Routines, They Are A Must! How We Got Our Babies On One

So tired, exhausted, spent, no energy…definitely not thinking straight. Sound familiar?? Because that’s all of the things that we were feeling as brand new parents. The last thing on our radar that would’ve been the most helpful was as simple as one word… routine.

 As parents of twin girls, Katelyn and I realized how tremendously important it was to get both of them on the same routine. Twins, like the old Double mint gum commercial said, are double the fun and the flip side, double the stress. This rings especially true if you have two little ones on opposite schedules.

 

When Katelyn and I first found out there were two little beans growing in her belly, we were extremely overwhelmed. I can remember a specific instance when Katelyn cried and asked me how she would ever be able to get to the grocery store with not just one but TWO little beings that would need her attention.

Even the thought of small household chores were so daunting because we really had no idea how to accomplish them as brand spanking new parents let alone while I was at work and Katelyn was by herself. That’s why a routine became so important to us, it would allow us to complete these tasks.

 

BABIES NEED ROUTINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Literally can not add enough exclamation points!)

 

As new parents, its often so easy to lose sight of our old routines that helped to get things done when we thought we had a busy life, and not implement new ones now that we truly have a busy life. Toss those useful and helpful thoughts to the wind and just wing it- so says your tired, exhausted and spent brain cells.

This is a HUGE mistake!!!!

 Routines are life when you become a parent, especially with TWINS! As new parents, Katelyn and I were winging it for the first 6 weeks. We thought we did our homework, we thought we were prepared but we were sadly mistaken.

It was extremely easy to slip into a routine in which we allowed the babies to dictate our lives. As sweet as those chunky cheeks were, we needed to regain our sanity.

 

Our lives quickly became an endless cycle of feedings and naps and diapers. But it all seemed so random, we felt like we would feed them then maybe put them down for a nap or maybe not, and bedtime….oooh baby, now that was a whole other beast. For the longest time we were unable to read our girls signs that said “PUT ME TO BED, I AM EXHAUSTED!”

 Some nights we would put them in bed at 8 p.m., other nights 8:45 p.m. and sometimes we just put them to bed when they showed the first sign of sleepiness. We were just so unsure of what to do!

That’s when we decided to do more research and look into how we could get the girls on a routine. Within a week we felt like some semblance of life had taken hold. Suddenly we could complete regular household tasks that felt impossible prior to implementing a routine.

We were even able to sneak in workouts! Everyone has that thing that helps keep them balanced, working out is ours.

 

Now always keep in mind, routines are merely guidelines. You cannot treat these as concrete, live or die rules. They cant be written in stone because, lets face it, we are humans and so are our little ones. This means we have to be flexible.

 

Anything that can and will happen. Your babies are going to get teeth, have belly aches, and sometimes just downright not feel very good. This is where flexibility comes into play. During these trying times for your babies, they will not be receptive of your routine and may just want to be held. This is OKAY, and once it passes the routine will be able to be followed again.

• Minimal and easiest step first! We started by keeping track of our “routine” or lack there of, for one day. This helped to put into perspective just how out of control our lives had become and where best to start
• Once you’ve done this, you can start meeting your obstacle head on!
• Patience is a virtue! This is going to take Anything worth doing takes time and effort but the fruits of your labors will pay off in dividends! Don’t give up when you start feeling frustrated-You can do it!!!

 

A few things…

• It’s never too early to start! Studies have found that babies can begin a routine as early as 6 weeks. Katelyn and I wish we would have known to start our girls earlier rather than later, so our policy is as long as they’re receptive, earlier is best!
• Consistency is key. Once you start a routine, you must remain vigilant in being consistent. In order for your baby to learn his/her new routine, they must have consistency. This means both partners have gone on board and stick to the plan!

 

Okay, lets develop that routine!!

• The first thing you will want to do is track in a simple spiral notebook or a tracking app what you’ve been doing for 2-3 days. When bedtime has been, wake ups, feedings, how much they ate, how long between wake ups and naps, etc. This will help you to gauge where to start!
• Feeding the babies simultaneously is a MUST. If you breastfeed, the football hold (where you have their bodies back by your side and the baby facing your breast) works the best. If you prefer to feed one at a time that is TOTALLY fine! But bottle-feed the other one while you breastfeed. Make sure to switch each time, and which breast you used because one breast may be a better supplier than the other, and one baby may be a more aggressive suckler than the other.
• IF one baby wakes to feed, WAKE.THE.OTHER.BABY. and feed them, too! Ever hear of that saying “Never wake a sleeping baby?” Well mama and dada, this saying does not apply when you have two! This will prevent you from feeling like all you do is feed a baby!
• NAPS, NAPS, BEDTIME….get those babies sleeping at the same time! Pay attention to their wake windows and sleepy cues! Don’t know what is the appropriate wake window for your baby or certain sleepy cues? Check out our “How we got our babies sleeping through the night” post for that information!
• There are certain “sleepy time” associations and tricks as we call them that you can use to help your baby(ies) know its time for bed. Black out curtains, noise machines, books, and tubby time to name a few, can help. Our “How we got our babies sleeping through the night” post discusses this information as well!

So there it is, guys! How to implement the routine that will save your lives and make you feel not only human again, but in somewhat control of your life! Happy mama and dada=happy household and babes!