Caring for Newborn Twins

When our twin girls were born, we were super excited and happy. But then, the reality of caring for newborn twins set in. It was overwhelming!

Looking back at those crazy months, we found a handful of things that worked great for us.

As you adapt to life with newborns, keep these ideas in mind and see if they can’t make your life much, much easier.

Get Help

Caring for newborn twins is a lot easier if you don’t have to do it by yourself. Yes, it is possible to care for twins by yourself. However, it definitely isn’t a simple task.

We had family and friends stay with us for two months after our girls were born. Caring for newborn twins with an extra set of adult hands was a huge blessing.

Try to recruit others to help your family with your newborns. Even if you can get help for just a few critical hours a day, it will make things go more smoothly.

Same Schedule

Newborn twins have crazy schedules. They sleep for short stints and need to feed every couple of hours. Unfortunately, this schedule is torture on Mom and Dad.

We tried to keep our girls on the same schedule day and night so that they were both eating and sleeping at the same time. This made the days more predictable and manageable.

If you are alone with the twins, you might have to sequence their feedings back to back if you can’t get them feed at the same time. However, I caution you not to let your twins get on two very different schedules as it will drive you insane.

Let It Go

Life before twins had lots of activities and responsibilities. When caring for newborn twins, those don’t really matter any more.

Don’t be afraid to let things go. Your top priorities are your twins. Period.

This means that work, hobbies, household chores, and entertainment will all suffer.

You’ll need to prioritize what gets done with your non-twin time. For me, that was going to work (even though I was sleep deprived and less effective during the newborn months).

Be Flexible

Remember the words of poet Robert Burns as you tackle caring for your newborn twins:

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
often go awry

Make your best plans and do what you can. However, keep in mind that newborn twins disrupt schedules and expectations.

Be flexible in your parenting. Be ready to abandon even your best plans if they just don’t seem to work with twins.