Routine schmoutine
Before I had the boys I had no plan to have a strict routine. I will admit I read ‘Contented House With Twins’ by Gina Ford but mainly because I like reading and friends who had already had babies told me I should but to be honest I was quite literally the most naive person who ever did get pregnant. I honestly thought what could be so hard?? I was a first time mum who really didn’t listen when people told me ‘babies need to be fed every 4 hours’ or in my case actually every 2 hours for the first couple of weeks and when I say every 2 hours I mean exactly that! Every single 2 hours day and night. When I think back I can’t even really remember much of the first few weeks which makes me sad it is such a cycle of feeding and changing that I didn’t hold them and cuddle them as much as I should have….
Breast or Bottle?
I tried breast feeding them both for one whole week. I actually loved the experience of breast feeding and the feeling of it but it was so tiring that I forgot I was enjoying it. Dougie would feed very often for a short time and Fletch would feed for 45 minutes meaning I was a constant revolving milking machine. My breasts never seemed to get that ‘milk coming in’ engorged look that people talk about and I could see my boys shrinking before my eyes they just weren’t getting enough milk. By day 7 when the midwife came to visit they had both lost 14% of their birth weight so straight to hospital we went and the doctors there recommended me to try adding in formula and I never looked back! Once I switched to formula it was like a weight lifted and I could relax and except help from everyone else to feed them.
So it begins
So I guess a routine starts automatically from the beginning with regards to the feeding but once they have reached a safe weight and you can start feeding on demand I suppose lots of Mums then just chill out and let the baby fit in with their lives. With twins its different, I can’t really say why because I only know having twins but you soon realise that they need to be in sync with one another for you to get any SLEEP. I did not know how much I valued sleep until these little guys appeared in my life. Once I realised how badly I need sleep to function thats when my slight obsession with their routine began.
The Routine
They have only ever had one nap a day and always in the morning and always at the same time I am very strict that they do not sleep after their afternoon milk at 3pm… yes they still have milk in the afternoon, I don’t know if they should have stopped this by now but they ask for it so I can’t stop! Whatever we do in the daytime I am always home by 3pm for their milk. We have lunch between 12 and 1pm every single day and dinner at 5pm. After dinner we have playtime, we call this Crazy Hour. They run around and scream ALOT and at 6pm every day I put on CBeebies, they don’t really watch it but I like it being on in the background so they know its nearly bedtime. At 20 past 6 when In The Night Garden starts (God Bless Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy) we go upstairs for their bath. Once they have bathed its nappy on, PJs on (always Dougie first) and milk. They sit on the bed and watch ITNG while drinking their milk and as soon as they have finished I give them their Dadum (Dummy) and put them in their sleeping bags and straight into their cots and unless they are poorly I don’t see them again until between 6.30 and 7.30am the following morning.
I am aware that they are nearly two years old so some of this will have to change soon and I am trying not to panic about this (grimace face Emoji) The Dadum will have to go soon as well as the sleeping bag and even the milk will have to go once potty training starts. But for now I am continuing with this routine and enjoying my sleep!! 🙂
I will post updates when my routine changes and also I will be starting potty training soon with Dougie as I can tell he is nearly ready so hopefully I can post successful tips on that as well… Fingers crossed!….. (thinking positive thoughts)
NJ x
nicola jayne 