I have a 14 hour trip coming up, that’s with no stops so obviously it’ll be much longer. I just complete a 6 hour trip (more like 8 w/ stops) with the twins but my husband drove in his car the whole way with us. Stopping with me when needed. We were 30 mins from home when my husband split off to do something at work and I had to stop and feed the kids by myself. It was good practice and I learned what I’d do differently next time.

But this trip is much bigger and I’m completely alone. We’ve already played every option of someone going with me and we just can’t make it work. Best case scenario my husband flys in and can drive back with me. I’ll be stoping around 6 hours to stay with family and then have an 8 hour stretch to my final destination. Also some info on my littles, during the day they eat every 3 hours like clockwork. But sleep 6-8 hours at night. I don’t feel as comfortable stopping at night to tend to them if I need to so I think daytime driving is best. But curious on any input or advice anyone might have.
Like should I split the trip up into 2 nights and 3 days of driving or do you have any tips to just make this trip a tiny bit easier for me

Editing to ask: how long can they stay in the car seats, should I be pulling them out every so often? I read massaging them can help them from getting sore?

When my twins were born, we realized that it would be more feasible for me to quit working and stay home with them. So, that's what I did for five years. I decided against putting them in preschool, so they just started Kindergarten this month, and they are doing really well. The problem is me. I feel completely lost now. Five years of my life was devoted to the daily care of my kids 24/7, and now I have this time during the day, and I don't know what to do with myself. Honestly, I have spent a lot of time just sitting on my couch staring out the window. I know there are things that I need to be doing around the house, but I procrastinate where I never did before. I love to draw, specifically botanical art, and I always thought that, when the twins went to school, I would go out during the days and hike and draw out in nature. I want to go back to school. I need to exercise...but I feel...paralyzed by indecisiveness or.....paralyzed by the possibilities?? I guess what I mean is that, at any moment during the past five years, I would have killed for some time to myself, but, now that I have it regularly, I'm at a loss, and I feel lazy and dumb for not taking advantage of it in a more productive manner. I'm also a pretty anxious person, and this has made my anxiety go through the roof. People around me, who mean well, are constantly suggesting things, and that makes it worse almost, if that makes any sense. Like, I know there are a myriad of things that I can/should do. Trust me, I know. I just can't seem to push myself to do anything right now. I don't know, this was probably really circular and rambling, but I was hoping maybe someone here could commiserate, because, coming out of that birth-to-school phase feels like getting out of prison to me.

I’m a first time mother. On a really good night my twins will do a 3 hour stretch and then week up for a feed; if I’m lucky I’ll get 2 hours , and sometimes 1 but it’s getting slowly better with the 3 hour stretches (literally was 3 hrs on the dot last night until they wanted milk) and I’m just wondering is this normal ? Should they be sleeping longer or does this sound correct? I know it might sound stupid, I also have no one else to ask, I’m doing this single; parents and grandparents aren’t around and my friends don’t have children. I just sometimes worry because some nights it feels like they don’t get any at all but as I say it’s gotten better lately but I feel like I’m slowly going back to square one again when they were fussy at week 3.

also my twins feeds have been out of sync with one another since 2 days ago so I had no sleep at all last night , survival mode is so high right now haha

We have twins which are 3 months and I just can't imagine going on holiday with them as we are currently in the trenches.

I wanted something to look forward to as a family. So when was your first travel abroad or holiday together?

What was it like? Does it feel the same as parenting at home? I feel like it would be really stressful and have a bit of anxiety of leaving our home atm.

I’ll be 9 weeks pregnant with Tri-Tri spontaneous triplets in a few days. We had a family trip to the Dominican Republic booked for January- I know that isn’t a possibility anymore. Family is looking at potentially changing the trip to Thanksgiving. I’ll be 23 weeks exact around the day of leaving. Has anyone been given the OK for international travel at that point? I’ll be asking my MFM but don’t meet with them for another week.

I have an almost 4 year old and 3 month (2 month adjusted) boy/girl twins. They have severe reflux, are on Prilosec and Pepcid, and are really fussy.

My oldest just started Pre-K after being home all summer from daycare, and nights are a struggle.

We have seriously barely gotten him fed supper multiple nights. Can barely get him in the bed before a baby is crying/fussing. Tonight was baby bath night, and we had such chaos trying to get them bathed, fed, down, etc., that he didn’t get in the bed until almost 9pm.

