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Let’s get into it…time for twin talk! If you’re reading this, you’re probably fitting in one of the following categories:

1. You’re pregnant with twins and wondering how you’ll survive it
2. You’re in the throes of year one and wondering if you WILL survive it
3. You’re nosy and wonder how ANYONE survives it

I’m here to break down my experience with year one – what I can remember, what worked and didn’t work, what I would recommend and avoid. Let me start with this: you will make it through that first year. It’s going to be one of, if not the, hardest thing you’ve ever done – but I promise you, we all make it.

Previous Blogs To Start With

I have a few other blogs you may want to start with to prepare for your twin journey.

Everything you Need to Have for Twins: My ultimate shopping guide for a shower, sprinkle, or to buy yourself. Consider it your bookmarked one stop shop for what you need to find. P.S. – always appreciate you using my links to support June Diaries!

Singleton vs. Twin Pregnancy: My experiences and difficulties in my twin pregnancy. I wrote this in the second semester – trust when I say the third trimester was a whole other beast. My twins came right on the dot at 37 weeks, so I managed to hold them in there, even with a few scares along the way.

The First Two Months

Sleep Schedules

Ahhhhh….. the absolute whirlwind of newborn. It’s a true love it and hate it experience. So, let’s tackle the elephant in the room – no, you won’t sleep much. But yes, your body will adjust quickly. After we returned home from the hospital, I was getting anywhere from 2-4 hours of sleep each nights/day. I had a 20 month old daughter on top of two newborns… neither of which seemed to enjoy sleeping at the same time 😉

I followed a similar schedule with the twins that I did with my daughter when it came to feeding/sleeping. Those first two months, the plan was to feed every three hours(ish) during the day, and every four(ish) during the night. The first few weeks while I was recovering from my c-section, my husband Rick and I would sleep on our sectional, the twins in their two portable bassinets. Depending on how the babies were sleeping, sometimes I would feed one and then the other if I was attempting to breast feed, sometimes we’d give them both a bottle at the same time – every feed varied a bit.

After a few weeks when I had thrown in the towel on breastfeeding and we had relocated up to our bedroom with the two Halo bassinets, I got more in the routine of feeding them both bottles at the same time using the Twin Z Pillow. Going to say this right now- you absolutely need one of these. We used ours from Day 1 at home all the way up until their first birthday.

For the first probably 8-10 weeks we had two night feedings that would vary (after about a month I stopped waking them up and let them wake me up – and trust me, one always did). By the time I went back to work at 12 weeks old they both were down to one night waking, which seemed like a blessing.

As far as naps, for the first month the boys slept pretty much anytime they weren’t eating – and then, as all parents know, around 4 weeks old they “wake up” and begin to do more and require a more set sleep routine. We were MUCH better at nap schedules this go around than we were with Ana – we kind of had to be with another child in the house – so the boys were napping in their bassinets during the day starting at around 8 weeks old for the majority of their naps.

EATING

Personally – I never planned to breast feed exclusively, but I did do some the first two weeks before throwing in the towel. Breast feeding two is extremely hard and more than a full time job – there are a TON of resources on how to do it, and absolute applause to any mom who has that goal! It just wasn’t our personal journey.

We had two Baby Breeza machines (one that we had with Ana, and we were gifted another hand-me-down) – we needed two because the boys were on different formulas!

Surviving

The first few months of having ANY baby – one, two, ten – is all about surviving and conquering the day. The most important thing is that YOU are taken care of and recovering from childbirth, and that your babies are fed and changed. Most days, that’s all you may accomplish, but they are wins. Every day it gets a little easier and you become a little more accomplished at doing things two by two.

One thing I got asked a lot is what you do if it’s just you and they both are crying. I ran into this on about day two home. You quickly figure out who truly needs something, and who may just be crying because the other one is (this happens a lot), or is just crying to be a little bit dramatic. You take care of the one that is in the immediate need, and do the best you can. Truly that part never ends; you’ll always have four little hands pulling at you and only two of your own to take care of them. 🙂

I used to just joke… having twins is like having deja vu all day long. You do one thing and then just do it all over again immediately after! I promise, after a few weeks, you truly will feel like a pro. It won’t be easy and every one day may feel like ten, but then after they are drifting off you’ll realize what a truly fast blur it was. Before you know it…you’re out of newborn stage and into round two!

