Any one trying potty training at 16 months with twins? My kids are 15 months now and are waking up from naps dry. They communicate well and can follow directions like "Hands up", "get the ball" and "come over here". So I feel like they are showing signs. My husband is deploying in February so I'd like to try when we have two people to be able to start at least. I would be fine if only one child shows interest and just continue with one at a time for now. I did buy small potties and some small training underwear. We have a two story house and I can't get my husband to understand that we probably need 4 potties or I being dramatic? Thoughts? B/G twins.

Mum to 2.5 year old & 2 month old twins. All crying at the same time. I thought to myself for a moment “how many crying children would be ideal here” (after zero of course) and decided one was probably my preferred amount. When my toddler was a newborn, the thought of having one crying baby was a nightmare. How times have changed!

I have 13 week twins and my husband just went back to work from his paternity leave. Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to grocery shop with my girls. I can barely push the boat of a stroller much less stroller and cart. I know pick up is an option but I feel like stores only have half of what is available in store on their apps. Is this just a 2 person job until the twins are older and able to sit in the cart?

I thought I was going to be predestined to only having boys 🤣 but we JUST got our results and we will be having boy/girl twins! 🥹

Now the fun part begins - decorating the nursery and picking out names!! 🩷🩵

I’m also open to all tips/tricks 🫶🏼

Hi everyone - I’m a FTM with di/di twin girls just heading into my 3rd trimester and wow - do I feel it. It’s like night and day from the 2nd trimester.

We’ve had increased monitoring from the start (size discrepancy around 20-25% and the girls are quite small) but we now have twice weekly appointments for monitoring cord flows and NSTs.

My blood pressure (which had been perfect this whole pregnancy) is now rising (I’ve been taking 150 mg of cardioaspirin) and my cervix went from 40 mm to 28 mm in just 20ish days. Everything is monitored by doctors and they aren’t too concerned with the numbers at this stage, but it all just makes me aware of how important it is to REST. I’ve stopped working earlier than planned and taking it easy.

Has anyone else had quite a noticeable shift into the 3rd trimester with any tips to share?

Hi everyone,

We’re first-time parents to 5-month-old twins, and my wife is home with them full-time during the day. We live in a country where paid parental leave lasts up to 3.5 years, so they won’t start preschool until then.

I know every age has its challenges, every child is different, and there’s no universal answer, but I’d really like to hear from more experienced parents of multiples: When did you find parenting twins to be the hardest? And when did it start to feel easier?

Right now, it feels like a marathon, but I imagine it’ll evolve a lot as they grow. Personally, I think things might get a little easier once they start preschool (at the age of 3,5), but I’d love to hear your insights or tips for managing the tough phases.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!

Currently 19 weeks pregnant with di/di twins. I bought a breast pump online because of Black Friday and I’m just wondering if anyone has pointers for BF & pumping two babies? I’ve seen a lot about power pumping on TikTok but don’t really understand it. Will I be able to produce enough to feed two and pump? Are there things I can do to increase production so I can do both?

Our modi girls just turned 1, and I’m in the very lucky minority of parents who actually enjoyed the first year. Unfortunately, my husband has been and continues to be miserable. From what I can tell, his experience is pretty common for the first year, but I’m not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve read many posts here by parents who feel the way my husband does, so I’m hoping for some advice on how to help him.

I can relate on some level, but my postpartum issues were all directly related to things I knew I just had to get through, like the change in hormones when I stopped nursing. I’m worried what he’s experiencing isn’t something that just gets better with time. Any advice is greatly appreciated. He wanted to be a dad so badly and I know this isn’t how he thought it would be, it’s heartbreaking. Thanks everyone.

Sorry for the dramatic title. I have a toddler who will be just shy of 2.5 when my twins arrive. I love her beyond measure, and sometimes I feel so bad that I’m having twins and that her life as she knows it is going to forever change. Sometimes I already feel like I miss her, it’s just this crazy feeling of guilt and that I just want to hold on to what we have now forever.

Did anyone feel this way while pregnant with the twins? Was everything OK in the end?

My girls are 8 months and have persistent nappy rash at the moment, since starting solids they are pooing more often and I think all the wiping is causing nappy rash which hangs around even though we keep on top of changing, they get bathed every day, we dry them fully, use cream etc, the only thing that seems to help is just using cotton wool and water instead of wipes. I’m thinking if we switched to reusable wipes this might solve the problem but I’m reluctant to do it because our laundry situation is not good as is and I’m worried about the cost and practicalities of it. Do any of you use them and would you recommend or not? Thank you in advance ☺️

Please, share your wisdom. How do you do it? How is it possible while staying sane? 😅

Our girls are 3 months corrected. Their wake windows are still rather short and while they're awake they demand a lot of attention/interaction. After 40 mins they usually show sleepy cues, after 50-60mins they start to get fussy, a bit later they full on cry.

