Under 1s twin post-natal group? Should we have one? Who's in?!

[PeelingmyselfofftheCeiling]

The antenatal group is nearly full, any graduates fancy joining forces to compare

peeling yay fir furst giggles!! We've just started to get first smiles, makes you forget sleep deprivation and all

Hi all. Hope you all had a good mothers day yesterday. DH and FIL cooked a roast chicken dinner for me and MIL, with just a little supervision which was very nice! Roddy has been grouchy all day today though, not sure what is wrong with him as I know he isn't tired/hungry/dirty nappy etc, perhaps the start of teething?

Claire, we were put on a feeding plan by the hospital of every 3 hours as Eliza was in SCBU. We carried this on at home and then started following the Gina Ford routine for twins from about 3 weeks (with a few tweaks, eg I don't make them nap in their cots during the day as I am usually out at lunchtime, and I ignored her advice about giving boiled water instead of night feeds as I've been told this is actually dangerous!)

Hi everyone!

Hope everyone had a lovely mother's day and a good weekend! Im in Ireland so it was a big weekend with lots of get togethers as St.Patricks Day and Mother's Day back to back. :)

DH and I went walking on Sunday afternoon and we got lost in a national park! The only route we could find back to the carpark was up about 70 mud and wooden steps.... he lugged the double buggy up backwards and I trudged after him with a baby under each arm - talk about a workout! We laughed and laughed and so did the babies :) !! (probably coz i was so exhausted!) We must have been such a funny sight!

Katy so glad all is a bit better for you - you are superwoman in my eyes! And you are amazing to be breastfeeding aswell as looking after all the rest of your gang! :)

Red congratulations! Your babies are doing so well. It's lovely to hear a twin birth that went so smoothly, you really are all very lucky! :)

Clare our girls were in NICU for 3 weeks and they were set up on a 4hour feeding routine, we found when they came home they changed it to 3 1/2 hourly during the day and 4hours at night. We started trying to 'loosely' follow GF routine once they were home about 5weeks (corrected age 3weeks).I didn't force them to stay awake (they were so tiny they just wanted to sleep all the time at first)and also didn't force them to always nap in cot. We gently tried to put the routine into place, some days were great others the routine went out the window. Now at 6months old, they follow their routine like clockwork during the day....... nighttime is another story!

Last night we had both babies up from 3-5.15,no apparent reason for it.... like you Ceeveebee i'm thinking start of teething too.......

Thanks everyone. We do feel truly blessed to have had such a good start, I'm in awe of all mums who have to deal with NICU and all that entails.

Aw red hope her cold clears up soon and you don't all get it!

I don't know the differences between GF twins and GF single babies as I have only got the twins! I think the main points were to have a set routine (prob same as single babies), she has suggestions re when to express and when to introduce formula feeds (prob same as single babies!) if bf then allocate one breast to each twin for supply reasons.

I think the main thing is to make sure you try to synchronise their feeding and nap times otherwise it will be a constant merry-go-round! So follow a routine during the day. At night when one twin wakes, make sure you wake the other twin to feed too (at least for the first few weeks - we stopped waking them at about 8 weeks as we thought Roddy might sleep through, and he did !

Good luck - and waiting to hear dreaming's news soon!

Hello all,

Thanks fir tips re routine, I think we'll wait a bit longer to see if they naturally fall into one. Last coupld oc days much better: no more snacking (i did think about growth spurt rednellie bug it only clicked after I'd posted). We've had better nights too, with dtg going longer every night (5+ hours lasg night snd I woke her up because her brother had just fed). Dtb has bern better with crying and tummy upsets too.
Had a lovely babymoon in my bed with them yesterday morning, didnt get up til 12, but it was well worth it as feeling rather refreshed now!

Hope you are all ok

Hi everyone, hope you're doing ok and red that the cold clears up soon!

All fine here, been manically busy and I'm on my way back from chat with work about going back, they're going to try to accommodate pt which is great.

Hope weaning is going well for all of you and you're enjoying the sunshine!

Hi everyone, hope you're doing ok and red that the cold clears up soon!

All fine here, been manically busy and I'm on my way back from chat with work about going back, they're going to try to accommodate pt which is great.

Hope weaning is going well for all of you and you're enjoying the sunshine!

Any advice from those with older kids how you dealt with them whilst feeding the twins. My DD is finding it very hard when I'm breast feeding, especially as there's generally two of them at it so she can't cuddle with me very easily. Also, when she does try and cuddle up she generally ends up giving one or other the boys a scratch...she's not being malicious or violent, she's just unable to show her frustration any other way.

Being tired and ill hasn't helped, but if anyone has any bright ideas of what to do with toddlers whilst your hands are tied I'd be very very grateful!

Hi Red, I used to sit on the sofa when I was tandem bfing, with the babies on a cushion so I still had my hands free (relatively speaking!). In the early days our 2yr old DD wanted to be as close as possible too, so we got her dolly, and a cushion and told her to copy mummy - she lay her dolly on the cushion, lifted her top and tried to Bf!! Very cute, and it did keep her occupied for a few minutes!! After a few weeks the novelty of me feeding had worn off, and she was quite happy to watch cbeebies on the sofa with me. She still gives the twins her own "special kind of love" (6 mths old now), but they seem to cope with it quite well, and are fascinated when she is around!!

