Life with twins 3

[GibberingGinger]

Like some sort of film sequel, or a royal dynasty, welcome to Life with twins III, a thread for general discussions and sharing experiences of having (or expecting) twins.

Wow, Lottie, that is lovely (tho perhaps a bit more green would be good if I'm being fussy, but looks like there's space to fix that). And an annexe to dump spoil the ILs when they visit. Are you going to see it? Totally opposite direction to TW I know but would it work for dh's commute / your plans?

With you both on Christmas / birthday presents. We didn't really buy anything last Christmas but I did put a list together on Amazon knowing others would be asking what to buy. & even then we asked that people just buy a gift between the boys, especially as we had to fit everything in the car to bring back home! Since we live far from family, we bought them a photo album for their birthday & filled it with family pics. This year we're getting a rocker between the 3 (!) of them. Baby will grow into it eventually... That was going to be it but we've decided to stay at home this year (YEY!) so we'll get them something each too as I'm not sure they'll have much else. Really hoping that's the precedent set though - hoping not to go down the masses of cheap crap spending frenzy that Christmas can become. I rarely buy toys at all & we still seem to have loads - as Mum keeps telling me. I think she reckons we spoil them but it's just that people are so generous at passing stuff on. Think we'll have a bigger fight about baby this year. There really is nothing that it/we need & it will really have no idea! It'll be more for the boys' benefit to know it is included too.

My mouth has improved so much over the last 24hours thanks Cerubina. So much so I've left my broccoli soup in the fridge and had a really healthy malt loaf, chocolate, muffin and lemonade for lunch. Just cos I can (almost, still stung a fair bit, but what the hell, it was bearable....). I'll make up for it by snacking on nuts and mini cheddars later .

Work send off was nice, if a bit cringy. Only cos I feel really uncomfy being the centre of attention & also cos I work with a lot of people who are new since I went off on my last mat leave or who don't have / plan never to have children & this is the second time they've collected for me. They bought me some lovely flowers and some gorgeous clothes for baby (yey, it has something to call it's very own now). My students gave me a lovely nappy cake which was incredibly humbling - I've only known them for 6 weeks! Obviously my efforts for them are appreciated more than they let on....

I think we've cracked the milk issue surprise.... a bit of consistent parenting. We did start diluting milk when they turned 1, but then dp had to take over that duty when I was in the early stages of pg & was only fit to supervise bath time & of course forgot constantly & I decided against nagging. Ds1 has had no milk at night for the last 3 or 4 nights and isn't really all that interested in toast / porridge either when he wakes. Ds2 is still having some at 3amish but that I can cope with OK. The 11pm wake has been a pain but slightly better last night. I don't think they're ahving too much sleep. Up by 6am most days & only have one sleep at lunchtime (anywhere from 45-90 mins) & then asleep by 7pm. They've never been huge fans of sleep....

I think dp & I have a new battle difference of opinion to get to grips with now though - tantrums. When is a tantrum a tantrum and not something that needs a cuddle. Last night ds1 & I were having a lovely time doing jigsaws etc til dp went to put him in his high chair for dinner. He did not want to be strapped in so screamed & screamed & refused to eat anything (swiping his dish / cup out of reach). Then threw up after doing lots of exaggerated `throaty noises'. It's not the first time & I'm sure he's doing it on purpose but dp doesn't agree.......

Hi I'm new, have been reassured by your posts. Was having another sleepness night worrying about the future, as have little girl of 15 months and expecting twins (now week 11). My little girl is adorable but quite strong willed, I've spoiled her terribly as she was allergic to milk had colic etc it took me 3-4 months to work it all out. I'm in my 40s, live in SW14 but will have to make big decisions - my f/t career, 2 bed house, car etc. Will have to tell work, nanny, family in next few weeks as already showing but haven't made any of those big decisions yet. Do you have any top tips ... where do you start. Is this the right thread ...

