Twins are 6 months...this is getting hard. any tips?

[elf]

I have a three year old and 6 month old twins.  when pregnant i expected the worse.  suprisingly this has been much easier than i expected.  fun.  natural.  easy.....until last week. 

suddenly they aren't babies anymore. they are busy.  my three year old is p*ssed that i spend my whole day bouncing between the twins. i am still nursing (and doing bottles) and working part-time. 

Any tips on how to get the day to day stuff to move more smoothly? 

we don't have a "schedule" for the twins.  part of me feels like this is less stressful b/c are days can flow with a natural current. part of me feels that if i had a schedule i could at leat have a predictable day---at least for my three year old. 

help!

[ladydodson]

maybe not a strict schedule but a routine? like an order that your day goes in wake/eat/nap/play/read/eat/bath/bed kinda thing...

[hergrace]

You have hit the stage at which I decided that I needed a more fixed schedule for the triplets in order to keep my 4 year old sane.  I also had my 4 year old in quite a lot of school so that he wasn't frustrated all the time by my being with the babies, and I hired someone to help me with the babies so that I could dedicate an hour to my eldest every day.

Your 3 year old probably does need some kind of routine or schedule and some time with you that is not about the babies.

My schedule included times that I tried to get the babies to nap and times that I fed them.  I was very strict about the meal times, less so about the naps. It seemed to help give a real security to the kids, and it kept me sane during the transition to solids.  I hated being tied to the clock that much, but it did make the day to day stuff happen a lot more smoothly.

[Smurfette2]

My twins are 6 months as well and teething! You definitely need a schedule. I only allow one nap during the day but it's a long nap. Almost 3 hours long and it's right after lunch which I serve at 11 am. My twins are eating solids, not sure if that makes a difference. I still nurse too. 

Our schedule is so rigid that I'm bored out of my mind! We take walks to the park, they have a swim class and we go out on the weekends but Monday - Friday they follow a very strict routine. 

Roughly our schedule is:

6 am - Dad gets them up, dresses them, gives them a breastmilk bottle.

7 am - We take DD1 to school, come home, eat breakfast (solids) and watch PBS

8 am to 11 am - we play/learn/swim/go out/do work

11 am - lunch (solids) & I nurse them to sleep

2 pm - Dad comes home, plays with kids, I head off to pick up DD1 from school, run errands

4 pm to 6 pm - we're all at home doing nothing, hanging out, tandem nurse, play some more

6 pm - start preparing dinner

7 pm to 8:30ish - eat dinner (solids), take a bath (separately), have a 1/2 formula bottle

8:30ish - I nurse them until they're sleepy

9 pm - put them down for bed with Dad

9:20 pm - all three are asleep (Dad, babies)

2 am - change diapers, comfort nursing

6 am - start all over

We're going on a 3 day cruise this weekend and I already booked their passage just in case I chicken out at the last minute. I really think it's too early to leave them with family but would like to get away and have some time alone with DH before the trips are born. I'm still unsure what to do. They'll probably end up going with us because I know how they love nursing.

[~Adorkable~]

I found 6 month to be some of the hardest, because they were old enough to want to be entertained by more complex things and still too young to do it themselves.
A little while later when they could sit up better and move around my finally childproofed living room they were tons happier and more independent to explore their toys and each other.

I also saw a better sleep phase right after this. They went from three naps a day to two longer ones. All this gave me a few minutes a few times a day to do things around the house that I needed to, like eating or just sitting back and watching them play, it really is starting to improve my mental status! They are 9 months now and can play for 30 minutes at a time no problem, it's really nice!