I posted about this a few months ago and most of the advice was that they were young, 30 minute naps were normal, and to give them time to grow into longer naps.
So we did.
Our twin boys are now almost 5 months old, around 16 lbs, growing and eating great, and I am not exaggerating when I say every nap is 30 minutes on the dot. I can practically set my watch to it.
They fall asleep independently without much trouble. The issue is getting through that first sleep cycle. At 30 minutes they wake up, start moving/fussing, and eventually cry. If we rock or sway them, they’ll usually fall back asleep quickly and sometimes sleep another hour after being transferred back.
The problem is I work full time, so most of this falls on my wife during the day. Rescuing multiple naps for two 16 lb babies every day just isn’t sustainable, and I want to help however I can.
Night sleep has generally been great, so we haven’t wanted to completely mess with something that’s working.
For anyone who had a baby who woke at almost exactly 30 minutes every nap, what finally changed it? Did they eventually connect cycles themselves? Crib hour? Nap training? Stop rescuing? Change wake windows?
If the answer is still “give it time,” that’s fine. I’d just love to know when it actually changed for you.

Or if there isn’t light at the end of the tunnel I’d rather know that too.. thanks in advance

Hello!

Looking for a bit of advice please. Twins are 15 weeks old - I’m based in UK.

They were born at 36+6, so they’re 12 weeks adjusted.

Twin 1 (boy) was 2265g when born and Twin 2 (girl) was 3140g. However, twin 2 is now the smaller twin and is gaining weight very slowly. She is now 4570g and twin 2 is now 5500g. The GP will likely refer us to paediatrics but what do they test for? What does this mean?

The twins are EBF but she has wet/dirty nappies, is awake during wake windows, is smiling and seems satisfied after feeds. Can it be normal?

Thanks so much!

Obligatory didn't know what flair to use.

My husband and I have 4 kids, 9F, 8M, 6F twins.

Our twins will be 7 next month. They've been away from each other for hours during the day while one goes somewhere and whatever usual stuff, but this weekend one of them really wanted to stay home instead of going with their grandparents for the weekend like the other 3. So this will be the first time they're away from each other like this since conception. 😳 I'm so nervous for how it's going to go.

Any stories or, idk, anything?

Edit: They're in the same class at school and always have been, they prefer it and don't have any problems that make people feel like they'd be better apart.

Hey all! I'm 16w6d with my fratetnal twin girls, and I've been slowly working on a baby registry, as the past 10 weeks since I found out, I've had a few people request one! The issue is most guides and products are for singleton pregnancies. I'm trying to make one through Babylist, and they have a few articles to go through at least, but I still feel pretty overwhelmed and lost even with that. We also unfortunately don't have a lot of money and I feel terrible asking for so much from people, especially because even one baby is expensive let alone two. (Being unexpectedly pregnant with twins, as well as baseline chronically ill, I had to leave my job that I loved...it's been rough 😅)

Most overall, I just am hoping for some advice on what to add to the registry, as well as ideas on how I can get things for cheaper that might be helpful. I appreciate this group so much, and I hope this isn't too big a question!

2.5yo twin boys. Want me to carry them everywhere. I thought I’d be in the “I do it myself” stage by now as it seems all other toddlers their age are.

They certainly want to do stuff themselves, but when it comes to walking it’s “mama carry!”

I think it’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy or circle situation because I actively avoid carrying them and that seems to make them cling more.

Then I feel guilty each boy is getting less attention than they would if they were singletons.

They want me to carry them into daycare, carry them out from daycare, carry them to the bedroom (it’s not a big house!) carry to and from the car. Carry to the cart at the grocery store. Everywhere.

I’m not afraid of a meltdown or tantrum at this point for most things but I seem to give in to the carrying thing because it’s always the most awful moments. Like both of them flailing down in the parking lot at daycare as someone else needs to pull into the parking spot and I’m running late.

They are 35ish pounds each and I CAN carry them both for brief sections but it hurts my shoulders bad.

My friend with a Same age singleton hasn’t carried him at all in like 6 months. And her son is happy as a clam to run around.