Hello Kanna . I'm sort of the other way round to you. Our boys are almost 19 months & we're expecting a singleton in the next few weeks. My approach to things is generally `head in sand, things will work out' but I realise it's not for everyone so not exactly a top tip! I think there is an antenatal thread for those expecting multiples (guessing in the antenatal club section) too but someone else will be able to direct you to that better than me.

I hope you managed a little sleep!

Hi Kanna Congratulations!!

Quick post

LL Love that house, I showed DP and we are definitely going to make the move out of London, it's incredible how much more you can get for your money. When we've decided on an area, I'll need some help looking

GG Bridesmaids dresses, not sure on your budget but I liked to measure £195 per dress, tailor made probably more than I thought I'd spend but the samples are lovely. As for slimming, Spanx are the way forward although I've got a cheap M&S pair and they do the job!

Coughs, colds, teeth number 7&8 here boo hoo again

maids to measure try again oops!

Thanks will start exploring threads on multiples.

Hi Kanna, and congratulations. My tip would be not to rush into anything. Finding out you are having twins is a lot of information to take on board, and I felt very panic-y in the first few weeks trying to think of everything and rushing to get it done. But in reality you need to take your time over the big decisions (jobs, homes, cars etc) and you've probably got until 30 weeks to HAVE to make these decisions (but not necessarily act on them ) Thats 4-5 months away. Loads of time.

A question for those of you who have same sex twins. How do you distinguish between their cups, toothbrushes etc? At the moment J has a blue cup and D a green cup. This has sort of followed to shoes where J has brown with blue piping, and D has brown with green piping. Often with clothes J goes in the blue and D in the brown. Toothbrushes D has orange and J turquoise. And teddies, D is the red ribbon and J the green. It's all getting too confusing! My poor brain has enough to deal with without remembering who's stuff is who's.

Do you just assign one colour to a twin and stick with it? In which case J would probably be blue, and D the other colour (brown/green/red) but that seems unfair on J who never gets any variety. I can't always give D green, as often the second boy colour option is brown (eg in shoes or jackets). That is if there is a second colour choice that isn't pink! What do you all do?

GG what about sewing name labels in different clothes?

GG this may come as no surprise but.. err.. we don't particularly bother. They still have very little of their own but I can see this changing v. v. soon as their likes / obsessions become more obvious and they become more capable of letting us know about their preferences. We have a few cups given to us at a Surestart weaning thing & they're all the same colour so they share those. Surestart gave us colourful character toothbrushes but they both prefer the plain white one we got with a Tommy Tippee brush set thing. Ds1 has won custody of that being the more pushy so that sort of worked itself out. Clothes are all shared though I have a preference for ds2 in red and he also shows more of an interest in clothes (for e.g. loves choosing whether to wear the lion or giraffe on his t-shirt & gets v excited at it whereas ds1 seems oblivious to clothes other than to display his displeasure at actually having to wear them). I like to dress them as differently as possible which often means ds1 is lumbered with jeans. Shoes I struggled a bit more with cos there are rarely 2 equivalent, but different, pairs. Ds1 is 2 sizes bigger than ds2 though so I figured I'd just pass ds1's down for now. Except I mucked up & bought a number of sizes in the same colour/style in the sale so they do look a bit twinny for my liking. Ds2 (still) wears his cruisers a lot tho & they're quite different.

Ds1 has been funny over the last few days - word of the week `stuck'. Everything is stuck..... pieces of jigsaw when slotted in correctly, toys he can't move, himself when he sat in the buggy & did the straps up around himself then realised he couldn't get out (a number of times....). So lovely!

Hi all, am just marking my place really as seem to have dropped off the thread completely - will catch up properly tomorrow but ALL - glad your mouth is better enough to facilitate the chomping of treats and GG - I am not organised enough to have a set colour for each twin, and things like cups are just interchangeable anyway but toothbrushes and shoes I just try and remember. Clothes they are still swapping between them although they have a few bits each which I keep just for them as I think it's nice to be able to look back at pictures and think ah yes, I remember my hideous romper with strawberries on, or whatever

Ooh and Lavita exciting news about moving out of London. Always happy to slaver over house links as you know...

