The under/over/around 1 Twins thread for support, tips on how to survive and enjoy twin parenthood!

[DreamingOfPeace]

BB3: dcda non id girls Sept 2011 (plus ds)
TwelveLeggedWalk: DCDA DD and DS 14.09.11 (PFBs)
Tiggersreturn twin boys (?!) (plus ds age 5)
Wherearemyearplugs twins (plus ds)
Ceeveebee b/g twins 21.11.11, PFBs
minesapintofwine: non-id boys 02/02/2012. dcs 1&2/pfb on good days.
ClaireMarathonFeeder: Boy/girl twins born 08/02/2012, no3&4, dd1 (2001) and dd2 (2004)
rednellie nonID boys 13.03.2012 + DD 03.02.10
Lemele: id boys (plus ds)
Skitoo : DCDA Non ID Boys, 01.04.12 DC 1&2
DreamingofPeace: dcda non id boys, 4.4.12 DC 2&3 (DD Sept 2010)
beyoglu: dcda non id girls 21.4.12
Bigboobsatlast ID twin boys 30.04.12 DC #2&3 (DD Feb 2010)
Scollister mcda girls 3.5.12 plus DD age 4
Twin2makes4 mcda girls plus 2 ds,age 8 & 4

Again, sorry for mistakes, doing this from my phone!

Settle in ladies :)

I'm going a bit mad wanting other pushchairs!!

I have three- well, two twin ones and my single I've kept and we still use from DD. I have a baby jogger city mini single and double. I love it but am currently having major city mini GT lust, it would be perfect!! I'm also wishing I could have them facing me and get a bugaboo donkey, but nothing short of a lottery win would get me that. More realistically, I also quite want a Phil and teds navigator, as we had to give up on a trip for being too optimistic about the width of paths and terrain a bjcm can take.

I also have the Everest ABC triple. I'm thinking of selling it though as its not waterproof! Took them all out, it lashed, torrentially. Babies were wet to their skin- the rain cover was zipped on. That was the point for me, to be able to move all three round by myself without faffing with children in waterproofs in slings. As that's not the case I think I'll sell...

Dh categorically says I'm getting no more pushchairs :)

I've not caught up on posts but just read the last one, dream - our ABC triple is waterproof... maybe you should complain? And yes, we've been out in torrents of rain several times - sometimes with the full raincover and sometimes just the front window/footcover, and all times survived apparently! We got ours Feb I think? (There are differences to the models depending, I think, on when you buy.)

Mind you, saying that, they sent us the wrong wheels (we ordered air-free tyres) and I've emailed several times but no response - compared to the almost-instant reply to any sale enquiries! :(

Hallo ladies! Sorry about the radio silence but I have had a nightmare trying to get all my assignments done or my degree conversion, even with three very generous extensions. Anyway all finished, yeahaaaa!

Congratulation Bailey on the arrival of your triplets, you are amazing!

I'm still catching up on the post but read something the other day that might be helpful to those who are experiencing episodes of regression or unsettled periods - there's something called the 'wonder weeks', these are developmental weeks that are accompanied by unsettled periods (I found it easier to deal with if I old blame the crankiness on one of these) - will find the chart again and post a link.

Hope you are all well, will post properly once I've caught up on everyone's news

Well done on getting the work done scollister!

So poor old dt2 has a fungal infection on his bum and exema/allergic rash on his body/face. We've got canestan for his bum and dermal stuff for washing also epaderm. Poor boy had 2 gps looking at him and sucking their teeth. Might need to investigate allergies later but had stopped solids anyway as I'd felt they weren't ready. Now I think I'll have to take it real slow - with DD I was very gung ho so it's going to be hard.

Re bullies I've got the mountain buggy duet. I do like it but I really miss having them facing. Anyone tried any of the oneswhere you can have multiple positions?

Buggies obv not bullies. Damn phone

scollister I've got that Wonder Weeks book! Interesting to me is that it reckons the 4 month sleep regression is down to one of these big brain development phases, where they learn to group individual impressions into events (e.g. if they see a bouncing ball, they see a bouncing ball event, rather than just lots of up and down movements). I can't reconcile the timing exactly though. They say that the phases happen at a fixed time after conception so if you have an early baby the phases will be correspondingly late. My girls were 3 weeks early but they seem to go through the phases about 1-2 weeks late which I suppose is fairly close...

Would you recommend the book Beyoglu? I've only looked at the website and remember the chart from DD1.