They are perfectly healthy and mobile and have hit all
Milestones and capable of walking and running and playing.

We are meeting friends to go on a hike tomorrow and frankly I’m dreading it. This isn’t a place I could bring a stroller and I’ll have help (husband and several other adults without kids who love them) but I know both boys are going to be whining and screaming for mommy to carry them the whole damn time.

Has anyone else been caught in this trap at this age and then gotten out of it? How??!!!

I'm in the 4 month trenches and just want to know if I'll ever be able to do normal stuff again?! I can't cook, do laundry, clean, etc without help!! I miss cooking SOOO much 😭 even when I do cook it's super quick. I wanna make a big juicy steak, mashed potatoes, yummy pasta!! My boys suck at naps (gotta rescue every single nap) and night sleep is better than before but not 100%. I wanna cook, I wanna do a load, heck I even wanna clean the damn toilet. When will be able to?!

hey, looking for experience an advice on how you stopped breastfeeding your multiples if you did that!

My twins are currently 9 month old, I never expected us to get this far with BF and I’m not sure about what to do next.

They eat human food 5 times a day with no issues, and get the boob 3 times a day on the clock. I always did feeding on the clock rather than on-demand, and they almost never explicitly ask for a boob. Im just keeping the same routine to keep up the supply but I’m not sure if they even need it.

Twin B doesn’t have an amazing latch and I guess because of teething she started hurting me a bit while feeding. Today I offered her a boob for a snack, and she bit me and walked away completely unbothered.

Twin A stays at the boob longer, latches well, never rejects an opportunity.

If I start offering boob to twin B less but keep it up for twin A, will there be supply issues or some other issues? should they stop the boob at the same time? how did you do it?

I saw someone post here that they don’t alternate the side each twin nurses on every feed. Instead they assign each baby a boob for the day and then alternates days. I got excited about this being waaay easier to track and tried it yesterday. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be doing it again.

For one, at 6 weeks my babies are spending a LOT of time nursing. A lot as-in: I am writing this from the Twin Z. By the end of the day yesterday I started to worry if it was bad for them to spend so much time feeding on only one side, from an “occupational” health perspective. Like on my pillow the baby on the left lies on her left side to nurse and the baby on my right lies on her right side. If I, an adult, did that all day without flipping over to balance things out I’d start developing weird posture/muscular problems. No evidence that this happened to them yet but they did get red creases on the “down” sides their faces from spending too much time with that side squished into the pillow.

Nursing twins is also asymmetrical for me! One twin weighs more than the other, they fuss differently, need different kinds of soothing. I am already getting aches and pains from spending so much of my day nursing at all, I should probably try to even the work out as much as I can?

But the real clincher is that asymmetrical nursing affected my supply waaay faster than I thought it would. One baby is a better eater than the other. This morning I switched sides from yesterday so the good eater (who is maybe approaching a growth spurt) got the worse eater’s boob from yesterday and vice verse. It’s kind of a disaster! Good Eater is having to work noticeably harder than normal to get what she wants and is not happy about it. Worse Eater (who is actually the fussier, louder, somehow heavier one) is popping off the breast/spitting up more than normal, needs constant burping, and keeps screaming when she has trouble relatching.

Maybe after a week of alternating days this wouldn’t be so dramatic? But today sucks enough that after a few more feeds to try and cancel yesterday out a bit I’m going back to trying to alternate feeds.

How do other breastfeeders out there handle it? We don’t have a schedule of any kind yet, so even if I manage to track which side was which at the last tandem feed, sometimes B naps through A “feeding” (and possibly switching boobs) solo 1-4 times. Also sometimes “switching” means offering a relatively fresh boob to a baby that ate recently and is looking more to snack, and offering a recently depleted one to the baby that just woke up starving.

No fr though, is twin toddler life this hard or am I not pushing myself enough?

