Category: Babies and Toddlers

How to cope with multiples or twins crying at the same time

twins crying at same time

When you first find out you are pregnant, you wonder what your baby will sound like……the first cry, the first laugh, the first words.  But then you find out you are expecting more than one baby! And the panic may set in.  How will you cope with multiples or twins crying at the same time???

This isn’t an article on possible reasons why they crying at the same time – there are lots of general articles on why babies cry. This article is purely to help you cope with multiples or twins crying at the same time.

 

Multiples or twins crying at the same time – how to decide which baby to go to first?

There are three basic options and it will depend on why they are crying as to which one you will use:

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10 reasons why feeding multiples separately may be the best option for your family

feeding twins separately

When you find out you are having twins, triplets or more, one of the main concerns most people have is “how will I feed them all at the same time”? Regardless of if you are breast or bottle feeding, sometimes feeding multiples separately is the more practical option.

10 reasons why feeding multiples separately may be the best option for your family

1. You don’t enjoy it. It’s too hard. It’s uncomfortable.

Don’t feel bad. If you don’t like it, then don’t do it.

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Low sex drive after Twins or Multiples – Is it normal?

Low sex drive after twins

So many parents of twins or other multiples face a low sex drive after twins or multiples are born. Unfortunately, it can become almost the norm – it is probably rarer to find parents of newborn twins engaging in regular nookie!

If you are experiencing a low sex drive after twins, then I have some good news for you. It is very unlikely to be caused by anything serious, and with almost all couples who go through this, it will pass.

Just knowing that it is normal can make it a little easier to face

It can be incredibly frustrating for couples of newborns to try and get some adult time happening.

After a woman gives birth, it’s generally recommended that she not have intercourse for around six weeks to give her body time to heal. Many women, even if their lady-parts are feeling ok, will still appreciate the six weeks off from sex because they are pretty exhausted and can be overwhelmed right now.

But most of us would like to get back some intimacy with our partners at some stage, right? Many mothers of twins and multiples can still be reluctant to have sex after 6 months, a year, and even longer after their babies were born.

Some women have no desire, but still feel very much attracted to their partner, and want to ‘want it’.

For many couples, regular intimacy is a way of connecting beyond communication, that reminds you that you are still one being, one team. So, even though this mother wishes she had back her old libido and could connect with her partner on that level again, physically her body is not coming to the party.

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7 Reasons NOT to Use Capsules for Twins, Triplets or More

should we buy capsules for twins

Should you use infant car capsules for twins or triplets or go straight into car seats? It’s always a hot topic of debate in the multiple birth community.  There are definitely people who are pro capsules and then there are just as many people who think capsules are not necessary. While there is always an option to hire capsules, not all families live in an area where baby equipment hire is available, and will choose to place their multiples directly into car seats.

Here are seven reasons why you may decide not to use capsules for twins, triplets or more.

 

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Sleep tips for twins, triplets and more

sleep tips for twins

One of our resident sleep experts, Tanya Greene from Sleep Right Sleep Tight shares her sleep tips for twins, triplets or more.

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a baby sleep consultant?

I have been working with children for 15 years now, and personally am a Mum to 4 gorgeous children.  I worked in Childcare before having my own family, and then gained my qualifications to help other sleep deprived families get a great night sleep.  My passion is helping each individual family get through those sleepless nights and bedtime struggles.

I made the decision to help other families through their sleep struggles after having problems with our daughters sleep.  She was 15 months at the time and waking approx. 5 times a night.  Where we were living at the time there was no help, so I turned to an online program.  We had amazing success!  From this, I knew my path was to help families in similar situations as ours.

Why is it important to help your twins or triplets learn to settle on their own?

A baby’s sleep patterns are affected by what is happening throughout their bedtime.  They generally look for whatever is happening at this point to be repeated throughout their night when they wake.  If your twins or triplet are reliant on outside aids, dummy’s, feeds etc. in order to fall asleep, you will find that waking throughout their night, they need these to come back to get themselves back to sleep.  They are what we call sleep associations.
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Stress free toilet training for twins

toilet training twins

Our guest blogger Shannon from Project Revive and Thrive shares her experience with toilet training twins.

 

I’ll be the first to admit, toilet training does not excite me, not one bit.

