Where does your baby sleep? My twin boys are 3 weeks old and we have been camped out in the family room on the first floor because the kitchen is on the same floor. The boys sleep in the swing, rock n play, or on the couch. Even at night, we sleep in the family room with them because we haven't quite figured out how to move them upstairs to their crib. We tried to take them upstairs so we could at least sleep in our own beds but we were having to also prepare 6+ bottles, all my pumping stuff, extra stuff like pacifiers, snacks, drinks.. Etc so it got to be difficult to do that every night when we are sleep deprived zombies. And even then, they were sleeping in our bedroom in the pack n play, mamaroo, or in our bed.
What do/did you do and when did you finally move your LO to their crib? (and this may be a silly question, but how did you do late night diaper changes in their room? It's so dark in their nursery and I don't want to be turning on the light to change their diaper when it's nice and dark in their room)
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We don't live in a multi level but we room and occasionally bed shared until LO was about 7 months! We kept a night light in our room so I could see at diaper changes but I stopped changing her at night around 2 or 3 months (i don't remember. )
I guess my point is, why do you want to move them? If it's just cause you feel like you are "supposed" to I would just continue to do what's working for now, I promise it won't last forever. -
@mrs. Sunshine: part of the reason I want to move them is exactly what you said.. Because I feel like I should. The other part is whatever room we are in, Dh always has the TV on and I feel like it's not great for their sleep. They still seem to sleep pretty well but I'm afraid that at some point (soon), the bright light and sound from the TV will start to mess with their sleep. I figured the dark room and quiet of their nursery would be beneficial.
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We started DS in the crib from day 1, since it is right across the hall from our room. Both bedrooms are in the basement, and the kitchen/living room are on the main floor. We change in his room, but keep the light dim. Probably the smartest thing we did was put a dimmer on the light in his room.
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DD is almost 11 weeks old and has been sleeping in her own room since she was about 9 days old I think? (Before that, she slept in the pack n play bassinet in our room.) Her room is just down the hall from us (like 6 steps) so it's pretty quick to go back and forth. I EBF so I don't have to worry about bottles thankfully, but I do keep a little stash of snacks for me in the bathroom that's right next to her room... haha.
We have a lamp in the room that is on a dimmer so I just turn it on very low when I go in to feed her - otherwise I literally wouldn't be able to see a thing since we have blackout curtains in her room! She hasn't seemed bothered by it and will go back to sleep fine. Maybe because it's on very low and it isn't an overhead light that would be shining in her face?
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When I was pumping at night we'd keep a cooler upstairs and my husband would stick the milk and ice packs in the freezer when he got up in the morning. Keep a good stash of snacks and extras up there so they don't have to be carted. As for tv Its prob better without it but I wouldn't worry too much (though I don't have ideal sleepers) but I still go in my 3 yo room and watch a couple shows on my computer when dh has to work overnights. She seems none the wiser.
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Same as @maysprout: I kept a cooler by my bed for pumping parts/milk. Worked well, although I only had to do it for a short time period. We moved our LO to his crib at 10 weeks; prior to that he was in a rock n play in our room. As for diaper changes, we have a small nightlight that we keep on the changing table and it works fine.
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We had a bottle setup where we'd take the formula up in the containers that had compartments. The first one we tried (from Oxo) had a top that spun around but that was just too hard for me to maneuver at night, so I got an Innobaby one where I could just remove one level at a time. We'd dump the powder into bottles that already had water (eventually learned to use wide bottles!) and just mix. Every night I'd prepare a bag with all the stuff and carry it up with baby, and in the morning I'd throw all the used stuff in the bag to carry it back down.
LO slept in our room and is still sleeping there at 3 months. We moved a console table to our bathroom and put an extra changing pad on top, and just keep some supplies on the vanity. One of the bathroom lights is on a dimmer, so we turn that up as needed.
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Lo is still in our room at 4 months (in her pack n play). Early on I was breastfeeding so I didn't have to worry about bottles but it still felt like a load of stuff to carry! We just hauled it all up and down every night. Now she takes formula and I just premeasure powder in one bottle and water in another and mix when needed. It helps that we moved the glider and side table from her nursery to out bedroom. My pump I just leave downstairs and go to it as necessary. As for diaper changes I either turn the tv onto the Netflix home screen for a soft glow or I turn on my phones flashlight and just point it at the ceiling. Out pnp has a changing table attachment. She is too big for it now so we just change her on our bed.
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We're in a multi level and LO is in our room with us. I just make sure I have water, wipes and diapers. We keep a small night light on and that's plenty to change a pee diaper. When there's poop I use my cell phone (LOL) for extra light to make sure she's clean.
I'm breastfeeding so much easier to just grab her and nurse. When she outgrows her summer infant by your side sleeper she'll move into the crib in her room.
