Advice for twin bed-times & breaking the 'nurse to sleep' association?

[AndreaJay]

Advice for twin bed-times & breaking the 'nurse to sleep' association?

I'm often caring for my 9 month old boys on my own, meaning it's two against one for most nap times and bed times.

Until this point, I've allowed one of my sons to play about the bedroom while I nurse the other to sleep, then second in line gets to nurse to sleep. Which was all well and good, though now they're getting into a phase of becoming so upset if they're the one left to wait. (side note- tandem nursing is no longer an option for us)

As much as I've enjoyed always nursing to sleep, at this point the high emotions around sleep time are coming to the forefront, and by times it feels like a struggle vs. being a positive experience. I'd like to create new sleep associations, so they're not continuing to be dependent on nursing too- though how to do this is beyond me at the moment!

So what I'm looking for now
is advice on creating new go-to-sleep rituals or associations after getting babes very accustomed to nursing.
Or at least, how to keep one twin's emotions at bay while waiting for a turn!
Also, any tips on creating a positive bedtime experience when dealing with two needy little ones will be appreciated.

Greatly appreciated! Cheers!

[~Adorkable~]

Around that age I think that I was letting one play solo in another safe room and putting one down and then going and getting the other one to do the same to. Now at 16 months I sometimes do that but really have returned to mostly tandem nursing on a nice large chair I have between the cribs. It is a strange shuffle at the end of nursing to get them to the cribs but I do it solo for naps pretty well. Can I ask why you don't tandem?

I think in general the first trick is proper bedtimes, if they are already burned out anything is going to be a potential meltdown. I tracked when they got tired for a few weeks and then how long it really took for me to get them both down one after another and did the math to make sure I started with plenty on time to do both before the second one got cranky. That little bit of planning has been a life saver, e older mine got the less accommodating they are on a lot of little things. Having the self discipline to stop happy babies from their playing to go to bed was a hard one for me, but sparing us all the hectic rush to avoid overtired fussiness and the risk of meltdown is soo worth it.

The other thing is do they take a bottle? Maybe work on nursing each separately when they are getting close to nap time so they are all full and happy, then put them both down and let them sip on a bottle for the last "nightcap". The bottle could be even shifted from pumped milk to water are some appropriate point. I have thought of using this tactic so that others can help with bedtime.

[lovelyalaska]

My twins just turned 2 last week and they go to bed anytime from 7pm to 8pm, depending on how tired they are or what's going on. They've had the same routine since the day I brought them home from the hospital. This has helped A LOT!!!! I don't breastfed anymore, but when I did, I would just plan it so that they would go to bed shortly after their evening feeding. Sometimes they would wake up in the night, but not often. Most important is just finding a routine that works for all of you and sticking to it. Shortly before I put them down, I turn out the lights in the house and read a book or just sit and sing to them. They also enjoy watching the Pajanimals before going to bed. They know the sound of a lullaby means bedtime, and they are usually ready, so they just grab their blankets and get comfortable.

Good luck to you!