please please just tell me it gets easier soon!!!

[mumsgonemad123]

so my 18 mo twin boys are driving me insane at the mo they seem to be at a really tough stage. Here's a little list of what i am dealing with!! :

fighting, snatching toys, pushing, wrestling, biting, wailing when i leave the room, bad seperation anxiety from one (the other is not too bad), v. bad jealousy between them, into everything, climbing everywhere, clingy, whining, grizzly. Laughing when i say 'no' and doing whatever they were doing all the more. Major tantrums when trying to get them into the car, buggy, highchairs, Endless cycle of colds and bugs to deal with this winter and one is teething at the mo too. Bedtimes very difficult, taking ages to get them down, i could go on and on.

I feel like i am drowning some days. Doesn't help that it is winter, am really holding out a lot of hope that i will soon turn a corner with them this spring and summer.

Would appreciate a few positive happy stories of twins getting easier from this age onwards!!!!

It does get easier. Mine are almost 9 now.

Perhaps you have all gotten into a cycle of stress. I used to find mine always played off how I was feeling.

18 months is a really hard stage, I found that everything got MUCH easier once they turned 2. Winter is hard with toddlers anyway and cabin fever can start to set it. I have a boy and girl (aged 3) and my DS needs a LOT of physical exercise otherwise behaviour tends to deteriorate. Unless it was seriously bad weather I'd put head to toe waterproofs on and head to the park. If it was really too miserable to go out I'd put on music and dance with them or set up a 'circuit' of exercises (running, jumping etc) round the house.

Also around this age my DH and I started offering them the opportunity to go places seperately, eg who is going to the shops with Daddy and who is going to help Mummy with the hoovering? It did seem to help the jealously thing to give them time alone.

You have my every sympathy, it's hard to go through but they are just starting to express their little personalities as individuals. Hang on in there, good luck.

thanks bunny, god i do hope things get easier for me when they turn 2. i do get outside with them most days weather permitting but tbh its not much fun for me or them when its cold. 20 - 30 minutes and we are back inside. roll on spring,i cant wait.

My b/g twins are 18 months next week, it is much harder in the winter isn't it?

I get them dancing as well, to burn off some energy on the days when it's just too cold to go out.
We also go to soft play, that wears them out too.
Their favourite activity is bouncing on the bed in the spare room - it's a real treat and they behave really well when I let them in there.

I do pick my battles though. Sometimes we have a picnic on a blanket in the living room - if the food's not too messy I don't bother with the highchair battle.
I also let them bounce on the sofa - there's time enough to stop doing it when they're a bit older (and old enough to understand only 'babies' are allowed to bounce on the sofa).

Whereabouts are you? Are there any other twins mums you can meet up with?

I definitely remember that age as being one of the hardest. I noticed a real improvement around two, when they could communicate better with each other.

Like Bunnynamedstanely said, separating and one on one attention helped a lot, also giving you a breather from both.

I'm also looking forward to better weather. My two are nearly 4 and the energy levels are mind boggling. I wish I had a tenth of their energy.

Hang on in there, it does get less grinding.

ha ophelia, yeah i let them bounce on our bed too and i turn the living room into a giant bouncy soft play area sometimes by taking all the seat backs and cushions off the sofa. basically i very much have the policy of letting them do whatever they like at the mo just to make life a bit easier but then i wonder what i am setting myself up for later!? i go to a twins group once a week but all other twins there are over age of 2.

I'm so glad it's not just me. My two are 17 months and sound exactly the same as yours, it's exhausting and that's even with them going to nursery 8.30 till 3.30 (which they absolutely LOVE - at the weekends they both go and get their jackets and sit at the door in the morning waiting to go out!). Are yours sleeping ok at night? We're also going through a phase of night wakings, one twin just needs a cuddle but I have absolutely no idea what the other one wants. She's not thirsty, hungry, wet or teething and she doesn't want a cuddle either...
I recently discovered that I can keep them occupied for a whole half an hour in a row, sometimes even playing together, by giving them all the old baby bottles and lids I have in the house. They absolutely love screwing the collars on and then unscrewing them again and since we have lots of different colours they can do them one after another for ages.
As I say, I'm so glad I'm not the only one finding it a struggle...

firsttime, yes we are dealing with night wakings too. One has always woke in the night anyway so nothing new there but now the other one who has always been a fantastic sleeper is waking too and cant figure out why really. Thats a good idea about the baby bottles, will be getting mine out for them tommorow!!

Have to say that since i originally posted this a month ago they have got ever so slightly easier, they have now turned 19 months and i have started taking them outdoors a lot more on dry days. They ARE much happier and easier outside even when we are doing nothing imparticular, just toddling around the village etc. So i do think this coming spring and summer when it gets warmer, lighter and drier should improve things. Cant wait to get some summer garden toys, a sandbox, a water play table, etc.

So it does get easier soon then! I can't wait! (Just had a week of both of them being ill so everything got even worse...)