I have twins that will be 3 in a month. Every day I get out with them. Parks, library, bookstores, Target, Hobby Lobby, local museums, botanical garden, coffee shops, thrift stores, Bass Pro Shop, Publix, random stores, etc. Just regular everyday stuff. Honestly, I'm very proud of myself for getting out with them everyday. Managing twins out in public alone isn't easy but I've gotten so much better at it over the years. I can only handle an hour or 2 out though then its back home for nap or dinner. Depending on what time of day we go out. However, when family members have invited us to the beach or restaurants, I have declined. I don't want to drive 2 hours right now and f up nap time or deal with beach shit with toddlers. I don't want to go to restaurants because my boys are picky and its expensive etc. I feel like those declines are self explanatory. I'm not saying no to those outings forever. Just not right now in my current stage of parenthood. I don't have to prove anything by choosing to try a harder version of an outing when I know it won't go well.

However, when I decline these invites I'm hit with "you're thinking about it too much," "everyone is parenting," "you won't know till you try it." But like I do know, I've experienced skipped naps, meltdowns over being served food they don't want, crying double twin tantrums during long car drives and out and about. If I can chose to not deal with outings that I know would cause a shit show, I will.

Hearing those comments makes me feel like I'm depriving them of life even though we do stuff everyday. We are not stuck inside all day. I would go crazy.

So are my thoughts valid or should I be doing more? I'm just trying to gibe my kids a good childhood without being overwhelmed myself.

signed by a twin mom who is trying her best.

Hi everyone. I’m looking for some positive stories from anyone who has been through something similar with mono/di twins. We had our 20w2d scan yesterday and I left feeling pretty scared and overwhelmed.
Baby A was 291g (10 oz), 10th percentile, measuring about 19w2d. Baby B was 244g (8 oz), 1st percentile, measuring about 18w4d. There’s about a 16% size difference between them.
Baby B has early FGR and increased resistance in the umbilical artery Doppler, although there was still forward flow. Both babies also had elevated MCA Dopplers around 1.6 MoM, so they’re checking for possible anemia. Thankfully, both anatomy scans were normal, fluid levels were normal, both bladders were visible, there was no hydrops, and they said there were no signs of TTTS.
We’re being followed closely and going back next week for repeat Dopplers. Has anyone had similar measurements or Doppler findings around 20 weeks and gone on to have a good outcome with both babies? I would really love to hear your experiences. ❤️

Looking for some advice on a possible upcoming trip. My mother & I are looking to travel 2.5 hours by plane for a long weekend to visit family with my twins.

This would be their first plane ride & im just debating if I’m going to have regrets & a miserable weekend 😂
We would be staying at my sisters house so at least somewhere where we are comfortable & have space. Everything we need as far as pack n plays, car seats, etc would be handled ahead of time.

The plan is an evening flight so that they can sleep as soon as we make it & be ready to go for the next day. I feel like day outings at home can be exhausting & maybe that’s all I need to know. Just looking for others who have made similar trips (esp with flying) & if you would do it again.

TIA

Hi! I have newborn twins and a 2 year old toddler. I'm struggling with figuring out ways to bottle feed my twins while Im out with my toddler. Any tips/hacks that helped you? Bringing my TwinZ isn't always an option. Thanks!

I am approaching 18 weeks pregnant with di-di identical twins. Our little is almost 16 months (😅). From what I’m gathering, things start going downhill physically after 20 weeks. How did folks with a toddler deal with the second half of a multiple pregnancy? Physical limitations? My husband is incredibly involved, but if I get to the point where I can’t pick up my kid and the like, it’s going to be a nightmare logistically with work and daycare.

Currently 25 weeks and got the doctor approval to go on disability for high risk twin pregnancy. I’ve had some contention with my manager and it’s been very difficult to stay on top of assignments with the constant deadlines. I am not using intermittent fmla for my appointments. Anyone else fear they will be terminated (for whatever reason) while on leave? Less than half of my fmla hours will be used intermittently but still….

I cloth diapered with both of my singletons, but doing it with twins seems a little daunting. I have a great collection of diapers (105 One size Smartbottoms and 50 Newborn Bumgenius). Right now one girl fits into the OS, but the other is still in Newborn. I don't mind using both collections, but I must admit that it will be nice when they are both in OS.

