7 wk twins, confused about A time, please help!!

[babaka]

We are 7 weeks old today, twin girls, and was wondering if I am doing something wrong???
We have been on EASY for a week, eating at every 3 hs, 130 ml (but after reading some of your posts I might need to up their feed as they almost always drain their bottles) with a 7am start to the day. The problem is that we dont really seem to have any A time, as almost always at least one of them sleeps through feeding (unable to keep them awake) but then as soon as I change their nappies they are wide awake, but then according to to EASY i'm meant to put them down to nap, so of course they don't fall asleep for up to an hour, consequently they are fast asleep when its feed time and it leaves me wondering should i leave them to sleep and mess up the routine or wake them but be left with 2 ot-ed babies. Is the problem maybe in the lenght of feeds??? We take up to 40 ms to finish our bottles (bytw both BF)?!

Any help will be much appreciated as I am really confused!

[Erin M]

Have you tried changing diapers before feeding?  Are you waking them to feed?

[babaka]

Thank you for your reply, i havent received notification of it, and with hols i havent been on here for a while.
Problem still persits sadly, actually it has gotten worse... I have had my parents over the hols and it seems like my girls just don't know what to do with themsleves anymore unless they are in my arms, otherwise they cry. They still don't manage to get a good sleep during the day, the odd 10-15 mins here and there and even that is extremely light.
Havent really tried changing before feeding yet, as it is a job to get them both ready for feeding before hunger screams start, however, i will def give it a go.
Yes, I wake them to feed them, however 9 times out of 10 at least one of them will cry by then so i just wake the other (i keep them on the same schedule).

[Erin M]

I know most twin moms on here have said that keeping them on the same schedule is definitely a must!  If they are both still asleep at a feeding time I would think that you would leave them asleep, but if one is awake, then definitely wake the other to keep them on the same schedule.  If they are draining their bottles, I would add an extra ounce - though I'm no expert on bottle feeding (but I will ask some who know better!)

Also - wondering about possible sources of discomfort -- do they just seem overtired and having "normal" newborn fussiness, or do they seem like they are in any sort of discomfort? 
There's some info on reflux here: Reflux 101 - General reflux information
and some info on food intolerances here: Does my LO have food intolerances?

I think your post needs to be shifted somewhere too, but I'm not sure exactly where yet, so I'm going to leave it as is and have a few other people look at it.  In the meantime, would you be able to write out a "typical" day (or as close to it as you can) in EASY format -- like this:
E (when, how much)
A (how long)
S (how long)

Are you doing any sort of wind down before sleep?  Do you swaddle, use white noise, etc?  Sorry for all the questions, sometimes knowing some more can help us figure out some solutions.  I know with two it's definitely harder!  Hang in there, we'll try to help you sort it out!

[babaka]

Thank you again!
I have since added an extra ounce to their feed...I have been giving the HIpp Pre formula, and im wondering if i should start them on the 1 instead, im guessing this is more filling or heavier or such?!

They do have quite a lot of gas and often cry because of it, but i can definitely tell when these are the culprits. It is more fussiness I would say, or maybe a type of cry that i havent identified yet?? 

So, a typical day would be:
E 7am- both same time (however they quite often sleep through feeding)
A 7.30-8.00/8.15 definitely cant go longer then this in the morning - 6 ounces give or take 1 ounce
S 8.00/8.15- this is the difficult part to write as they will slepp on and off alternatively till next feed, or sometimes at 9.30 i will put them in car seats if they cry till next feed (or just the one, as usually they swap who sleeps and who cries thank god  )
 and then more or less the same story at 10, 13, 16... then
E 7pm
A 7.30-8.15
S 8.15-
E dream feed at 10.30-11.00
S till 3.00-3.30-4.00-this one varies, and then sleep again till 7am (hope it all make sense!)

I dont particulary do any wind down before sleep during the day, only in the evening we have a routine. Though i have tried white noise on a few occasions which seemed to have worked (or was pure coincidence as didnt use that often)

Thank you once again!

[jessmum46]

Hi just popping on with a bit of routine advice

So overall it looks like they have pretty good nights, I'm just wondering if when they wake at 7am they haven't quite "done" with night sleep as they seem so tired at that point?  Do you wake them up?  I'd be tempted if BT is 8/8.15pm to not wake them to start the day until 8am as aiming for a 12h day is fairly usual.  If you prefer a 7am start I would try to have BT closer to 7/7.30pm instead.

I'm a little confused about their A time - you said originally that they don't have any A time but on the day you posted it looks like they have around 1h-1h15 at a time (A time includes time spent eating) - have I interpreted what you've written correctly?  If that's the case they're right on track - have a look here: Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!!

When they nap is their sleep always broken/short?  Did you have a look at the reflux info Erin posted above?  If they are having good nights and an appropriate first A time which it looks like they are, an unsettled nap would make me think of some sort of discomfort and if that's the case, that needs to be addressed first before any routine issues.

Good luck