Gosh I am finding it all really hard work at the moment.
They are all over the place, climbing everything, opening drawers and pulling everything out, shouting, pulling ridiculous faces and generally being v theatrical... went to the park and for coffee with a friend and her little girl the same age (17.5 months) this morning and came back thoroughly depressed as she is really quiet and easy, will walk along holding hands or go in the pushchair without fuss, v tidy eater etc etc. Mine are just feral in comparison. Also it's so hard to supervise two in the park (one or both on climbing frame type things I mean) - how do others manage this?

Daytime naps have also become a huge battle with them chucking dummies out of cots/at each other, then screaming for them back only to lob them at me when I cave and go in to hand them back. Playing peekaboo with each other, yelling and generally acting the giddy goat when they are both shattered. We dropped the morning nap some time ago, so I know that by 12.30 ish they neeeeeed sleep, but unless we're on the way back from somewhere and they drop off in the car and I manage a successful transfer to cots without waking them up, it seems it's impossible.

Sorry for the huge MOAN but honestly I am at the end of my rope today! I hope know it will get better as they get older

Right - Ben and Holly, noted! They have an irritating lack of interest in TV so far (Rose will just about sit through an episode of Peppa but that's about the limit). Am really hoping it's just their age as I would love to afford myself the guilty pleasure of popping them on front of a little something from time to time...
I think you're right about not trying everything that singleton mums do - it's hard though because on my days off it is nice to see people but it's all very cafe/park based which is increasingly difficult. Think I am just having a bit of an it's-not-fair-why-couldn't-I-have-one-child-at-a-time-like-normal-people strop today
Thanks for the encouraging words, it really helps. Yours are very nearly 2 aren't they? What are you planning for bday if anything? And what's going on with this house????

PS Horrible about J falling off climbing frame - don't remember you reporting that, poor both of you.

Any more thoughts on the property Lottie? Did you see anything else that would do as a `sensible' option? How was your child-free weekend otherwise - did you have a chance to enjoy it much or was it a bit of a stressy slog with the pressure of house-hunting?

Tarti it is hard to supervise two in the park! A few months ago I did it & it was OK cos ds1 was far more interested in trying to work out how the fence was put together than bother with any of the playthings & ds2 wasn't really v mobile but now a combination of them wanting to climb /run everywhere & ds2 wanting to run into the path of moving swings / seesaws etc is not easy. I only really do it with help. Luckily the friend I usually go with has such a manic dd that she is more than willing to help me with the boys. Even open space is difficult since they like to go in opposite directions - and ds2 is sooo speedy these days and, of course, finds it hilarious to run off.

We had a non-nap naptime on Friday. Tis a pain when you think you can rely on it for a bit of time to yourself (not to mention knowing what late afternoon will be like without it). Is it half term for you this week?

I did playdough the other day for the first time using a recipe from the `net & I the boys really enjoyed it for half an hour or so. We got it out for Daddy on Sunday too & had another happy half hour.

Right.... final push on marking/paperwork then I will get down to some relaxing malarky....

Hi all, newbie with dd nearly 6 and twin boys aged 7 and half months...was going to talk about how tricky things are getting but read the posts and am now quietly dreading the walking/crawling stage!!
I need tips and advice, ATM they're fussy with food, still sleep in bed with me and hate me walking out the room or putting them on their playmat (because they know I'll walk out the room!)
I don't have help and their dad is away- can I survive the next few years without going insane? I've coped v.well so far.... [hsmile]
Oh and happy Halloween!

Hate to say it, but at the moment I'm finding boys MUCH harder than girls. Just like you described with your friend tarti, H was a nice quiet toddler until she hit the terrible twos but the boys are much harder to handle. Supposedly it will all be change when they are teenagers and boys are easy and girls a nightmare.

Sorry Mumof1 that's probably not what you need to hear! Honest, little boys twins can be great too.

