Tips And Tricks For Raising Twins

Photo by Sarah Pflug from Burst 

Anxious how life will be with twins in the house, one really cannot imagine the fun and the tasks these four little feet bring along until they arrive. The journey of twin babies from being wombmates to being roommates has its own double-trouble moments as well as relishing a more-the-merrier situation. (More of this for sure 😊)

But with few basics in place, you lucky mommies and daddies will be good to sail the boat.

• Seek Support- Help yourself by taking help from your closed ones. If no one is around, invest in a nanny. It takes a village to raise a single baby so when it comes to twins, more the merrier stands true when it comes to helping hands.

• Schedule - Sketch & Sync a schedule. Having a routine and schedule will help keep your sanity and babies in place. Unlike you, babies are even more clueless (newborns REMEMBER!) about what’s happening so a routine helps them understand the concept of sequencing. Gradually, they will understand bath comes after massage, morning comes after night etc. It eventually helps in inculcating habits and they will be less confused and more confident about the surroundings and themselves.

• Feeding - The most challenging part when it comes to twins. You can either feed them together in tandem style with the help of a nursing pillow or you can find other ways like feeding one after the other or you can feed one and pump for the other and someone else can also feed. Or you can breast feed one and give the top feed to the other. Keep turns so that each baby gets nutrition of the breast milk and gets used to the taste of the top feed as well. This way you can also get some time off and bond with the babies separately. Maintain a feeding timetable as well, as it gets really confusing who was fed at what time.

• Sleep Training - Making your babies sleep like a baby! Is it even possible? Yes, it is! Just a few practices and routines in place and babies are all set for a good tight sleep. In the initial three months, sleep patterns of the babies can be erratic as they are settling themselves with a new environment all together. Fourth month onwards, sleep training can be given. Start from setting a routine like putting the curtains, dimming of the light, swaddling, feeding, singing some lullabies, rocking the baby and eventually put the baby down with some pillow support and lie next to him/her to make them feel cozy and comfortable and tada! the baby has already started dreaming or may be snoring (haha my twin girl does that). Also, remember a well-fed and not-wet baby is a well-slept baby. So, take care of the feeding and diapers. Trust me it can be as simple as this, no rocket science.

• Organize - Arrange everything, starting from maintaining a diaper bag with tissues, rash cream, diapers obviously, filling bottles with weighed formula milk powder, pumped milk, keeping clothes sets ready for the next day, to making a diet chart handy, keeping a diary to note the feed and nappy timings in the initial three months. Assign a chest of drawers for all the paraphernalia you need for the babies frequently like bottles, milk, pump, diapers, tissue, medicines/ supplements etc. Organizing things will bring calm in the chaos.

• Two together - Not one at a time, here always two together. Bathe them together, feed them together, change together, play together and make them sleep together. It not only helps in nurturing a bond in them, it also gives you the opportunity to have some time for yourself.

• Spend time separately - Always remember, whether identical or fraternal, they are twins but individuals. Therefore, it is important to carve some time out with each Twin separately. It will surely develop a special bond with each baby and you will be able to find out their uniqueness and can celebrate their individuality. By spending some time apart, it gives a room for baby’s self-sufficiency in its own special way. The more comfortable babies become with their own autonomy by just being them while being alone, the more comfortable and confident the child will be around others. But let me tell you a secret, I do miss the other twin whoever is not in the room (confession of a twin mommy).

• Divide and conquer – The rule to bring twin parenting game on point is ‘Don’t play single, be a team’. Assign tasks and duties and babies too. Yes, you read right, we had assigned the responsibility of each twin separately to each of us particularly in the night. Because if you both wake up with each twin, you will be awake the entire night.  Likewise, allocate responsibilities of diaper changing, top feeding, bottle sterilizing, bathing, meal prepping for babies, washing and ironing of clothes, etc. Though things will go haywire sometimes, but most of the days will be less chaotic and more organized.

• Self-care - Take care of yourself as it is a part of taking care of kids. From having a good spa session to some Netflix binge. From asking for some help and doing nothing to just staring at the ceiling. From wearing your favorite piece of clothing to roaming around in a messy bun. From not worrying about getting validation from others to just being a human being. Everything counts and most importantly celebrating the essence of being you while carrying the world inside and outside you. They need a happy and healthy Mumma both physically and emotionally.

Also, just slow down and enjoy the ride as someone rightly said, they grow in the blink of an eye. If you happen to be a mommy of twins, please share your journey with me as well.

Nupur Prasad is a publicist by profession and currently on childcare leave. She is a photography enthusiast and home décor lover. She is a mother of twins, a girl & a boy, currently experiencing the best of both worlds. Connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

Found this article useful? Read more blogs at www.themomstore.in 

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mom Store.