A baby log for twins: tracking two babies' feeds, sleep and diapers without mixing them up

With one baby, “fed at 2:00” is enough. With two, by 4 AM you will no longer be sure which one fed at 2:00 and which at 2:40. If they are identical, telling them apart in the dark is harder still.

Doctors usually follow each twin's weight, diapers and feeding separately. A log that mixes the two loses its value exactly when you need it most.

• Give each baby a colour and stick to it: muslin, bottle, bottle cap, a fabric ankle band or a clip on the diaper. Plenty of families say “Orange” and “Blue” for the first week.
• Use the same colour in the log: an orange pen for one, a blue pen for the other, or two coloured column headers.
• If they look alike, never take the marker off both babies at once at bath or changing time. Do one baby, dress them, then the other.
• Use consistent initials (A and B, say) and write the key on the first page for grandparents or a nanny.

One page a day, the time column in the middle and a column for each baby on either side. One line then shows where both babies are in their day.

1. 1Middle column: the start time.
2. 2Baby A and baby B columns: feed (side and minutes, or ml), diaper (W, D, WD), sleep (asleep – awake).
3. 3At the bottom: separate daily totals for each baby — feeds, bottle ml, wet and dirty diapers.
4. 4A shared notes box for things that apply to both, like vaccinations or a weigh-in.

Add up the totals once a day, in daylight. If both babies are seen on the same day, bring each one's totals.

Some families feed both together to win back some rest, some feed one after the other to focus on each baby, and many switch as the weeks go on. There is no single right answer.

If you are breastfeeding, a lactation consultant can show you positions for feeding two at once and how to keep both breasts evenly stimulated. If the twins were born early or small, their feeding plan and target weights come from the doctor for each baby — follow that plan and log each baby separately.

Whichever you choose, give each baby their own line, even when they feed together. A shared “both fed 20 min” line will never tell you which one fed better.

• Splitting by shift (one parent takes the first half of the night, the other the second) usually protects more sleep than splitting by baby.
• If you do split by baby, still write in one log. Two separate notebooks mean that after a few days nobody knows the household's totals.
• At handover, say three things out loud for each baby: last feed, last diaper, asleep or awake.
• Accept every offer of help, and give helpers a specific job: washing bottles, laundry, or holding one baby while you feed the other.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that each baby has their own sleep space, on their back, on a firm flat surface with no pillows or soft bedding; the AAP does not recommend twins sharing one crib. Two cribs or bassinets side by side in the parents' room is a common setup.

If your twins were born early, spent time in the NICU or have their own health needs, ask the doctor about care and sleep for each baby.

In Baton each baby has their own log, and you switch between them with the baby's name at the top of Today. The first child is free, and a second child with the same birth date — twins — is free too; only a second child with a different birth date needs Baton Plus. Home Screen widgets can be set to either baby.

Every log is one big button with a 5-second Undo, and every entry records who logged it. Both parents log into both babies' logs through their own iCloud, so whoever takes the next shift can see at once which twin just fed. No account, no ads, no analytics — and Baton is coming soon to the App Store.