Well I'm usually a very calm and collected person and having twins didn't phase me and I'm coping well but I think it all got abit much last night when DD told me she hated school and wants to stay home with me and just wants a (and I quote) 'peaceful life' !! (have my boys for an hour I felt like saying) but alas got her to school and am feeling sane again.
Re BLW - my boys have actually lost some wieght so not sure that would help? But it does sound less stressful! Did you give them a lot of finger foods then Lottie?

morethan1 coping with an older one and twins is tough, but it does get better once the twins get older and can walk and gabble and play with your DD. Does she like them much? My dd (H) really likes her little brothers but she is 3 and the boys 19months so possibly a different dynamic to your set up.

re BLW, MonkeyMargot normally has some great hints and tips. I spoon fed the boys, starting on apple/carrot/sweet potato purees and porridges and moved onto yoghurts and things like apple+parsnip+chicken puree. One of my boys loves dairy and creamy things and the other is a real meat monster (not so keep on veg or creamy stuff) but in general I try not to pander too much to their tastes and in the earl days just let them take what they wanted and relied on milk to maintain them.

LL, all very exciting about the house. But more importantly you haven't told us how the cowboy themed hotel was! . Seriously, I'm not sure what to advise about the house. My logical head says not to rush into anything, and maybe go back and look at another town, and when you do decide on an area rent somewhere so you can really test whether you like it before you buy. But can understand if you LOVE the house then that means a lot too.

Tarti had one of those afternoons at tots this afternoon where I was thinking why me? My kids got in there and the scattered to all corners of the hall. The D then started launching himself off the stage, J was playing with an electrical socket, successfully pulling off the childproof cover and H was trapped under a trike. Trying to sort all this out when some mother with just one child waltzed past delicately picked up her child who was about to climb the steps to the stage(I was holding D by the ankle as he dangled off the stage) and muttered "Oh Aaron, you must not play on the stage" whilst casting dirty looks at me and my mob. She then went and sat with all her other friends who also all only had one and joined in with the crafts. Made me feel great

Teething hell here. Anyone else's kids get awful nappy rash when teething?

Aaargh, I crashed in the middle of posting!

Boring Lottie? Deffo not! Sounds great. I totally get the `just cos you can, doesn't mean you should' but..... if you have both fallen in love..... and it's workable - what's 15%? obviously you must go for it . I'll live our dream of moving house from this safe distance.

We've got Duplo lined up for Xmas as a present from my brother (£60 to - ouchy! Bought ours in the Asda sale last Xmas). I'm sure ds1 will love it.... something else to focus his current obsession of being `stuck' .

hi Mumof1. I second Lottie on BLW and `food is fun til 1' & fill up on milk. I don't think our boys ate substantial meals til they were at least 1 but I did find it pretty much hassle free (if messy and loooong mealtimes, but that was fine for us). My boys have always been pretty skinny (tho ds2 is filling out a bit now) but I think it's to be expected once they get moving anyway so I wouldn't worry unless they're loosing a lot of weight? Ds2 often still ends up in bed with us as he sleeps better with us but ds1 has rarely slept with us since he was 8months or so. He's a faffer & would much rather roll around/ play with the alarm clock than sleep & I'm always wary about him falling out. We didn't do CC though so can't help there.

Sounds like a lovely afternoon GG. A friend & I braved `Jumping Jacks' the other week & it was nice to see her dd equally as difficult as my two. Needless to say, a return visit, wasn't mentioned last week. We've not done properly structured stuff for a while & they're more used to just playing at toddler gp. Worst bit here is tidy up time. The organisers like to tidy the toys properly while we sing at the end. Having play buggies loitering in the middle of the hall, not to mention the multi-knobbed music system at toddler height, is just too much temptation for my two....

Hello everyone, I don't think CC is for me, breaks my heart to see them upset for so long, maybe I'll give it a go in a couple months..
GG my DD likes to play with the boys but sometimes I have to watch her, she likes trying to pick them up!

As for BLW my boys take less milk now, they only feed for a minute or two and are done (I know this because if I offer more they bite me!) little devils

I'm actually doing alright today, it's all worth it when I see them looking at each other and jabbering away in baby talk! So cute