How are you coping with the lack of sleep? Hope everything is going well for you :) xx

Red I was quite lucky that DS didn't give two hoots about the girls but some people I know with one baby have had similar problems and have got their older DC's something special - a toy that they desperately wanted or an activity they love and they get it out during feeding times so the child feels like they are having special time too x

Hello everyone, how is everyone and babies.

Re coping whist feeding- I found that I used to have a bowl of goodies, drinks and fab toys all ready so I used to put my then 12 monthly in her play pen in front of Telly with all her goodies and toys.

I still do now she is 14 months old and still works!!

Does anybody find there babies play "tag team" like one will ne such a good baby no crying sleeps better for a few days and the other is opposite . And then on the exact day they will swap .. It's so odd!!

Oh god, mine can tag team to within a minute - its like they have a pact to keep the crying going between them!

Mine are tag teaming sleep today. Just do the darn twin thing people kept telling me about and sleep at the same time!!!!! At least then my house wouldn't look such a tip' and I could have a cup of coffee that's actually hot!!!

Oh no ha ha that did make me laugh!!!

It like one said "ok I'm going to sleep now it's your turn to cry"

God you have to laugh or you will cry!!!!

Well, I've got the cold - fever and all - so that's a nice way to recover from birth. My Mum's being amazing though so the house is still functioning and we're all being fed.

I gave DD two baby boy dolls from the twins when they were born, which she loves so I will try and the copy cat feeding - she has done that with me. Problem is, after about 10 mins she gets bored and then the nails come out. I'm just covering their heads as much as possible!!! I'll try and think what goodies I can reserve for feed times - I'm desperately trying not to totally rely on Pingu and Angelina Ballerina, but needs must. Hopefully she'll just get used to it.

Thankfully are boys are AMAZING. Already pretty much in their own routine, even put them down upstairs and came and watched a program with DH, with a glass of wine. Felt like a fairly momentus achievement. I'm sure they're just behaving themselves until me and DD get better and then they'll go mental. Here's hoping not.

Just popping in to soak up all the tips on bf twins and coping with toddler. I wish mine watched tv now!!! She is finally getting into watching something after her tea but it still requires a lot of adult interaction...

Feeling desperately tired today which dd picks up on, so spent an hour getting her to nap. I am blocking my ears about the tag team sleeping!!! Surely all three wouldn't do it to me?! Anyway, nanny/ mothers help hired for 2 days a week now. I am very, very lucky.

rednellie, I have placed my order for boys just like yours :-) . I'm sure having a relaxed and confident mummy must help mine are stuffed then. I am most impressed by your comment that you could let your dh in while feeding both babies with your bf cushion. On a different point, I told my dh about that, who has now bought one for me on your recommendation alone (note- this is the man who won't buy an egg timer without reading 'what eggtimer?' !!) What a shame you're so unwell with newborn babies. Hope you n dd recover soon!!!

rednellie sounds like you're doing amazingly. I've often wondered whether having an older child makes it harder because there is another little tyrant demanding your undivided attention, or easier because at least you know what you're doing and don't have the whole 'What the bloody hell do I do NOW!?' first timers thing

On the whole, I'm finding having newborns way easier than last time, but having a toddler a bit of a trial! I think I'm appreciating the fact newborns can't run away and as long as their fed and clothed and clean then they're alright (we do hug them occasionally!). Even their crying doesn't get me like DD's used to.

BUT having a toddler to look after whilst recovering from birth is a bit of chore, or maybe it just stops you from lazying around feeling sorry for yourself? I'm still not sure, the real test doesn't begin until my lovely mother goes home. When I'm doing all the washing and cleaning then I might not sound so perky...

oh....I came on here optimistically thinking you were saying 'having newborns is so much easier than late twin pregnancy with a toddler' rednellie having seen the first line bit of your post on the 'I'm watching' feed. I have Hit The Wall. Tearful and exhausted after a busy day out with DD yesterday. 10 days to go... Tell me it will be better than this after the birth?! I am very lucky to now have a cleaner who speaks such rubbish English I just have to let her do her own thing and my 2 days a week help though...

Ooooh Dreaming, not long to go at all now! I think it is easier after the birth. I can remember feeling very exhausted and everything aching during the last few months weeks, and then feeling very guilty for not playing with DD1 more. Plus, I'm sure she was also playing up because she wasn't quite sure what was going on. Once our DTs were born, she had 2 new dollies to play with (as well as two new toy dollies!!), and even taking into account recovering from a c section I had more energy to play with her!! Best if luck for the next few weeks!!

Thanks wedding,that's really encouraging! I do not have the speed and agility to keep up with an 18 month old... She's hurt herself twice at the weekend as I was too slow...

Everyone out enjoying the sunshine then?? It's gone all quiet!!

hi there if any of you live near reading and fancy meeting up in reality I run a postnatal group which meets once a month on a monday
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