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We're on the 2nd (highest) floor, but we're in a split style home so the main floor where the kitchen is, is not too far down the stairs.
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We are in a multi-level and my girl was formula fed. She slept in the pack n play in our room for about 12 weeks. Our bedrooms are all up and living area down. I would take bottles and formula up each night like @spaniellove and make bottles in the night as needed in our bathroom. Snacks weren't really an issue since I was FF. We kept the tv on in our room on an easy listening type music station. It put just enough light and white noise in our room that we could all still sleep but I could see when I needed to. Her pack and play was to the side of the tv, so she got less light and sound.
I was also recovering from a C-section, so packing a daily bag to go up and down the stairs was my norm for awhile. LO and I would spend all day downstairs (I was really scared carrying her on the stairs for a long time). And then head upstairs at night. I carried our bag, DH carried her.
I'm not sure when I intend to move #2 to her crib, but it will probably be earlier.
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I dont have much personal experience with this but is it possible to put a mini fridge and a bottle warmer (or crock pot) somewhere up stairs to eliminate the need for the kitchen?
We used a night light (Graco sound machine - it has a blue night light and put it right near the changing station) but after 6-8 weeks i only changed during the night if she was dirty.
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Is set up their bottles and pumping stuff upstairs. For twins, it would be worth the investment to get a mini fridge to keep up there and a bottle warmer for quicker access.
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We didn't live in a mutlilevel home when our son was born, but we did set up the changing table in the bathroom. We also had a nightlight in the nursery, that would have been sufficient for a diaper change in the middle of the night.
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We live in a muli level home and in the early days 0-2 months my LO slept in rnp. She'd fall asleep downstairs in the living room and when I was ready to go to bed I'd carry the rnp with me and put her by my bed. I nursed so the bottle thing wasn't an issue. During the night wake ups I had a light that was very soft and i'd turn it on to change her diaper, I just kept wipes and diapers on my night stand. We transitioned into her crib around 3 months and I have a night light in there so i can see. Do what works for you
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When DS was newborn we lived in a 4 story townhouse, with our bedroom on the 4th floor, living room and kitchen on the 2nd. We had a PnP in our room, a mini fridge and changing station. We kept the room stocked with 8oz poland spring waters and peanut butter crackers so that I'd have plenty of water and a snack if I needed.
DS slept pretty soundly, so we would just carry him upstairs when we were ready for bed and he'd stay asleep. For a long time he wouldn't tolerate the PnP after his first wake up, so we co-bedded most of the night. He slept in our room until around 6 months. With the MOTN feedings there was no way I wanted him too far away, and his room was on the floor below ours.
Starting at 6 weeks we implemented a bedtime routine. Starting at 7:30 DH would give him a bath and put him in PJs and I would nurse him to sleep in our bed. When he was asleep I'd put him in the PnP. Sometimes he woke up and I'd try again. If it didn't work after a couple tries, I'd just put him back in bed with me and try again after the next wake up/feeding.
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We slept in the living room for the first week too, but then moved into our bedroom upstairs and she slept in the pack n play in our bedroom until she was 9 months old - then we moved her into her own room. We have always used a sound machine, which helps a lot because otherwise she would wake up when we make noise. I would nurse her to sleep in the bedroom on the bed and then put her down in the pnp when she fell asleep. I still do the same, just with her crib in her room. I try and put to sleep as close to her sleeping area as possible because I could almost never get her to sleep and have her stay asleep carrying her up the stairs! Oh & I always keep a nightlight on so that I can see for diaper changes/putting her down etc.
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Our twins have always slept in the room with us (so much for buying expensive cribs that they have never used). I used to keep everything in the room with me. I had babies in their own bassinets: a pump station on a night stand: bottles on each of our night stands (breastmilk can stay room temperature for 6 hours). We had a policy of your baby, your problem. Each of us took a twin and were responsible for it all night. Your twin woke up and needed to be fed, you fed them; they needed a diaper, you diapered them; baby didn't want to sleep, you better get them to another room because the deal was you NEVER woke the other parent or twin... Your baby your deal!
Very loosely this early on this was our "schedule" 10-11 pm they would get a bottle and we would all hit the hay. Around 2 am I would get up and pump/keep the bottles right on the pump station. We would handle the 1-3 am feeding (depending on when your baby woke up) from the bottles on the night stands. If there was a need for a 4-5 am feeding I we helped ourselves to milk I had pumped at 2am.
A night light is a must - we love this one http://www.amazon.com/Ikea-Spoka-Night-Light-Short/dp/B003W8Z6NS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410281023&sr=8-2&keywords=ikea+night+light because it is rechargeable and does not get to bright.
This whole schedule changed at about 4 months. Feel free to Wall me if you need any advice on the twin stuff.
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