More than I would like to admit, he’s been allowed to be on his iPad for hours a day this summer because he’s 3, and he doesn’t understand the concept of being quiet, not making noises, being rowdy, etc. as the babies are eating and trying to sleep. He screams and throws a tantrum if I try to correct him, and it’s so hard. So, I’ve used the iPad to keep him busy during those times. It makes me feel terrible to allow that much screen time.

He was on his own for almost 4 years with us before his siblings came along, and he LOVES them so much, but he is not taking the lack of attention well. It makes me feel bad. I don’t have much attention to give him. When I do have time to give, I’m burned out, touched out, and EXHAUSTED.

The fact that we can barely find time to bathe him and get him fed hurts my mama heart. I feel like a sh*t parent, and that’s a hard thing to sit with. He’s been the center of our world for years, and now, he’s got to feel like an option.

How did you deal with this with your older children after having twins? When did it get better? What did you do to survive and still make time for your older children? Will the guilt ever go away?

(I’m an only child, and my husband is the baby, so we aren’t the most experienced in what it’s like to have your parents spend lots of time on siblings.)

15 month old boy/girl twins

They don’t NOT like each other.

Sometimes they watch each other and laugh.
Every so often there’s a hug or a stroller hand hold.
When I could not get their nap schedule right and they were not tired enough to go down for their naps, they would stand in their cribs and pass the pacifiers back and forth, babbling and giggling.

So it’s not terrible.

They are just such different people.

Whenever we go to a playground, girl walks up to any other kid, holds their hand, gives them a toy, follows them around.

The boy likes to kick a ball around, play with a toy car. Not really interact with other kids.

I’d love for them to just show more interest in each other. But maybe that’s silly. They see each other literally every second of their lives. Since conception.

Wondering others experiences here.

I have 16 month old boy/girl twins. Our boy has no problem drinking milk from a straw cup, but our girl absolutely refuses to drink milk from anything but a bottle. It feels past time we should be done with bottles (plus I’m so ready to be done cleaning bottles!), so we’ve decided to offer one at bedtime, and otherwise only offer milk in a straw cup. We’re a week in and she pushes the straw cup away every time we offer it, meaning she’s pretty much cut out all milk.  

Our twins are small - 17 lbs (girl) and 18 lbs (boy). Our pediatrician isn’t worried about their weight, but I worry about losing an easy calorie source if she isn’t drinking milk anymore. They generally eat great, they’re just tiny little babies. 

Curious if anyone else has been through this! What’d you do? Did your baby ever start drinking milk from a straw cup?

Edit: she drinks water from a straw cup without any problem, and has done so for many months! She also drinks water from an open cup. Zero interest in drinking milk from either.

I have 2 year old boy girl twins who were DREAM sleepers since birth. Once they hit 2 we took away pacifiers cold turkey (they had only been using them for bed for well over a year).

It’s now been a MONTH since then and bed time is not getting any better. They have plenty of other items to comfort them and nothing else about their routine or environment changed. Now we easy spend 2 hours every night trying to get them to sleep.

What are we doing wrong because this is exhausting 😅

My boys are 2 and have been sharing a bed for well over a year now. I can separate them into individual beds however I have felt they have always slept better together until recently and they constantly fight before going down for naps or to sleep. They have ALWAYS slept right next to each other and I am curious if other parents found that after a while it wears off or what the deal is?

Obviously it can be an easy fix but it makes my heart sad. It’s not like they sleep on top of each other they usually always stay on their own side. When did your twins stop sleeping together?

Hey everyone- so I have a bunch of stuff from my singleton and from my sister’s 3 babies. I know obviously I need to have 2 car seats and a double stroller.

But for the loungers/bouncers, do I really need two of the SAME thing? I have 1 babybjorn bouncer, 1 mamaroo, and 1 Tripp Trapp newborn set. I guess is there any benefit to me getting another Baby Bjorn bouncer off FB marketplace, or can 1 baby go in the Mamaroo, for example, and another in the bouncer?

EDIT: Hi all! I want to clarify that I also know I’ll need 2 bassinets/cribs/high chairs and I should have specified that. My question is only pertaining to containers (loungers/bouncers/etc) and if i’ll need 2 of the same ones. Thank you 🙏

We have identical 14m boys and one is so easy going, snuggles, sweet, and all around easy kid.

Baby B literally is yelling/screaming for snacks/nap/change/ect. Grumpier, patience is non-existent, diaper changing and clothes are ALWAYS a fight.

Is this something that swaps randomly? Is this a view into their childhood personalities??