I have the Firstwheels Twin City Elite, I'm a sling person but am very impressed with this buggy. Very light and easy to move and seats can be forward or rear facing. They've recently stopped rocking them in the uk but you can pick up second hand ones still.

Hi everyone. Can't believe my guys have been home for over a week now! Time is blurring into periods of feeding, nappy changing and sleeping . DH has been fab sorting out DS1 and feeding me, so Ican concentrate on getting the feeding established. Having said that last night was officially the worst night ever (so far ). They started feeding at 11ish, and pretty much didn't stop until 6am
2 off them would not settle in their cot so DH and Ihad to alternate holding them and feeding aargh. Now they are all fast asleep on their backs in the cot so know they can do it.
Not sure if it is just epic multiples cluster feeding, or suckling for comfort, but they are not like it at all during the day. Thinking about getting them dummies, but if they are cluster feeding they need the calories and if I introduce a dummy then this may slow their weight gain.... May hold off until Tues, then if HV says good weight gain then may introduce.
Just wish they could understand night from day, but as 6 wks prem guess it will take longer than a term baby

scollister well done for getting you work done, no idea how with babies around so extra brownie points!
BB3 very impressed with triathlon. Watched the one in Sweden yesterday and quite liked the look of the sprint event
dream and claire I am keeping everything crossed for more sleep in all our houses
teds with DS1 we only started a routine/ bed upstairs from 12 weeks when he was starting to sleep at 8ish. Have also read somewhere that they don't recommend babies sleeping away from you until after 12 weeks. Re bf, I would go with feed feed and feed some more to increase supply, and remember what you can express isno indication of how much milk you have, babies are far more effective than a pump so am sure you have more than you think

Phew sorry for epic post, going to wake some babies up for a feed xxx

The book's a bit repetitive scollister, but it is interesting that it lists the things they start to be able to do after each leap. For me I just wanted to know when the fussy periods would be TBH!

rednellie you have the duet... I have a question about the buggy hoods. Do yours have two straps on the hood with studs to attach to the back of the buggy seat, or just one on each hood on the outside, like mine? It looks as though there should be a strap on the inside (like on the left hand side of the right hood and vice versa) because there's a matching stud on the buggy seat, and the hoods sag in the middle because they're only attached on one side.

baileyslover, mine were born at 37 weeks and sorted night from day when they were 2 weeks old i.e. still a week before they were due to be born! So you might be lucky...

Hi All - been awol again, sorry. Had a couple of tough weeks in our house, felt like we'd gone back a month or so, nothing specific, just general tinkers during the day and maybe me getting a bit too hung up on routines. Have now accepted that they're just babies who are going to change every few weeks, so once you think you've got something sorted, it'll all change .

DH is off work now for 2 weeks, hoorah an extra pair of hands and we're going away for a week on Friday.

Baileys, mine were 6 weeks prem and probably only understood night and day once we introduced the nighttime routine at about 6/7 weeks. I remember them coming home from SCBU and they did feed like mad but settled really well for a couple of weeks, then we had a couple of weeks where they were really hard to settle at night after a feed, my DH used to take them down to the office and do his emails one handed at ridiculous times through the night. I think they settled in to a 3 hour feeding routine at about the same time and got them on to just 2 feeds through the night at about 10/11 weeks. I did always wake the second baby though to keep them on the same schedule and it was always the same one! Sounds like you are doing amazing, it's tough enough with 2, so think you deserve a gold medal with 3. Not a medal but and .

Hey Teds, nice to see you over here, CONGRATS! As above we started night routine at about 6/7 weeks and boy did it help, was so nice to get our evenings back. The thing that made the biggest difference for us was doing the last feed in the nursery with low light, lullaby tunes and swaddling them. They picked up pretty quickly that it meant bedtime. Probably swaddled for too long as was hard to get DT2 out of it but it really helped settle them in the early days. We also used to rock them close to sleep but now they are just put in cots to self settle.

Mines, we have the bugaboo donkey. It is the price of a small car and we were very lucky to have it gifted to us by the inlaws but have to say that I love it. Really easy to put up/down, light and easy to push one handed and have just converted carry cots in to pushchair seats, which boys seemed to like in first outing at the weekend.

Reds sorry to see dt2 has nasty infection, hope the creams work soon.

BB3, well done you on the triathlon! I am desperate to get some exercise in (nothing as serious as a competitive triathlon ) but just don't seem to be able to squeeze it in. Oh well, jumpers will be coming out of the wardrobe soon, to hide the saggy bits!!

How's the sleep going this week Dream, any improvement with dt1? I hope so .

