There must be something in the water lately with this twin explosion. Hopefully this answers a lot of the twin-specific questions that are out there. Don't hesitate to ask a twin mama, as we usually look out for one another (as all mamas do
)
1. It's easiest to get the bubbas as close to each other on routine as possible. This is easier to do with identicals but even identicals have their own individual needs. My girls would hit phases within two weeks of each other and those weeks were pretty challenging because you're dealing with a development with one and keep the other one close so you don't go crazy. Nf's were a nightmare in this department When one woke, we would wake the other to save our sanity.
2. Get help for pu/pd for about a week. It is REALLY hard to do alone. Even if it's for naps, get a friend over and dp to help at night.
3. It is a lot easier to keep them in the same bed until it becomes a hindrance to sleep. Our girls were two months old and started causing too much disturbance in the crib and they were getting too big to lie sideways . Since we had the crib head elevated because we heard it would stop them from projectile vomiting in their sleep and we couldn't do it if they lay end to end.
4. Push the white noise. We still use it and it's so great. It helped with so many nw's just to have only one lo up.
5. Feeding was done by bottles after a week and when I did it on my own, I found the bouncy chairs helped and I would sit in between them. I would give a soother to one and burp the other and then switch before they could hold their bottles. When they could hold their bottles, I would alternate cuddling one and letting the other feed herself. Some people use bottle holders but I have some safety concerns with those. You can stagger the feeds by 20 mins or so if need be, and this would be especially helpful for BF mamas (tandem bf'ing two newborns isn't that easy, I tried it and failed miserably). So twin 1 would be on an EAS routine and twin 2 would be on an AEAS routine. It won't take too much trial and error to figure out which of the two would be more patient with waiting for the feed.
6. Solids were easy because I sat between them and being spirited they ate pretty quick. Sometimes I would feed one a bite and then the other but they got pretty impatient and I learned how to use both hands at the same time. I would strongly suggest BLW as it can let them have some much needed time to entertain themselves and explore while not taxing mom to feed them and keep up with them.
7. Most twins are somewhat premature. Some do exceptionally well, but even at 38 weeks (when my OB/GYN said they liked to get them out), some do have some premie things going on. Some don't need to be corrected at 38 weeks when technically most lo's don't need to be corrected anyway, but I found that mine did, especially the smaller one. Even the intro of foods needed to be delayed by two weeks and it made a world of difference for us. Reflux was definitely an issue for us and many other twins I'm seeing lately.
"Mostly, you make it what it is. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. Just do for one what you do for the other, right down to bathing and diaper changes, it is just easier that way." This is the best twin motto ever
Special thanks to Cherie for helping with all of this. Twins truly are a joy, they're uniquely challenging and mothers mostly need support. They often ask why there are no twin specific boards (as I did) and my now go-to answer is: I've received so much help from non-twin mamas that my posts would have been lost on a smaller multiples board where many people would skip it as there aren't too many twin families on here. Posting on the regular boards will get the most amount of eyes on the situation and if you put 'twins' in the subject line, then us twin mamas usually jump on for a peek to see if we can help.
