So you may have just found out you are pregnant with twins or maybe you are currently holding newborns twins of your own! First I would like to say, CONGRATULATIONS! You may be feeling anxious, happy, scared, excited, emotional, sleep deprived or nervous, trust me it’s all normal. Life with twins is one adventurous roller coaster!

As a twin mom who shares majority of her life on Instagram, my number one question is always – what are your best tips to someone who is experiencing twins? Now that my twins are almost 1.5 years old, I can definitely answer this with confidence and at least give you my personal point of view including the biggest pain point most parents have – newborn sleep schedules!

In this post about 5 tips to survive life with newborn twins, we are covering the following topics. Feel free to navigate the post below:

Schedule

Keeping your twins on the same schedule will make your like 1000% times easier, trust me. I put my newborn twins on the same sleep schedule when I brought them home from the hospital. Now that doesn’t mean that at 9AM baby takes a nap and at 2PM baby takes a feeding, it simply means that you will wake up the other baby 15 mins after the first baby woke up.

Newborn cannot be on a set sleep schedule. It is all about their wake windows which is the amount of time they are up from the moment you pick them up from their bassinet / crib to the time you place them back down again for a nap. During the wake window, you will feed, change the diaper and do a little play time.

Waking the other baby, if one woke up and didn’t fall back asleep is the easier way to keep them on the same schedule! This will allow you to have them nap at the same, giving you a little bit of free time to maybe even take a nap yourself.

Now I know not everyday will go as planned, there will be days where the twins are completely on different schedules and that is okay. Tomorrow is a new day! Start the next day at the same time, even if it means waking the other baby up. This will help keep you all on track! 

See below for sample sleep schedule for newborn twins starting from 6 weeks. Remember this is just guidance and not a set in stone schedule. You will follow your wake windows if the naps do not go as planned which are provided further in this post!

6 Week Old Sample Schedule

7 AM Wake Up

7:45-9:45 AM Nap 1

11 AM – 1 PM Nap 2

2 – 3:45 PM Nap 3

4:30 – 5:30 PM Nap 4

6:15 – 7 PM Nap 5

Bedtime ~8 PM

7 – 9 Week Old Sample Schedule

Keep a log of feeds and sleep

The first few weeks of your twin’s life will honestly feel like a blur. Everything will feel foggy, you probably won’t remember who ate how much and when or when did their last nap end. Keeping track of one baby is probably hard but two is definitely harder. That is why I recommend keeping a log.

Also, did you know at your pediatrician appointment, the doctor will ask you how many oz of formula the babies are drinking or how long are they nursing for? How many times are they pooping? Keeping track of their feeds, their poops, and sleep will help you tremendously.

You will know roughly when to feed the baby again to avoid snacking but instead offering a full feed (remember newborns eat roughly 3 hours around the clock). And when to put your babies down for their nap and to track how long they slept!

I personally think keeping a log on paper for twins is a lot easier then tracking it on some app and having to constantly switch between the two babies, so I have created a free twin log for you to download and start using today. You can download it here!

Double stroller

Do things simultaneously when possible

Can you bottle feed or breastfeed two babies at the same time? Sure, you can! You don’t know the strengths you have until you try it.

I would definitely recommend the twin z or the table for two when it comes to feeding twins at the same time.  I personally loved the table for two for feedings because I always bottle fed so it made it a lot easier.

The Twin Z was used for feedings when they were newborns, especially feeding them together. This was a lifesaver especially when I was the only one taking care of them.

We used it for tummy time and lounging.

You can also use it for breastfeeding the babies. I personally didn’t use it for breastfeeding. Incase you are curious as to why, I explain it all in this post!

Once they get a little bit older doing bath at the same time will also make it easier and these bath seats are perfect for that! Once they outgrow those and are able to sit up (supported) you can switch to these! It honestly made our baths that much more convenient!

Familiarize yourself with Healthy Sleep Foundations

To be 100% transparent with you, I had very little knowledge about baby sleep, wake windows, tired cues and so on. I really had to educate myself.

This is the reason I became a certified pediatric sleep consultant. Understanding newborn sleep and their sleep needs will help not only them but help the entire family. Sleep is so important for everyone involved and understanding how to create healthy sleep foundations will help you for months and years to come.

A newborns cannot be formally sleep trained until 4 months or 12 lbs but you can start implementing the foundations from the beginning. Understanding sleep cycles, wake windows, sleepy cues, when a baby is overtired and how to deal with twins sleep will make it that much easier for you.

I highly recommend reading up on this or you can get my newborn sleep guide which has a dedicated section on twins! Most of the sleep guides I have come across simply don’t mention too much about twins or if they do, they just say we are superheroes. This guide will help set you and your twins up for success so you all get the sleep you all need.

Bonus tip – download the app “the wonder weeks” too! This app will let you know when you twins will experience leaps. Which was an amazing tool to have whenever we hit really tough periods, we knew exactly what was causing it.

Prioritize

I’ll be honest, the first few week will be absolutely chaotic as you adjust to not only having one baby but two (or maybe more)! Really enjoy those snuggles, take as many pictures and videos as you can because they really do grow so quick.

My biggest advice would be to prioritize your chores / things you must do. For example:

Feeding the twins right now is a must

But

Doing that load of laundry is not.

If you think you need to take a nap, do it! The laundry can be done tomorrow but also don’t be afraid to ask for help!

My mom lived with me for the first week or maybe even two (to be honest I don’t even remember because it all felt like a blur) and her help was so appreciated! I also had a c-section which limited my ability to move especially the first week. I needed help to get up, sit down. My mom was taking care of 3 kids in a way! And by 3 I mean me!

But on a serious note, I HIGHLY recommend this belly bender for recovery. It helped me heal so much faster and be mobile a lot sooner with very little pain.

So with that, I wish you and your family the best of luck! You were given twins for a reason. You are stronger than you think you are!

I hope you found these tips helpful and feel free to pass this to a new twin mom.

Incase you are a twin mom who’s reading this, feel free to share any other tips you may have that I didn’t cover!

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