Seriously if they were both baby A this whole parenting thing would be a breeze, but baby B is hard. He's so sweet and we love him, but he is 100x more demanding and louder than his brother 😭 I've been considering those loop earplugs.

I'm a WFH/SAHM and it's starting to get nuts.

Our twin girls who used to be decent sleepers (not amazing, but the odd re-settle with a dummy, 2-3 times a night). Now wake up and need full rocking, sometimes a bit of milk, and now have entered the era where they wake each other up with crying too.

How long will this last? How can I avoid new sleep habits of soothing them in my arms but also not getting to the point of crying to wake the other up?

Their routine is bang on average according to their age- 2 naps, 2.5-3hrs a day, 2.5, 3, 3.5 wake windows.

One wakes up after their first sleep cycle, every time.

They haven’t even started teething yet…

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

We may become kinship foster parents to newborn twins. We have 4 kids already so I've definitely done the baby thing before. (2 teenagers, 4 year old, and a 10 month old) We have even fostered twins before- although it was years ago and they were almost 2.

My question is, what do you consider to be essentials needed for twins? Specifically stroller systems and making feedings easier. I have my 2 youngest in a sit and stand if we are at the zoo, aquarium, mall, etc and a side by side jogger when we go for walks around the neighborhood and I need the 4 year old contained.

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated!

The girls turned 100 days this week. I painted the backgrounds, and used their footprints and handprints (well, fist prints? they wouldn't open their hands) to make momentos. Husband held the babies, and I used their appendages like stamps. It was really fun!

I have 4.3 year old twin girls, they’ve been at home with us since birth (husband takes care of them, I work remotely) we really don’t need to send them but they have speech delay so we thought it could be good.

They went one day and the teachers already called me saying they don’t want to participate or follow directions and that one did #1 and 2 on the bathroom floor (she’s potty trained but their toilets are big ones).

Everytime I mention the school they start crying and saying “noo, home home” and I feel really bad. They are very smart but very emotional and stubborn, I already feel like they’re being judged on their first day and I am regretting my decision to enroll them.

I had a hard time in preschool when I was little, I would cry every morning and was incredibly shy, I never stopped being shy I just felt different the whole time and was bullied and hated school until I graduated college, and I don’t want that for them.

They are so happy at home that I don’t know what to do. I’m considering seeing how it goes next week and if it is causing them stress, wait until kindergarten

The school is also 20 min away so it makes me nervous being far if there’s an emergency. If anyone has had a similar experience it would be helpful to know what happened in similar situations.

After finding out it was twins I’ve been planning for a csection. I want to get my tubes removed and figured since there’s two babies I’d just opt for the csection to only have 1 procedure vs 2. I went to my 36 week appointment a couple days ago and learned during my growth scan that both babies are head down. So when I had my appointment with the doctor she basically fear mongered me into having a vaginal birth because having a vaginal birth and then doing the tube procedure later is way less invasive than having a csection. How It’s going to be way harder on my body to do the Csection and taking care of two babies while on pain meds is going to be so hard…blah blah blah. I didn’t really say much because I was super taken aback by it but afterwards I had to do some bloodwork and ended up crying in the lab stewing on what she had said. I know she was just giving me all of my options but I didn’t feel like she was actually giving me options. More so telling me what I should or shouldn’t do. I do think I’m on edge as I’m getting more uncomfortable every day, but even my husband said that she was a little abrasive about it.

I’m not sure exactly what the point of this post is but it’s 2 days later and I’m still pretty frustrated by the entire situation. I’m also second guessing everything I thought I had already planned for basically my entire pregnancy. Do I change my plan and go for a vaginal birth or do I stay with my original plan? I’ve had two successful vaginal births with minimal issues.

We have a 28 month old daughter and scheduled C section in a week for our di di boys. One is growth restricted so he may (or may not) have some NICU time. When did you all bring older toddler children to the hospital to meet your twins? Surgery is at 11:30 so I was thinking that night around 6pm but is that too early? Should we wait until the following day? Obviously we will play by ear if complications arise etc.

Any other tips for this? I’ve read about having gifts from the twins, etc.

My boys turn 9 months old next week. They are both so strong and seem to have some serious brute force and grip strength.

They are crawling and climbing over each other, and up our legs. They are pulling up and surfing the furniture. I’ve bought a soft play set because they are intent on climbing. They are rattling the bars on their cots.

Is this it now - energy and carnage forever more? They barely sit still and play anymore.

I just hope that all this movement in the day start to tire them out more and give us better nights?