Right must go, baby stirring upstairs - waves to everyone else.

wow 'scol' well done thats amazing and you deserve extra credit doing it with babies at home!

also 'bb3' well done on the triathlon I couldn't even do one third of it!

'baileys' I'm not going to tell you when my dt2 sorted his nights out and you probably shouldn't talk to 'dream' about nights at all..... you are doing such an amazing incredible job with dtrips how do you manage for help? Your dh sounds great too how is he with the lack of sleep? Babies always sort their nights out eventually you know this to be true! Every baby is different and it's so obvious in multiples cos you compare them! DT1 is a fab night sleeper but hopeless in day and dt2 is other way round you have to kinda get them onto them same lines of thinking not easy I know...cue wishing dt2 would sleep longer than 6am when dt1 is still in land of nod!

'red' sorry about the nasty infection it's not like you to be upset so must be bad...hugs your way...

skitt totally agree about not getting hung up on routines I think bedtime is a good one as it helps them sleep but in the day I go with the flow and they invented theyre own routine anyway. I did force them to sleep in their cots in the day though as they went through a phase of no naps at all!

beyou has your mum gone home now (I'm a little behind here!)

My dinner is burning whilst I mnet....hmmm

ha ha messed up tagging! useless I am!

Thanks guys, bit better last night, mostly because Icoslept with the worst offender
Going to try swaddling both the girls as I find they are both very active in their limbs at night and think this might be disturbing them.
mines DH isn't great with little sleep. He is getting more than I as goes back to sleep when I am feeding, but guess he hasn't got the hormones I have pushing me on so he is needing his daily naps!
He has another 2 weeks off work, but know once he is back he will have to sleep in another room as no way will he cope otherwise. Only then will I then know how I cope solo.

Hello everyone

Sorry, still to catch up with the thread, but thought I'd update while I have a spare minute! DTs have been home nearly two weeks now, currently 24 days old and 38+0 corrected. Still roughly in routine from SCBU of feeding every 3-4 hours but nearly always bottle (usually EBM, but I still haven't managed to keep up with what they are drinking, so usually one ff every day or so).

DH goes back to work on Wednesday so we'll see how I cope on my own. Currently debating whether to try switching to bf more, especially during the day, which may or may not be easier for tandem feeding when I have them on my own. But I like the current break between feeds which means we can go out for an hour or two and not have to worry about feeding while we are out so feel like it's a bit of a catch 22. I would like to bf more but like the more predictable feeding times we have with using EBM in bottles. What do the rest of you do? And is it possible to mix bf lots some days with mainly bottles other days? Think I'll post in the feeding thread too for thoughts.

As for routines, we still haven't got one yet in terms of baths and bedtimes.

Baileys sounds like you are doing amazingly well. Me and DH take one each for feeding with bottles so I can't imagine how you are coping with bf three. We have resorted to dummies 2 or 3 times, only at night when they are really unsettled and wanting to suck despite having recently fed (and we want some sleep!). It doesn't seem to affect them as they don't get it all the time. We started swaddling our two but they hated having their arms restricted. They both sleep with their hands up beside their heads so are now swaddled from the armpit down :)

Hope everyone else is well and managing to get some sleep :)

mines yeah we're solo for now, my mum went home a couple of weeks ago. It got about a million times easier when they started napping in cots and now they're just like what I expected babies to be like i.e. they cry for hunger/tiredness/dirty nappy/come and talk to me but once you fix the thing, they cheer up.

baileys if you're thinking swaddling I can recommend the miracle swaddle blanket: it's good for when they get older and can wriggle out of a traditional wrap:
www.amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Blanket-Swaddling-poppers-scratch/dp/B0013T1M04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346739674&sr=8-1

I'm a bit hacked off at my OH today - he's away a night next week with work and I only discovered this when I overheard him talking to his mum on the phone! He'd mentioned it a few weeks ago but we talked about how hard it was to do the kids alone and he said he'd see if he could get out of it... then said he had, but it turns out he'd changed it from a 2 day to a 1 day visit but still was staying overnight. If I'd known I could have got my mum to come down but it's too short notice. Luckily my in-laws were able to change their flights as they were anyway visiting at the end of the week.
It just shook me - that he still thinks he can take off without really discussing it, like we would have done before we have kids, and that he reckons it's such an easy job that doing it completely solo for 36 hours wouldn't bother me in the slightest! He's only had the girls solo for a couple of hours at a time, and at the weekend we go and try out swimming and take them out for trips in the buggy and I'm running around like an idiot packing the changing bag, getting the washing on, getting us out the door at the right times for naps etc and I don't think he notices how much thought goes into it.
And another bloody thing. In the last couple of nights the girls have started doing 2 night feeds again. They're 17 weeks corrected on Saturday. Four month sleep regression, clearly. But this morning he's like "oh, maybe it's the warm weather." Why would it be the warm weather? It's been far warmer than that this summer and the girls haven't done 2 night feeds since about the start of July. (It reminds me of when I was doing my PhD in chemistry - you have an experiment that isn't working and every idiot has a suggestion and you feel obliged to take them all seriously because however stupid they may be, your experiment's not working, so what do you know?)
/rant

