When you take your twins home from the hospital, your main concern for the next few weeks is probably going to be getting some weight on them. Born three weeks earlier than their counterparts, 37 week-old twins are considered full-term in the sense that their organs are all developed and they can function without assistance, but they are much skinnier than the average 40-weeker. While packing some baby fat onto their little bodies is a worthwhile goal, this is also mostly a function of time. There are a couple other things, aside from worrying about weight, that you need to start doing from day one with twins and multiples. Schedules and sleep; two essential habits for twins that no-one told us about.
Schedules
Most parents of twins and multiples manage their hectic days with scheduled feedings, naps, and bedtimes. Following a schedule means there is a light at the end of the tunnel for you, a much needed down time and return to sanity. While your twins won't be ready to handle a true schedule for feeding and sleeping for some months (look to introduce bedtime between 12 and 16 weeks, and naptimes at 4 months), tandem feeding will make the transition to daily schedules easier.
Tandem Feeding-- In the first few weeks after bringing the twins home, they will be generally sleepy. Now is the time to get their schedules in sync. You may not be able to follow a timed schedule for feeding the twins right now, but you can save time by feeding them both. Whenever one twin is hungry, feed them both--even if the other is sleeping. In the first few weeks, it will be easy to get them back to sleep, and getting them in sync will help you create schedules later. It will also lessen your workload somewhat and give you some recovery time.
Sleep
Sleep is incredibly important for newborns, and remains important as your children grow. Newborns up until four months of age need about 16 hours of sleep a day, and while they are too young during this time to be sleep trained, you can make sleep training easier by setting up the following good habits from the beginning (see "Healthy Sleep, Happy Twins" and "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" on For More Information).
With all babies, sleep begets sleep, so if they are getting the sleep they need, they will be easier to have fall asleep. Two hours of awake time is the upper threshold for newborns up to four months of age, and their brains really need to sleep to process, recover, and develop after being awake. If you keep your twins up beyond that upper limit, they quickly become overtired, overstimulated, and very difficult to get to sleep. With two babies, when one slips into being overtired, it is easy for the other to become overtired as well, especially when they have just one caregiver (you only have two arms!). When that happens, the rest of the day can quickly become a train wreck. Hence the essential nature of having and following a good sleep training plan from day one with twins.
Set your newborn down to sleep when he's drowsy, not asleep-- this is essential for teaching your babies how to fall asleep on their own (how we wish someone had told us this from the beginning!). Your twins are probably going to fall asleep during feedings for the first two to three weeks--until they reach their 40 week due date. During this time, you'll have to wake them during the feeding t o ensure they finish filling their little tummies. Start now to take them off the breast or bottle while they are awake but drowsy, rather than asleep (of course make sure they've eaten enough), then put them down for their nap in their crib or bassinet.
Introduce sleeptime associations-- while it is too early to make a schedule, it is not to early to start bedtime and naptime routines that signal to your twins that sleeptime is coming. Introducing a safe, breathable blankie that you keep next to you for your scent, starting a white noise player or lullaby music, and bringing them to a quiet, dim bedroom can all become tools that later on mean "it's time to settle down and go to sleep".
Schedules
Most parents of twins and multiples manage their hectic days with scheduled feedings, naps, and bedtimes. Following a schedule means there is a light at the end of the tunnel for you, a much needed down time and return to sanity. While your twins won't be ready to handle a true schedule for feeding and sleeping for some months (look to introduce bedtime between 12 and 16 weeks, and naptimes at 4 months), tandem feeding will make the transition to daily schedules easier.
Tandem Feeding-- In the first few weeks after bringing the twins home, they will be generally sleepy. Now is the time to get their schedules in sync. You may not be able to follow a timed schedule for feeding the twins right now, but you can save time by feeding them both. Whenever one twin is hungry, feed them both--even if the other is sleeping. In the first few weeks, it will be easy to get them back to sleep, and getting them in sync will help you create schedules later. It will also lessen your workload somewhat and give you some recovery time.
Sleep
Sleep is incredibly important for newborns, and remains important as your children grow. Newborns up until four months of age need about 16 hours of sleep a day, and while they are too young during this time to be sleep trained, you can make sleep training easier by setting up the following good habits from the beginning (see "Healthy Sleep, Happy Twins" and "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" on For More Information).
With all babies, sleep begets sleep, so if they are getting the sleep they need, they will be easier to have fall asleep. Two hours of awake time is the upper threshold for newborns up to four months of age, and their brains really need to sleep to process, recover, and develop after being awake. If you keep your twins up beyond that upper limit, they quickly become overtired, overstimulated, and very difficult to get to sleep. With two babies, when one slips into being overtired, it is easy for the other to become overtired as well, especially when they have just one caregiver (you only have two arms!). When that happens, the rest of the day can quickly become a train wreck. Hence the essential nature of having and following a good sleep training plan from day one with twins.
Set your newborn down to sleep when he's drowsy, not asleep-- this is essential for teaching your babies how to fall asleep on their own (how we wish someone had told us this from the beginning!). Your twins are probably going to fall asleep during feedings for the first two to three weeks--until they reach their 40 week due date. During this time, you'll have to wake them during the feeding t o ensure they finish filling their little tummies. Start now to take them off the breast or bottle while they are awake but drowsy, rather than asleep (of course make sure they've eaten enough), then put them down for their nap in their crib or bassinet.
Introduce sleeptime associations-- while it is too early to make a schedule, it is not to early to start bedtime and naptime routines that signal to your twins that sleeptime is coming. Introducing a safe, breathable blankie that you keep next to you for your scent, starting a white noise player or lullaby music, and bringing them to a quiet, dim bedroom can all become tools that later on mean "it's time to settle down and go to sleep".
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