Months Two-Six

Sleep Schedule

This time frame was tough, sleep wise. We had our twins on a VERY strict sleep schedule for the most part – we went from four naps for awhile at two months, down to three naps, and finally down to two naps – I can’t recall the exact time frames, but day sleep was a bit of a monster to tackle. We transitioned the boys into their nursery and cribs around two and a half/three months. There came a point where just NO ONE was sleeping with all four of us being in the master bedroom, so this was the best move for us as a family.

After we were past the swaddle stage, we transitioned to using the Merlin Sleep Suit for a few months. We used the Merlin with Ana too – it worked for all of our kids. The boys used it for less time than she did, and they were then transitioned into Halo SleepSacks somewhere around five-six months. With every transition there was always one boy that was ready to move on before the other – we just followed their lead with who was sleeping well and who wasn’t.

Around six months we started officially sleep training the boys into falling asleep independently. I did a version of Ferber sleep training (aka a light cry it out) that worked for us, and within a few nights they both were sleeping at night independently. Honestly, they always tended to be pretty independent sleepers – WAY better than our daughter was.

Our boys took awhile to sleep through the night – they woke once during the night for a bottle right up to about six and a half months. It was either one or the other would always wake around 3-4, and then the other would. Then – out of the blue – one night they both slept through the night without asking for food, and then they NEVER did again. They would wake earlier – around 5:30/6:00 for awhile – but it was much nicer than going through the whole nighttime routine.

Highlights

Around five months we started on solids – purees and such – which the boys took to great. They have always and still do love eating! We slowly expanded their horizons as far as that goes over months five and six.

This is always when I started back to work and we began having all three kids home with a nanny during the day

Months six – twelve

Schedule

For most of this time frame we were down to just two naps a day and our schedule became a LOT more routine. Our days looked something like this when we dropped to two naps:

Around eleven months we started slowly dropping bottles. Our boys kind of started getting over them once they got into “real” food, so it was a pretty easy transition.

I will say – during this time frame we were very firm on keeping the nap schedule as regular as possible. I firmly think it’s how we have such good sleepers, and it’s SO important when you have two that they have a good idea of what to “expect” to come next. Sometimes it can be a drag (and very monotonous), but it’s overall a very short timeframe in the grand scheme of things and live now is much more adaptable than it was a year ago.

Highlights

Jake was our first crawler – he was on the move army crawling right at six months, early! Noah followed about a month later. Funnily enough, Noah was the first walker – right before their first birthday he began to take some steps, with Jake following in the weeks after.

This was a time frame where you began to just constantly chase and pull them off of EVERYTHING. Twins love to run in different directions as soon as they can. Trust me – you’ll soon miss the days when your twins just laid around all day. It quickly turns into a new kind of chaos once they are on the move!

The words starting coming around the first birthday – dada, mama, the basics – and plenty of other milestones. Pulling up, eating more and more food, playing together (and fighting!) – it all starts to happen towards the end of year one.

Biggest Takeaways

Here’s what I would let anyone know as they are preparing to have their beautiful twins:

• Routine, routine routine: I truly believe our babies were able to come such good, independent sleepers is because we had such a set schedule at every set of the way. We were flexible – every day looks different and you need to adjust – but having a general idea of what comes next helps EVERYONE get through the days.
• Make Sleep the Priority: Right in line with routine. In order to make the year the most enjoyable it can be, EVERYONE needs to be getting rest. It’s going to take awhile – months! – but focusing on making sleep the priority every day (set naps, bedtime routines, familiarity) will help. I highly recommend reading Taking Cara Babies blogs – she has great advice for how to set routines and plans that work for you and your family.
• Some Days you Thrive, some Days you Survive: Really that’s my motto for life in general 😉 But especially in motherhood with multiples. There are going to be some days that are just utter shit shows. Grit your teeth, get through it, and know tomorrow is another day.

I absolutely don’t miss year one – I was thrilled to move to more of a toddler stage – but there IS something so special and magical, especially with those first few months. It’s a blur, it’s exhausting, and most of your friends and coworkers just won’t get what you go through every day. They may never. But twin moms are just a different breed – you will get through it, you will become a better person for it, and your babies will be so, so lucky you are their mama!

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