Twin Sleep
The last month has been all about twins and multiples routine. Twin are my thing as you all know, the 7pm to 7am Sleeping Baby Routine originally developed for twin care more than 20 years ago. The book has a dedicated chapter for twin routine and sleep.
I’m working with a couple of twin parents at the moment taking them through the developing routine over several weeks. One set of twins were born very premature and have only just got up to 3kg and 3.5kg at week ten. Some might think it impossible to start a routine with premature babies born at such a low weight when actually implementing a routine is often easier and supports growth. Being born ahead of term makes establishing a routine often easier than establishing a routine with a single baby born at 40 weeks. Premature babies will do little else than eat and sleep for the first 2-3 weeks giving an opportunity to start a routine with just a feeding and digestion plan, learning basic techniques with feeding before wake windows comes into play, pardon the pun!
A twin routine can be exactly the same workload as a single baby if you tandem feed, tandem feeding keeps two babies on the same timings which gives you the same down time and sleep. If you start tandem feeding in the early weeks when your babies are taking smaller feeds and have little movement, you’ll learn how to handle two babies as they grow and move. It’s also a beautiful experience, there is something so special about the connection and bond when feeding two babies whether that is bottle or breast.
My Product of the month
My Brest friend twin feeding pillow. This pillow is great for back support and only slightly bigger than the single pillow so not big and bulking. Check out my tandem feeding video on instagram.
Self care with twins.
There is no doubt that even with an efficient routine, handling two babies is hard work and your days are busy which makes looking after yourself even more important. The good news is that twins in the first two weeks especially, are mostly sleeping and settle easily after feeds if fed until full and gas free. This is when you should really make use of recovery time, go to bed early and have one long daily nap. You can have skin to skin naps too!
Charmian’s Top Tip
In the months running up to your due date, fill the freezer with easy cook meals so your cooking workload is halved. Feeding yourself well is as important for recovery as sleep.
What Not To Eat While Breastfeeding