The only thing I like about toilet training is that I won’t have to pay for nappies anymore. As far as the how and the why go, I didn’t really do any research about toilet training.

I just knew it had to be a stress-free toilet training process. Although to be honest, I was hoping daycare would sort it out for me.

Toilet training does seem to be a high traffic topic on the mummy blogs. You’ll find constant questions like how do I train my 18 months to go to the toilet, how to toilet train boys, the guide to toilet training in a day, the secrets to the 3-day toilet training program etc.

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Attachment parenting twins or multiples – what worked for me

attachment parenting twins

Author: Twinfo

I couldn’t wait to be a mother.  Even though I didn’t realise it was an actual term, I was really looking forward to attachment parenting.   It just seemed the natural thing to do.  To be honest, I didn’t realise there was really any other way to parent.

We had a fairly rough start to parenthood. When couples start thinking about having a baby, infertility never comes to mind. Unfortunately for us, it was a subject that we soon knew a lot more about than we had ever expected. Thankfully, after 8 soul destroying rounds of IVF, and one twin miscarriage along the way, we finally able to announce to the world (OK…….Facebook!) that we were having a baby! I couldn’t wait to have a water birth, delay cord clamping and respond to  the beautiful newborn cry. Plus co-sleep, baby wear and breastfeed my single baby. Oh, hang on….its twins??? Really???? OK, our bedroom will only fit a queen bed, how we will all fit in there? I have three bulging discs so I won’t be able to tandem carry them, and what do I do if they are both crying??? How will I possibly breastfeed two babies at once?? Everyone is telling me I won’t be able to have a natural birth or breastfeed???

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How to survive Christmas with twins or multiples

Christmas with triplets

Guest post for Families Magazine

Author:  Twinfo

 

It’s Christmas.  Again.  I am not sure why I am so surprised, seeming as it happens on the same day every year.  It just seems to come around faster every year!

Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas.  Not many of our family live in the same city as us, so we usually travel to them.  I don’t mind, as it means that we can just sit and relax, and not try to do the endless jobs around the house that the extended time of work would usually lend itself to.  Plus there are often relatives who are happy to entertain your multiples, giving you an opportunity for a break for an hour or two.

Children make Christmas so much more fun.  And having twins, triplets, quads or more makes Christmas multiply more fun!  Christmas is a great time to relax and spend some time with your multiples.

Twinfo have put together some tips to help you survive the festive season with your multiples.

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Biting, and how to minimise it

Author: Twinfo

Biting is a stage that all toddlers seem to go through.  Biting is certainly not just a problem if you have multiples, all toddlers seem to do it at some stage.  It just seems doubly (or triply!) bad when you have several toddlers of the same age who bite each other.  I don’t know if it was just me, but I was always relieved that my twins tended to only bite each other, rather than other children.  Infact, as far as I know, my twins only ever bit another child three times between them (unfortunately it was the same child each time!).  However, they did bite each other occasionally.

Children generally bite for a reason and before they have the language skills to express what they are trying to convey.  They may be trying to express their frustration at something, someone maybe in their personal space, they may not want to share a particular toy, or it may simply be because they are tired, overwhelmed or are teething.  The best way to understand why your toddler has bitten someone is to evaluate what prior to the bite occurring.  If you can identify this, then you can hopefully prevent it from happening again.

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Bringing your babies home from the Special Care Nursery

Author: Twinfo

 

Many families worry when they take their babies home from the Special Care Nursery (SCN). SCN is for sick and preterm babies.  A lot of multiple birth babies do not need to ever go to SCN.  Some may have to go just for a few hours for monitoring; others may have an extended stay in there.  If your multiples are in there as a result of being preterm, then you can usually expect to be able to take them home around the same time as their projected due date.  While there is great relief in finally taking your babies home, it is also the start of a different set of challenges.  It is perfectly normal to have conflicting emotions.  Remember, the hospital won’t release them until they are confident that the babies will be fine at home with you.  Hopefully this also means your babies will no longer require any medical equipment, such as oxygen or feeding tubes at home.  The hospital will have been “preparing you”, maybe without you even being aware of it, by getting you to do as much of the babies’ cares as possible.  However, in saying that, it can be very overwhelming.  Do not feel ashamed to reach out for some help, be it from family or friends or from professionals.

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