The best way to get them to sleep is rocking and singing but it takes 10-15mins until I can lay one down so she stays asleep. In the meantime, the other one cries inconsolably... I can't really rock them both at the same time? For a while I did in the weego carrier but that was poison for my back. Then for a while I could put one in a simple carrier and the other one in tiger in the tree position, but for like two weeks now they want to be held upright in my arms.

I would be happy to nurse to sleep but that also hasn't been working because they're super wiggly and easily distracted these days so I mostly nurse them when they're just waking up and still sleepy.

I'm open for any suggestion that doesn't include crying it out! 😊

Thinking of doing a regular twin mattress on the floor with a mesh mattress bumper for 4 month olds. Is this safe? What did you do with your twins?

My twins are just over 2 weeks old & I currently have them on formula until I can build up my supply. I am pumping every time they eat & am collecting about 3 oz each session. I’m starting to stress some because we are BLOWING through formula & I am starting to wonder if it will ever be enough. Each feeding right now for the both of them is 4 oz. I’ve been working in more liquids & body armor drinks. I also plan on making the lactation bites when I get a few minutes lol.

Did your supply continue to increase or did you still need to have formula to supplement?

I've been having a lot of trouble getting my twins to sleep so I was going to start looking into sleep training. I searched here and many recommended a Facebook group for sleep training with multiples. I searched it, filled out the application questions, and now it's not showing up when I search it anymore. Does this group still exist? Was I blocked because my kids aren't on my Facebook profile? Any advice on where else I might be able to look for sleep training help?

So I grew up in a very very small, quiet family. All my friends growing up had siblings, so I have seen how much they tend to hate each other (I’m sure the love is there somewhere). I’m having twins soon and have an almost 2 year old daughter. This isn’t a twin specific question by any means, more so what to expect with very young siblings and how much/little to freak out about negative sibling dynamics. I can imagine myself thinking there’s something wrong with our family over “normal” sibling squabbles just because I have never experienced the dynamic of having a sibling myself.

Anyone here having their multiples after at least 2-3 singletons? How would you describe the newborn period? Is it really that bad if you're already used to juggling and being outnumbered?

Not sure if I’m looking for support, advice, or needing to rant, but my wife and I are approaching the end of our sanity.

We’ve got 10 month old twin girls and they had been sleeping pretty well through the night outside of needing a check in or what we have dubbed an IPE (Involuntary Paci Ejection) and just popping it back in. They had a sleep regression at 7 months and then the illnesses began. In span of like two months they both had a stomach flu, Baby A has had COVID and two ear infections, and they most recently traded a 24 hour bug with each other (Baby A had it Wednesday and Thursday, Baby B had it Thursday and Friday). This has been a huge setback for us and it’s starting to wear us down.

My wife and I would usually trade nights on who would get up and check on them so that each of us could get a solid nights sleep. That worked until it didn’t. Their crazy sleep schedules led us to moving a mattress into the floor because Baby A would need to hold our hand to sleep and Baby B would want to lay beside us when she would be inconsolable. Yes, we understand that this has led to some bad habits and dependencies. We were just at a point where we wanted to let each other get sleep so we could push on.

It also doesn’t help that they have started having separation anxiety from my wife. I think it’s due to them associating me with playing and my wife with soothing. Both of us play and soothe them and so it’s not like either one of us is neglecting their needs. This makes bed time hard sometimes because my wife will walk out and they will see her and then start freaking out.

On top of all this chaos, Baby B is getting her first two teeth and we aren’t sure if she is fussing for attention or because her mouth is bothering her. We’ve been relatively good at recognizing their different whines and cries as to if something is bothering them or if they just want attention. All bets are now out the window since it could be a plethora of things.

We started putting them to bed around 6 quite a while ago because my wife read that sometimes an earlier bedtime would lead to longer night sleeps. Maybe that isn’t what they need anymore? They just seem so tired at that point, but it’s become such a struggle with getting them to stay asleep. We also do a dream feed at 10:00 pm and that seems to hold Baby A over until 5:00 - 6:00 am usually. Baby B will wake up anywhere between 1:00 - 3:00 am and will fight going back to bed.

My wife and I have discussed sleep training and have tried before, but haven’t been able to stick to it. We decided to try again tonight and we’re trying the Ferber method. Baby B woke up about 20 minutes after going down and so we waited a few minutes before going to check on her and my wife got her settled or so we thought and went to leave and Baby B absolutely lost her shit. No tears, just absolute screaming meltdown and we couldn’t get her calm. I started typing this out once she calmed down, but the ordeal has taken at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half. We really aren’t sure what to do now.

I’ve joined the sleep training subreddit and will be looking for information and advice there, but wanted to come here since we can’t be the only twin parents who have struggled with this. I will be sending this to my wife and can update this with any additional information that may be needed.

I know it’s just a phase, but we are absolutely exhausted. Thanks in advance for any input anyone has.

Is it just me?

Constantly cooking, cleaning or dealing with fighting. It's rarely fun. And I'm not even with them full-time, they are all in preschool.

