did you wake them or did you wait for them to wake on their own?

I'm thinking of trying things this way so I can line my girls' first afternoon nap up their 2 yo brother's nap, but I have one girl that seems to need much more sleep than her sister. Sister wakes up on her own but I feel terrible waking up the other one when I know she would sleep for a lot longer. It's so hard to sync their schedules!

Thanks for any advice and thanks for your blog!

Erin

kimcartwright

Monday 24th of July 2017

Hi Erin! I would wake my girls at this stage. I know it is so hard to wake them up when they are actually sleeping. But my primary goal was to line up that afternoon nap time (the 2pm nap) with big brother's. So I did everything I could to make that the best nap possible. Which sadly meant waking the girls at times. I can say now that it was completely worth it. All three of my kids nap during that afternoon nap time and have for over a year now. It is hard work to get those naps lined up and working, but it pays off! Another thing that helped me was remembering how quickly some of these naps are dropped (relatively speaking). If one girl needed to rest a little longer I let her. (An extra ten or fifteen minutes didn't seem to hurt the goal.) If one woke up early, I rolled with it if need be. But that 2pm nap got all my best and hardest efforts. Giving myself a break on the others helped save my sanity. ;)

Does that answer your question? You're doing a great job. Those early months are exhausting, but all your work will be worth it.

Kimberly Cartwright

Saturday 9th of July 2016

Yay! I'm so glad it helped! Thanks for reading it. It is always helpful to see what is coming up next! :)

Cole

Friday 8th of July 2016

This is super helpful, thanks! I also LOVE googling what other people were doing at the time, so I started posting my own twin's schedules. Hopefully it will help someone else out who is behind me. Keep posting about your twins - I love reading about what's around the corner for me!

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