Baby Schedules

Everyday I get asked how I do it. "How do you handle twins when I can not even handle my one?" I think this is a dumb question. What am I supposed to do, not take care of one? When you have two babies you just have to take care of them both-you don't really get a choice. But I do know one thing: having a schedule with twins for me is KEY! Since the girls were born, I have kept a pretty strict schedule. It is hard to remember sometimes that they are two seperate babies but for the most part, the girls have ate, slept, and played at the same time, TOGETHER-which has saved me numerous hours of sleep and work. Of course, as they have grown older, I have had to switch around naps and bottles according to their needs but they always do everything together. Right now, they are taking two naps and drinking 4 bottles a day. But I can see that they are starting to not want that second bottle so at some point, I am going to switch it around so they won't be starving by lunch. That is a big factor to scheduling for twins-you have to go with their needs or it will never work.

Some people think I am nuts because I rarely go away from our schedule. I find that when I do, the babies are cranky and do not eat or sleep well. This might be to my detriment when they get older but I think it is the parent's responsibility to make sure that your baby knows what they are going to do during the day. It gives the baby a sense of security knowing exactly what is going to happen. Not to mention, that it makes it 1000x easier when they are newborns. Here is what we do during the day:

6:30-7 A.M: Wake-up for the day; 6 oz bottle
7-8:15-Playtime
8:15-8:45-Breakfast
8:45-9:00-get dressed; read books
9-10:15 Naptime
10:15-11:00-Playtime
11-6 ozs (but they are really eating about 2-3 now)
12:15-Lunchtime
12:45-2 Playtime
2-3:15 Naptime
3:15-4 Playtime (depending on how cranky they wakeup we might have a snack)
4-6 ozs
4:15-5 Play with daddy; most of the time we take walks outside
5-6 play with daddy
6-dinner
6:45-7:15 Bathtime (we love bathes!)
7:30-6 ozs and bedtime

This is what we do pretty much everyday over and over. If I go out such as if I need to go grocery shopping or want to go somewhere, I do it during one of their playtimes. I try to never go out during their naps or even when they are supposed to eat. It's hard feeding two babies on the go! On the weekends, we have a lot of leeway. Since daddy is with us and he can help with feeding and crankiness, we go to big sister's soccer games, grocery shopping, out to eat, etc...

I think having a schedule has really helped my children to be such good little girls! :) Hopefully, I can make this happen with any other children I have.

Look at these beautiful girls!!