Structuring naps for twins

[loadsanappies]

Hi All,
I'm hoping for some hints & tips.
My twins are 11 weeks old (5 wks prem, so 6 wks old corrected).
Along with most things about being a new mum of two, I'm really confused about how, when and if to structure their nap times. I have them on a pretty good feeding routine & they now have a bath/bedtime ritual - all of which works most of the time (although no signs of going through the night just yet). However, as they are becoming more alert and spending more of the day awake & "playing" (well, lying on their baby gym staring at their toys!), I'm thinking I should start to give them defined naps. Question is - how ? At the moment, they just fall asleep as and when they are ready but I am worried this will lead to exhaustion as they spend more time awake. I'm also torn between ideas I have read - some say you should actually "put them to bed" for naps in a pitch black room (doesn't this confuse day with night for them ?), others say pop them in their pram and let them sleep there for naps. If this is the way to go, how long after feeding should I put them down for a nap and for how long ? Its weird, I am finding this the most confusing element of all but I'd be really glad of any tips/personal experiences that you might have...
Yours, hopefully....
Em
x

[totaleclipse]

I used to always put mine in thier cot for naps, with the curtains closed, I think that way they learn that its time to sleep when they are in thier cot, rather than falling aslepp anywhere, dts are 3 now and always go straight to sleep when they are put into bed, also (some people think its mean) I never had mobiles over cots, or any other cot toys, apart from a teddy each, as I think they could confuse bedtime for playtime, and to ensure a bit of peace yourself try to get thier nap times at the same time

[throckenholt]

mine pretty much followed the 2 hours rule - never awake for more than a two hour stretch - if we went past that it was hell. Sometimes they didn't make it to 2 hours.

As far as routine - we put them in their cots with their sleeping bags (or balnkets when they were little), pulled the curtains, told them it was time to sleep etc. Basically just set the environment to tell them it was sleep time.

You can pick whatever "routine" suits you - ie in the pram (but beware you will have to change that later), in the cot - or whereever - just keep the same routine.

Also - try and keep them in sync - when one goes to bed so does the other.

[loadsanappies]

Yikes - better get on and make my curtains quickly then! None of our rooms have them & the twins arrived so early, I didn't have chance to make them up beforehand. I think the time may be upon us. Thanks for the tips.

Am I the only one that finds this incredibly hard work ? This weekend, I hired a nanny for 48 hrs so my other half & I could celebrate his birthday knowing they were well looked after. She seems to have undone all the work I put in to structuring their days - and they have go so used to being picked up and fussed they have cried most of the morning today as I despirately tried to make up bottles/wash clothes & do all the other bits and pieces round the house....it's been nothing like fun...

[throckenholt]

it is tough in the early days. I really suffered if I got out of the 2 hour routine - they were usually fine for an hour or so and then just screamed in unison for a couple of hours. My mum didn't believe me until she witnessed it once.

People probably thought I was anal for insisting on being home at certain times of the day - but I was the one who had to live with the consequences if I didn't do that.

So stick to what works for you.

It does get better though.

[frumpygrumpy]

Hi loadsa, I found it incredibly hard to get my twins on the same routine at first. They both had routines which worked well for them but I just couldn't get them sychronised! I did like throck, kept doing the same thing at the same time every day and it came eventually. I too napped mine in their cots so I was home everyday too. Being honest mine were rarely out in the early days as once I'd nipped to and from nursery for my DD there was always so much going on at home that I couldn't get out.

I also laid mine down after a couple of hours to keep them fresh and rarely let their day naps go on for more than a hour. As they grow you can cut back on the morning one(s) and enourage a bigger lunchtime or afternoon nap (maybe 1.5 or 2 hours) as this is the one they will hopefully keep as they grow.

I didn't find blackout blinds confused night and day for them at all. As long as you limit the day time naps to naps and not huuuuge sleeps their bodies should save up the big sleep for nighttime.

You might find they slot into a routine and then they change a little and your routine has to change a little too and it can keep going like that for most of the first year.

Good for you making time to go out and enjoy! Shame your carefully planned routine got knocked out, I am particular about stuff like that and I found it hard to hand over to anyone else (and still do).

[loadsanappies]

Well, I won't be doing it again in a hurry (handing over to someone else, I mean!). I'll get the sewing machine out tomorrow & get cracking. Off to Mothercare World just now to get cot/sleeping bags etc etc...

[luckylady74]

hi - I'm new to the multiple section - my twins turned 2 last week and they still have a 2 hr nap in the day and 12 hours at night so this is the only area i feel i can comment - unlike behaviour and eating!
I bit the bullet at about 4 mths and did a strict routine - as in waking them up if they'd slept too long - even carrying one down the street to keep them awake while pushing the buggy and trying to keep an eye on my then 3 yr old. i just found that if they slept at the same time then sanity usually prevailed.
I think up to about 7 months it was 3 naps - 1hr in morning, about 2 at lunchtime and 1/2 hr before tea. I dropped the shortest first and then the am at about a year. They went in the pushchair for morning because of the preschool run, bed in dark room for lunch because i knew that's the one i wanted to last longest and buggy for afternoon because my ds1 needed to get outside by that point.
Mine were born in january and i'd put their snowsuits on and cram them in a single pram - this and fresh air seemed to send them to sleep straight away!
I swapped to a bottle for their last feed at 4 mths so the bed routine came from that as they'd fall asleep on the breast before that- i seem to remember rather a lot of crying for 2 nights - drowning out ds1's stories and then we've not had a peep at bedtime since.
I do know that at each stage , like weaning, i got out a pen and paper to work out where i'd fit in lunch, milk, nap and school runs - to some extent they had to fit in with the rest of the family.
this has been a lovely trip down memory lane -and i do think having twins gets easier at every stage - but then i always think fondly of them when they're asleep!
good luck

[glamourbadger]

I did pretty much the same as everyone below. To begin with I would keep them up for no more than 2 hrs, mine were also prem and would get tired very easily. I then moved to 3 sleeps a day - around 8:30am for an hour, 11:30am for 2.5hrs and then about 45 mins later in the afternoon. The times gradually moved forward as they got bigger. I dropped the afternoon sleep at about 6 months. At 9 months they now sleep for 30 mins at 9:30am and for 2 hours from about 12:45.

I was also initially really sceptical about putting them down in a dark room (night/day confusion) but it has worked really well. Once they got the idea that cot and dark = sleep time they started to go down with no fuss and have done ever since. Like totaleclipse I also have no toys in their cots. It sounds mean, but they are there to sleep!

Putting them in their cot and shutting the door also gives you a good break. I use the morning sleep to have a shower and get ready for the day. The two hours I have every lunchtime keeps me sane, lets me relax, have some lunch and catch up on admin and chores.

Poor you with the nanny! I had similar experiences early on - it felt like the break wasn't worth all the hassle. It does get easier in time, things seem a lot less of a struggle and the babies cope better with change. Sounds like you're doing a fab job though .