Bath and Bedtime Routine for Newborn Twins and 3 year old.

I have been trying to find the best bath and bedtime routine.  Before the twins were born we had a lovely routine for Daisy.  It was a fun and calm time and we never had a battle with her going to bed.  She knew what was coming and we knew it worked and although I was tired it was a lovely end to the day. Her routine went along the lines of:

5.30pm
Dinner
Quiet TV programme - Peppa Pig, Ben & Holly, etc.
6.45pm
Bath, Teeth
7.10pm
Bed for cuddle and for us to read her a book
7.20pm
Daisy to look at a book
7.30pm
Lights out

As we enjoyed this and it worked so well I really wanted to find a way of adapting this happy and healthy routine to incorporate two babies.  This is what I have come up with which seems to be working. (Please forgive me for me using Twin 1 and Twin 2 but I judge who gets bathed first by whom seems the most tired and therefore needs to be refreshed more than the other.)

5.00pm
Cook Daisy's Dinner
5.15pm
Dinner for Daisy
5.25pm
Bottle for Twin 1
Bottle for Twin 2
6.50pm
Upstairs put both Charlie & Annabelle on changing mats in bathroom to have a kick
Put out towels, clean nappies, clean babygros
Check bedding on babies beds
Put out Daisy's towels & night clothes
7.00pm
Run bath with one baby bath in & a non slip bath mat for Daisy
Undress Daisy & Twin 1
Get Daisy to have a wee
Put Daisy in bath
Put Twin 1 in bath seat
Wash Twin 1 and let Daisy play with bath toys
6.15pm
Get Twin 1 out
Dry, cream & dress Twin 1
6.25pm
Undress Twin 2
Put him in bath
Wash Twin 2
6.30pm
Get Twin 2 out
Dry, cream & dress Twin 2
6.40pm
Get Daisy out
Dry and dress Daisy
Daisy to clean teeth
6.50pm
Annabelle & Charlie wrapped and put into cots
7.00pm
Daisy bed for cuddle and either her Dad or I read her a book
7.10pm
Daisy looks at books herself for 10mins
I clean up bathroom
7.20pm
Daisy's lights out
7.30pm
Downstairs & have cuppa or a well deserved glass of wine!!  Phhheewwww
I hope this is useful as I desperately searched the internet trying to find a suitable bedtime routine for baby twins and 3 year old without much luck so this is what I have created.

My Top 5 Essential Items for Newborn Twin Babies

Here's my Top 5 Essential Items that I am so pleased we had for our newborn twins.

1) Miracle Blanket - Swaddling Wrap
A friend of ours lent us two swaddling blankets to try as I had expressed an interest in swaddling our babies.  Being so tightly squashed together for 9 months I figured the twins would prefer to feel safely wrapped up.  I was right. As soon as we had delivered our babies and were back on the ward we lovingly wrapped up our little blue and pink bundles and immediately knew they were happy. 11 weeks on now and we still wrap them. It has become a great way to signal to them that its sleep time. Even when still in the hospital I logged on via my phone and ordered more.


2) Moses Baskets
These are not to be underestimated.  We found these even more useful this time around.  Firstly they managed to share one basket. It was a wide basket and the little ones loved snuggling up together and it was a joy to see. Now as they have grown and are starting to disturb each others sleep we have been able to temporarily separate them while they learn to settle down to sleep.

3) Prince Lionheart Slumber Bear
This is more than a bear to cuddle.  In fact it is a great gift which I have given to some of my close friends who are having their first baby. The bear makes comforting actual womb sounds which helped to calm our babies down and gently help them fall to sleep. Sound and motion sensors reactivate the recording when the baby cries or jostles the bear. The Slumber bear plus now offers additional buttons on the sound box include lullabies, ocean waves, white noise and a recordable function for your baby's favourite sounds.


3)  Medela Mini Electric Plus Double Breastpump
I managed to breastfeed for 6 weeks. I wish I could have done 7 months like I did with my first born, Daisy. However for various reasons I reluctantly but perhaps sensibly stopped. However I am not sure I could have made it that long if I hadn't been able to express some milk. This pump was really good. Slightly noisy but does the job and I even managed to read a magazine while doing it which was a great improvement on the manual hand pump I used with my Daisy.

 

4) A Contented House with Twins - by Gina Ford
Love her or hate her, Gina Ford, produces a very useful book jam packed with practical advice on the day-to-day life with twins. 

Baby Jogger City Mini Double Review

I knew I had to get ultra organised before having the twins and one of the first purchases we made was our double buggy. After extensive (and exhausting) research we bought the Baby Jogger City Mini Double.  Now 10 weeks into its use and I am thrilled with it. Which is more than I can say about the single buggy I bought when my daughter was born 3 years ago (but that's another story). 

The Baby Jogger City double is incredibly light and incredibly easy to push. Both grandparents, who struggle with arthritis and bad backs, have pushed it around without any trouble. The seat space is very roomy for each child without the buggy feeling too wide.  It fully reclines so is great for sleeping, with pretty much any position available.  The rigid handle (all one bar) means it can be pushed with one hand allowing me to hold the hand of Daisy (our 3 year old) when out shopping, etc.

The hoods over the seating area are brilliant.  They can be folded down very low which stops the sun going in their eyes.  There are little 'roof light flaps' on top which enables them to look out when they are lying flat and they also help me to peek in at the little darlings to see if they have gone to sleep YET!!!

On the negative side you need to have two hands free to fold it up and when folded it can't clip together so it does spring open a bit. The shopping basket underneath is small and you can't put things on the handles as it will topple back with the weight as the buggy is so light.

However you are never going to get the perfect buggy.  You can't have a buggy with all the gizmo's on it and expect it to be light, narrow, roomy, easy to fold, etc.

Here's our twins enjoying the buggy in our garden.

Annabelle relaxing in the spacious seating area.

Pros

• Easy to push
• Feels light to push and can turn easily
• Roomy seated area
• Can push with one hand freeing other hand for holding toddler, umbrella, mobile, cappuccino, etc.
• Suitable from birth onwards
• Hood is great for protecting them from the sun
• Little windows cut into the top for them and you

Cons

• Small shopping basket area
• Need two hands to collapse it
• No clip to hold it tightly shut when collapsed
• On the heavy side to lift when collapsed

Searching for a more organised family life.

A very busy husband + an active 3 year old girl + 10 week old twins (a boy and a girl) + an incredibly hairy dog = a very overwhelmed woman.

That's me, the person mentioned at the end, and this is my journey towards organising my family.

My theory is a more organised Mum equates to a happy family.  If we, as a family, know what we are doing, when we are doing it, where to find things,  then, I believe, there should be more time for the fun stuff.  And fun is something which is in danger of getting very lost amongst the chaos and mahem.

So I'm going to share my strategies, tips and products that help or hinder me.

Hold on tight and off we go......