kazaar and baileys sounds like you are both getting into routines anyway imo it's too early for a bathtime routine etc anyway but what do I know . Good luck to you when the dh's go back to work you will be fine I'm in awe of baileys with 3 but then most folks on the street are impressed by 2 so it's all a walk in the park really ok maybe not a walk more of a stumble turning into a flat on face fall.

red how is your dts skin?

dream you are very quiet at the moment-are you sleeping?!? (I bet you wish!).

beyou they just don't understand how much we do the men as they are not doing it day in day out I tend to just leave dh to it some days and have a bit of me time..no instructions or anything-thats how I learnt to do it ha ha! I wouldn't be happy if he did that though double no to double solo night feeds that is not fair at all!

Oh and baileys forgot to mention is the reason I asked about your dh is my dh was awful on no sleep!

I'm reading, but seriously, I'm so tired, and you must all be fed up of hearing it by now. Guess what? No sleep miracles here. DT1 is up 2 hourly before midnight, more afterwards...

Where's bigboobs disappeared to?

Much sympathy for your poor DT2 red, grim grim grim. Hope his creams are helping. And that he doesn't have lots of allergies...

I'm in the process of arranging a multpile mums meet-up at my house- two other sets of twins and one set of triplets- eeek! For the record, my house is not vast- where the heck they'll all fit I don't know... Triplet mum is so lovely, I told her that if I go to our local playground with my 3 in the triple (as she's taken her 4 there twice) people are genuinely disappointed I don't have dtrips, and tell me 'We've seen a mum here, with triplets and a toddler- and you think YOU'VE got it hard!!' She thought this was very funny, and says she doesn't at all as all hers are brilliant sleepers and she only bf's one so I should contradict them all and say well actually I do!! Made me giggle, the thought of triplets not being hard too!!!!!

Anyway, I'm wasting precious and short sleep time
xx

*multpile = multiple, obviously...

Evening ladies. Very brief check in because DH is abroad, so clearly I should be either a) doing something useful or b) asleep. Instead I'm drinking the ONE small glass of wine I allow myself when sole driver Verrrryyyy slowly and mainlining chocolate by the family sized bar.

Action packed weekend for the babes - wander around our old uni town (success), lunch in a park (epic fail), posh wedding (success), lunch at a seafood restaurant (epic epic fail). Now have washing piled up the rafters!

beyoglu I keep meaning 2 check the buggy and keep forgetting. I promise I will eventually. And I'm sorry your OH hasn't quite worked it out yet. They do often seem to take longer to adjust, if ever! Having said that I've been hanging out with my brother and his new baby and he is a total natural. Am most impressed. Also his 7 week old baby is the same size as our almost 6 monthers!

Dt2 is doing better but still bad. Has turned into proper full body excema. He resembles a chemical burns victim. It just breaks my heart especially when he smiles despite utility all. Dh is in London sorting our place out so I'm doing nights pretty much solo with a bit of help from mum. Its very very tiring as he can't sleep for long. Also our move has turned into the move that just keeps on giving. It feels like I'll never actually live in my own place with my stuff unpacked. It's fine and I know rationally it'll be over soon butI feel so scattered.

Sorry that wad a bit moany! I've not worked how to do emoticons on my phone yet or I'd give you all my trade mark grin. Perhaps followed by some wine. And a jug of coffee.

Yo yo yooooooooooo!!! Here I am Dream. Been lurking but not had chance to read all the posts and no chance to post - this will be a me me me one and short!

All is good here, although the boys are much harder work in the day now - awake soooo much more and take a while (sometimes ages) to get them to sleep unless they are in the pushchair. So less time for myself to get things done, hence being missing in action!

But they really are doing brilliantly - DT1 just shy of 18lb and DT2 17lb 7 - so both over the 90th centile!! HV seemed a bit surprised at the weigh in! still no rolling over and to be honest they get so few minutes of tummy time they can only lift their heads off the floor for a very short time

Nights are hit and miss - sometimes bed at 7.30pm / 8pm and don;t wake till 5 for food then sleep again till about 7.30 / 8am. Other times, bed at 9pm and up again at 1am!!! They keep teasing me with a light at the end of the tunnel! But they are only just 4 months so I am happy with how things are going.

