Twins! Twice the excitement, the enjoyment, the diapers, the sleepless hours and unsolicited advice. If you are expecting or have twins, you have heard all the comments from (well-meaning) strangers, relatives and your mother-in-law! I figured that you might be tired of hearing the same commentary over and over, so I reached out to my friend Nina at Sleeping Should be Easy.
She has an incredible blog full of awesome parenting tips and information. She is the mother of three little ones: one singleton and a set of twins. I compiled a complete guide taking you from stressed and frazzled to (twice the) happiness and sanity in your life with twins.
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When Does Caring for Twins Get Easier?
All twin moms have been there. You’re caring for twins alone, overwhelmed with the challenges. You’re able to meet their basic needs—feed, change, put to sleep—but it’s getting difficult when they cry at the same time. Not only that, you get no one-on-one time with either twin. You feel like you’re not able to nurture them like babies should. It’s just not any fun, and you wonder if anyone else is going through this. And you think, When does caring for twins get easier? (… continue reading)
From Sleeping to Feeding: How to Take Care of Twins
People ask me if having twins is more difficult than when I became a first-time mom with my eldest son. Emotionally—yes, because I know what to expect and that the challenging months are temporary. But physically? It’s much more difficult—there are two of them and still only one of me with no extra hours in a day. However, through these last several months, I’ve learned how to take care of twins and still get stuff done… (…continue reading)
You’ve finally wrapped your head around the fact that you’re having twins. The emotions are still coming in waves, but now you’re ready and more than excited to get ready for their arrival. Except… what exactly do you need for your twins? Do you really need two of everything? And if so, which ones? (… continue reading)
Struggling with Twins? You’re Not Alone.
Dear parents of twins,
If you’re like my husband, you were ecstatic to hear that you were expecting twins. Double the love, right? But if you’re like me, raising twins wasn’t exactly on your preferred list. You recognized early on that you’ll be extremely sleep deprived from double the nighttime wake ups. Or that you simply can’t pick up a crying baby from your stroller and keep pushing it along so that the other one can keep sleeping. (… continue reading)
Surprising Differences Between Single and Twin Pregnancies You Never Knew
How different is a twin pregnancy from a singleton? Very. And it’s not just having a bigger belly either, contrary to what I had assumed. From pregnancy risks to energy levels and even to how much food and water you need to consume, carrying twins is nothing like carrying a singleton. (… continue reading)
How to Handle Twins When You Already Have an Older Child
“I have to take care of twins… and my older kid, too.”
When the idea of having twins sunk in, the next question to come up was how in the world I was going to take care of two babies, plus my then-three-year-old. I had been expecting to juggle between a preschooler and a baby, not two babies.
I had no idea if I could handle it.
Somehow I’m managing, and along the way I learned a few lessons about how to handle twins after a singleton. (… continue reading)
How to Sleep Train Twins – the ultimate guide!
You’re up in the middle of the night again, holding or feeding your infant twins. Even after several months, they’re still waking up two or three times a night (or more), requiring even more time to put them back to sleep. You did your best to help them sleep on their own, but nothing seems to work. The 10 to 12 hours of sleep everyone keeps talking about seems impossible, especially with twins. Or is it? With compassion, a sound routine and a new way of thinking about sleep training, your twins may be on their way to sleeping through the night. (… continue reading)
So You’re Having Twins. Now Here’s What You Do!
After the shock of hearing news of my twin pregnancy, one of the first thoughts to enter my mind was: Now what? I didn’t know any other twin moms and I had no idea what I was supposed to do next. How is this twin pregnancy different from my singleton? What gear will I need? And how will I get through the myriad of emotions washing over me? From practical to theoretical, consider the following advice from a fellow twin mom if you just found out you’re having twins. (… continue reading)
Share with me in the comments, what is your favorite part of twin parenting?
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I’m of Mom of 5 kids and the youngest are identical twin boys are 8. My oldest daughter are 10 months apart and now 18 and 19. There birthdays fell in the same school year so they were in the same grade throughout school. Many people believed they were fraternal twins and by 4 yrs old they were at the same development level so it’s like I’ve had 2 sets of twins 10 years apart. If found that we as parents need to focus on our kids as individuals not their sameness. With my identical twins, they didn’t even know the word twins until around 5 when they watched a Dora about twins. They also have a 18 month older sister they are very close to. Actually now people think I have triplets when I’m out around strangers. It’s really important that twins never focus on the twin thing and just be kids. I know parents obsessed with the twiness of their twins and its not good for their children at all. My Mom gave me great advise with my older daughters and that was let them have separate lives. My twins play different sports and have different friends. They never think they have to do the same thing because they are twins. Parents of twins need to think of their kids as 2 kids who have the exact same birthday.
This is great advice. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Yes this is so true Myra! I wrote a post on just this topic this week, about the importance of encouraging individuality in twins.