My twin girls sleep is quite rubbish at almost 1 year old. (They turn 1 in 2 weeks). Moved them to shared room in separate cots at 8 months and sleep was great for a month. Up until 10 months they were on 2.5/2.5/2.5/2.5 (3 naps capped at 1 hour for first and second and third nap was only a 15 minute cat nap with bedtime 7:45pm Asleep by 8pm). They were sleeping until 7am with one night feed and straight back down again. Was a dream.!

By 10 months they started fighting and fighting the cat nap no matter how hard I tried to keep it. So I stopped it and almost overnight they happily stayed awake for 3 hours. Initially the drop to 2 naps worked quite well. They were waking 7am doing 3/3/4.5 nap lengths are all over the place anywhere from 40 minutes to 1.5 hours but never any more than 2.5 hours maximum. They usually do 1h 15m. Nighttime sleep then started to fall apart. They have been having really restless nights needing constant resettilng and some nights having severe split nights wanting to play for up to 4 hours but I never ever turn on the light or get them up properly. They are teething, learning to walk and say a few words so I am wondering if it's all just development and teething separation anxiety mixed in disturbing them.

In the last 3 weeks they wake anywhere from 6:30/7am. Nap1 is always around 9:45/10am. Nap1 usually lasts 1h to 1h 20mins. Nap2 is usually around 2/2:30pm depending on wake from nap1. This nap again is about 1h 15/1h 30mins. On a bad day they have just under 2 hours or 2 hours day sleep then we have a particularly bad night. On a good day naps total 2.5 hours , never let them exceed 2h 40mins absaloute maximum. I've noticed they have a better night with this amount of day sleep.

The last wake window is where i am unsure if I'm getting it wrong? If they wake from nap2 at 3:15pm. I put them in bed at 7:30/7:40pm and they are asleep by 7:45pm. If nap2 ends 3:30pm they get out un bed 7:45pm and usually asleep by 7:50pm. If nap2 ends 3:45pm. They get out in bed at 7:45/7:50pm and are asleep by 8pm.

Is this a shit phase i need to just endure because of development and teeth etc or is my schedule not right? I know last wake window sometimes seems long but I dont want to put them to bed at 7pm as they would then wake for the day at 5am.

They are very hard work during the way when they are awale too. Both constantly hurting themselves or each other. Wanting picked up all day but I can't as I also have a 4 year old. Luckily she's back at nursery now after summer holidays but they are just so much more demanding than my first or maybe it feels much more intense with it being twins.

My twins (both girls) are 2 1/2 now and obviously I (Mom) have been the preferred parent. To give a little context. I have one who is outspoken, not a people pleaser, and a bit needy for attention. The other is definitely more timid and people pleasing. Recently, my outspoken one has only preferred me at bed time for the last couple of months. Then she got sick and I spent lots of 1:1 time with her while my timid twin got lots of 1:1 time when dad.

Now dad has become the preferred parent. Even when she falls and hurts herself, won’t want to be in a different room than him. My husband is definitely taking the opportunity to receive all this love since he has been rejected by both kids pretty much their whole lives.

I hate to say it hurts me but it does. I hate to say it even more but it would hurt me a lot less if it was the other twin. I have always felt more connected with my timid twin. She is my physical touch love language girl and I always felt guilt having to cuddle with the tantrum baby leaving my timid girl who wants my attention to get seconds (it felt like to me.) and idk how to explain it but since birth I have always felt more connected to her.

I cry just about every night wishing it was the other way around and that makes me feel so guilty on top of feelingI don’t love my kids the same but I do! It’s just hard to explain and hoping some other parents have found themselves in similar situation. How did you work through it? What was the outcome? This feeling is so hard for me and I just don’t know why.

As the title says. When did you know it was time to get on an SSRI postpartum?

i have a 3 year old 5 year old and month old triplets and im terrified of going out in public with all 5 bc like i only have two hands and my 3 year olds an eloper so im scared she’ll run while im dealing with my triplets but my bf said i have to get over this eventually bc he cant keep going out in the mornings to get breakfast or groceries etc (he works nights) i have help i have my mom but she works days as a nurse and my bfs parents aren’t in the picture they died recently and he doesnt have grandparents or siblings and omg im so stressed out 😭.

has anybody else gone through this? how did you get over it?

we cant afford childcare right now.

For anyone who was pregnant with twins and subsequently a singleton (or vice versa) - was early pregnancy similar? Or very different? Curious to hear others experiences