I'm just drowning in hating all of this, and am lately just jealous of the life I could have had with either one, two or even zero kids.

The traveling. The time. The joy. The money. I want all of that right now.

And now I feel guilty writing it out. Woohoo 🥹

Hello!

FTM 22 weeks pregnant and trying to figure out sleeping arrangements. We know we eventually want 2 mini cribs, but we were wondering if a mini crib can fit both babies for the first four months, before we separate them or if you need a full size crib for them to co-sleep in.

Thanks!

We have 3 under 3, oldest being nearly 3 and twins under 6months. Are wagons worth the hype? We’re in Canada so they are quite pricey, and I assume a bugger to push through the snow. Are they just the latest overrated thing, or will they make our lives easier?

My twins are 5.5 months old (4 adjusted). Right now, they are still in bassinets in our bedroom, but I know in the next couple months they’ll outgrow that and move into cribs in their nursery. We don’t have room for cribs in our bedroom. It would be amazing if they were sleeping through the night by then, but I’m assuming they won’t be given that they still wake every 2-3 hours right now. So, I’m trying to think ahead to the logistics of nursing them overnight once they move into the nursery.

Right now, I sit on the side of the bed facing the bassinets, get my pillow situated, set the first baby on the bed next to me, set the second baby on the pillow, shift the first one over, and tandem feed them. When they’re done, I shift forward so my knees are up to the bassinets and transfer each one back.

The nursery has a rocking chair, but I cannot figure out how I would get each baby from cribs and situate them for tandem nursing without a bed to “stage” them on. Even using the tandem pillow on the chair seems challenging. But nursing them one at a time overnight seems like a good way to have one screaming baby waiting, plus have me awake for double the time.

How do you all do this?

Hey all,

We are currently mulling over primary schools in the area for our 4 year old identical twin boys. All the schools round here are good but the two frontrunners are one close by (walkable in 10 mins) and one a bit further away (5 mins drive, faff to park etc). Second one would definitely be more hassle and time but is totally doable. Difference is the closest one has one class per year and the further one two class per year meaning we could split the boys up.

I have always thought I would split them up but never been hard line on it, wife is more relaxed about it than me. The boys aren't clingy to each other at nursery but we are a bit worried they aren't making friends like the other kids as they dont see the point as they have their best mate (brother) with them all the time. Fwiw, I don't think they would mind either way (I mean they would say they wanted to stay together but wouldn't complain too much if we split them).

Am I overthinking? Should we just send them to the great school round the corner or is it worth the extra hassle to split them up?

I am 15 weeks and reading conflicting info about belly belts/maternity bands. Did anyone wear one this early? Or were you advised one way or another on them?

What was your twin baby shower theme?? We're working on planning ours and are looking for some fun ideas like "Oh deer, it's twins" or "holy cow, it's twins" etc.

Would love to know what everyone did/is planning!

***didn't know what flair to put on this, haha

What are the sleeping arrangements for your triplets when you stay in a hotel? We’re planning a trip to Disneyland and the trips will be about 1.5 years old. We’re not to sure which approach we’ll take for bed time.

I read “When you’re expecting twins, triplets, or quads” but looking for something to give us the 101 on what to do after they’re here… thank you!

One of my good friends is expecting twins! A joyful, if scary, surprise. To give context of my experience, I'm the eldest of a lot of kids (33F) and I have two children ages 10 and 12.

My friends would need help in the time where neither of them would be home from work, so 6-8 hours m-f. Am I actually grossly underestimating how difficult this will be? What should I prepare myself for?

Also, would asking for $500-700 a week be unreasonable? Thank you for your input! Also, new to this sub so my apologies for any rules broken.

Our twins where born at 30 weeks on Mother’s Day we spent two months in the NICU baby A was just a feeder and grower but baby B had NEC and surgery on day 2 of life. When they reversed baby bs colostomy bag he ended up with a hernia at the surgical site. It’s almost time to go back and have his hernia repaired we’ve waited till he was 60 weeks so that it is an outpatient procedure. I guess I’m worried about how the recovery will go and am looking for advice on what to expect after the surgery? Anything that helped or I should prepare for?

Sorry for my ramble I’m scared and stressed about what is coming up….

10m twins are quite reliant on pacifiers for soothing. Both of them will know they are sleepy and go look for a pacifier and straight up start snoring the second it hits their mouths. We admittedly use pacifier leashes and allow them to use them as much as they want.

We started when they were premies and we were doing everything possible to reduce SIDS risk. Baby a also has laryngomalacia and the pacifier has helped him nose breathe more than mouth breathe.

I also was a chronic thumb sucker as a kid and had to get dental gear to quit.

Now that the SIDS fears are much lower, I’m curious of a cost vs benefit analysis… when do the problems start for pacifier kids? Do they try to replace the pacifier with fingers or thumbs if you take them away? Any other thoughts on what the optimal age for weaning off of them is?