I have found they both really like holding a cloth (you know what I mean - those white things muslins???) when settling to sleep - never thought to try it before. That does not mean to say they self settle - there is still a lot of rocking / shushing / patting / singing / jiggling / feeding in this house!

Oh and DReam, I have now got both boys on regular Gavison and they are like different babies - seem happier, more comfortable, more settled during the night and feeding more less often (IYSWIM). Might all be a coincidence but I am putting it down to the Gaviscon for now.

{hmm} I seem to have painted a rosie picture. Things ARE going ok but there are many 'shits hit the fan' moments with all three children crying as well as me and a hungry cat because I have not got time to feed him and a pile of washing the size of Everest in the kitchen. And on a few occasions DH has come home and I can barely speak because I am running on empty.

Hope you get settled soon Red - when do you move to London?

Hello to everyone else, really sorry for lack of personals - will try and get back on later.

oooo, Beyoglu I have the duet and if I have understood you correctly then there ARE two studs on each hood - want me to take a piccy and send to you?? I would do it now but DH has taken the car with the pushchair in the boot so can't get out all day :( bastard

Hang on in there dream, you're doing so well... he's going to grow out of it one way or the other.

red/bigboobs I emailed Mountain Buggy and they're looking into it. Sods. I could really do with some non-flapping hoods right about now...

red you're my hero! Solo nights... and I do hope the wee one's eczema gets sorted, that sounds really tough.

Right, weigh in tomorrow - I'm going to have to break out the sodding Weego again because it's always chocka and the girls will get tired waiting and need to sleep on me. Hopefully that will be the last time as next time my MIL will be here and the time after that they'll be 6 months and, I hope, will have consolidated their naps a bit.
I'm wondering whether to complain about one of the health visitors. She wrote "artificial feeding" on the girls' notes in their red books - i.e. bottle feeding is artificial. It seems judgemental and quite rude. I know part of their job is to promote breast feeding but I don't see how trying to shame me is going to help that. Noone else will see that nasty little comment but me, and I'm 4 months in and not going to have any other kids, so the boat's really sailed on breastfeeding for me.
On the other hand why make waves, right? But I hope she's not doing that to other people. It's hard enough just getting through the day never mind this sort of crap.

complain Beyoglu - I think that comment is bang out of order. I bottle feed and have enough guilt myself without snide comments from others.

Hi kazaar, I'd guess if your babies swap well so there's no nipple confusion problems it'd be ok, as if you're expressing for the bottles it wouldn't affect your supply?! I'm no expert though, but if you're not fussed where you feed bf is so much easier! I don't have problems going out, in fact recently I've been out for the day more often than not (Dh had fortnight off). We've been up to the lake district the last 3 days, walking round lakes, going to different playgrounds etc making the most of some nice weather and i just feed one then the other. In the car if it suits, but otherwise any old cafe, bench, wall, grassy spot will do. I do predict when to feed. If we're out I don't ever tandem feed so i just make sure I feed after about 2.5 hours to avoid it all going tits up! Sometimes its 3 easily, but say we're about to order food or get in the car or something i feed sooner to err on the side of caution and avoid starving hungry babies!!! To be fair, a huge toddler tantrum in the middle of a shop in Hawkshead was the most challenging part of the day, not the babies!

Glad you're still here bigboobs, mine also don't get anywhere near enough floor or tummy time,neither can roll (22 weeks), DT2 only just getting the idea of lifting head up fully and strength to do it- relief he finally can at all although its still quite brief . He hates tummy time though, just cries...

Oh red, chemical-burn style skin sounds awful, poor baby. Hope he continues to improve, and quickly! I too would love the babies parent facing, I feel bad they're more isolated looking out by themselves :( . I'd wondered about the bj city select, but ideally the Donkey. Just too £££££ though...

Any thoughts on tandem carrying bigger babies? I'm rubbish with my moby wrap, never really got the hang of it, but love my boba 3G (Ergo style soft structured carrier). Can I wear one SSC on the front and one on the back? Would I need a different sling to wear two? I'd need something easy to get on, and idiot proof, I.e not a wrap. I've been happily carrying DD in my boba for days so i know I can carry some weight, but I couldn't have a baby bjorn type sling on my front, that'd be too hard. Do any of you tandem carry?