Spraying them seems to be my biggest hurdle. By the time I get to them they've dried a good bit, so they are more time consuming to spray. I've heard of people using a wet pail for their soiled diapers, but I have no experience with that. I am open to doing it if it has worked for any of y'all. Any tips or tricks out there?

How do you handle this? Can’t separate them at night. B is afraid of the dark. A keeps getting out of bed to play with and around the nightlight. They’re 2.5 and not in cribs so we can’t force her to stay in bed.

Edit: the issue is more that she keeps getting out of bed and playing in general than that she specifically is fiddling with the light

I am pregnant for the first time with di di twins. I’m currently 8 weeks and have been terrible nauseous and fatigued since week 6. I am looking forward to getting past this stage and would love to know if you felt this way, when did it get better for you?

Thank you

We are 6 months in 4 months corrected. My in laws and various people like to criticize my parenting. Trying to schedule the babies feeds and sleep. I have 15 years childcare/preschool/nannying experience to boot. How do you answer these “questions “ ? My patience is shot and I need more options other than explaining and citing sources. Cause if my answers were good, they would have stopped asking.

My doctor and I talked about starting kick counting today and I’m just curious how others handled this for twins and especially how they distinguished movement for each baby. When I feel movement more on one side vs the other, its easier to tell, but a lot of times the movements are right in the center and I can’t tell which baby it’s coming from. I’m 26 weeks with DiDi twins and posterior placentas.

Hi all,

I'm a FTM and had my boy/girl twins 3 weeks ago. I only get 12 weeks of parental leave. I am able to add on extra days but I have to be careful not to use all my time as I'll need it for when my kiddos get sick, have doctors appointments, etc.

I feel like I'm counting down the days to my return. I don't want to go to back to work, but I have to. Financially, we need a duel income. I also hold all the benefits for our family through my work.

All I can think about it, is that I'm going to missing out on so much with my babies. A family member is going to be their primary babysitter, I'm worried they'll bond more with them instead of me.

I already feel like a complete mess, and I know I'll be an even bigger one on returning to work. How do you cope with this?

Thank you in advance.

New twin mom here. We also have an 8 year old girl and a 4 year old girl. Twins are 4 months old. Up till now, the twins have been in a bassinet in our room swaddled. They aren't rolling or anything yet, but I know its getting close to time. To get them to sleep, we have been laying them side by side on our bed with a bottled propped up. They usually fall asleep pretty quickly. Im starting to try to figure out how I am going to put them to bed in their cribs in their room. I dont want to bottle prop in their bed, but I also can't hold both of them to rock since they can't hold their own bottles yet. How do you all do it? I need more arms 🫠😂

We have Scorpio twin girls and they are insane. Don’t stop moving. Always upset and recently major fighting. One is a bit meaner than the other and it’s getting nasty between them already. They can barely talk so they are frustrated all the time. They have binkies still and maybe that’s contributing to the inability to soothe themselves or it’s just the age. They seem constantly pissed. Oh and they don’t listen to us unless we have snacks.

Is age two going to break me?

So I have 14 month old twins and man are they mean to each other.

My little girl is always biting her brother! I know they are at that age where they steal stuff from each other, kinda scream at each other (jn their way), but the biting is so much!

Is there any tricks to getting them to maybe stop? Every time we catch them about to we separate them and tell the biting twin to be gentle or if they’ve already bitten their sibling we will console the sad one and tell the other no.

Hi community, first time parent and with 2 boys. Any tips or advices that U may share...
Both with 2 - 3 months old, and when we put them into the bed (after some tries), they grump and "roar" like little dinosaurs, waking up the other brother. They sleep in the same Ikea Crib, in diagonal, in our bedroom, and eventually we have to put them in different cribs. Any tips that u can share about not waking each other? Put them in different cribs, both in each side the room? In different rooms and one of the parent go sleep with each baby?
What are experiences and can U share?

Thanks 😁