The Evolution of Our Routine

Feeding on Demand or Scheduled Feedings? When I read about these terms during my baby reading, I was convinced there was no way I would be feeding on demand. Like so many other aspects of my life I figured I would get this part organized and on a schedule; the Turkettes thought differently! Before I knew it, they were calling the shots!

Feeding Routine #1:
I'm using the term "routine" loosely here. I had no idea what I was doing and I certainly had no idea when the girls were going to feed next! The girls breast fed, followed by a supplementation of formula. This was recommended by the pediatrician at the hospital since the girls lost so much weight and we stuck to this plan. I wasn't really sure how long to breast feed for or how much formula to give them to top them up, so we just sort of winged it! Due to their birth weight the girls had to eat every 3 hours, and not 3 hours from when they finished eating last, 3 hours from when they started feeding. Throughout the night we would set our alarm and wake up from a dead sleep to feed the girls, unless their crying woke us up sooner! The only thing that made this stage manageable was knowing that when we were woken up at 4am for a feeding we could watch Team Canada compete in the World Juniors!!

Feeding Routine #2:
To save time and shorten the feeding length, tandem breast feeding. Yes, that means feeding breast feeding two babies at one time.

Love these little feet!

While only possible if I had help to "set up", this routine definitely helped Shawn and I get a bit more sleep. The girls were still feeding every 2.5-3 hours but we started to try to stretch it out a little longer in the middle of the night.

Feeding Routine #3
Girls feeding every 3 hours during the day, then after the 7pm feeding we try to stretch the next feeding until around 11pm. At this point we would do a "top up" feeding and give the girls more formula then usual in an attempt to stretch out our sleep. At this point the girls had gained back birth weight so we could let them wake us up to feed in the middle of the night and no longer set our alarm! Alleluia!

Current Routine
Whenever the girls wake up in the morning, usually we hear them cooing in their cribs (yes plural, they now sleep in their own crib). I open their blinds, say good morning to the girls then move Abigail over in her crib to make room for Molly to join her. I then sing some good morning songs to the girls and talk to them! Then while their bottles warm I drink a cup of tea while chatting with them in their crib. From this feeding on, we feed the girls every 3 hours during the day. We then do the "top up" feeding at the end of the day and the girls now sleep a good 5-6 hours straight. (We almost feel human again) The best part about our current routine is that we now can totally read the clues our girls are giving us; we can tell when they are hungry, we can tell when they are getting tired and when they are fussy, we know to always check their diaper as our first line of attack!!

Best Advice I Got:
They sleep = You sleep 

Twin Tips:
In the beginning, one down, both down!

The age-old and popular saying "Never wake a sleeping baby" doesn't apply to twins. In order to get their sleeping and eating schedules synchronized, there will be times when you simply have to wake one to do so.