Should Twins be on the Same Schedule?

You’ll keep your sanity with any infant if you can get your baby on a predictable schedule. This is even more true with twins.

Should you keep your twins on the same schedule? The answer is, “It depends.”

It depends on a few factors, but primarily comes down to the time of day and how many helpers you have.

I’m a big fan of The Baby Whisperers’ EASY steps. The “Y” in EASY is for “your time.” Once the baby [E]ats, has some [A]ctivity time, and goes to [S]leep, [Y]ou can relax a little.

We’ve found that getting the babies to sleep at the same time is the biggest factor in keeping them on the same schedule.

Nighttime Schedule

Caring for twins overnight is a handful, to say the least.

If you don’t have a 1:1 adult to baby ratio with twins at night, you’re going to run yourself into the ground very quickly. Stop right now and get help.

My wife and I found it worked best when one daughter woke up hungry, to wake the other daughter and feed her at the same time. This helped us avoid servicing one baby, getting her back to bed, with us crawling into bed just to be pulled back out to help the other baby. (Or trying to remember who’s turn it was to get up with which baby in the middle of sleepy stupor!)

Daytime Schedule

If it is just you (or your wife) taking care of the babies during the day then it might be to your advantage to have the twins on a slightly staggered schedule. This allows the caregiver to be able to feed and diaper one baby at a time. This will mean that there will be a little less time for you, and it may feel like you are on a never-ending cycle of feeding, changing, and napping babies all day long. But it is a little easier as you’re getting used to caring for two newborns.

If you’ve got a helper, keep the twins on the same schedule and do everything in tandem. As you grow in your caregiving skills and/or after help goes home, you may find that you’re able to keep the twins on pretty much the same schedule. It is possible to feed them at the same time or in rapid succession and get them down for naps at the same time.

Schedules Change

The older your twins get, the easier it will be to align their schedules. Just remember–about the time you get comfortable with your routine, something will change. Roll with it.