Toddler twins

[jumblejam]

We have 1yo ID twin boys. They're beginning to get around a bit but having seen some of the slightly older babies at play group I'm absolutely terrified of what's to come; climbing all over everything, into every drawer. tipping up all the boxes. You get where I coming from? How on earth do you cope when you have two of them going in different directions and causing all sorts of mayhem? Has anyone who has got through the the other side of having toddler twins (or more) got any tips please? I'm terrified!! Thanks x

[sandyballs]

And whenever I thought I was having a bad day I would think of my friend with triplets.

[sandyballs]

Love the pig run

[sandyballs]

What a lovely thread. My twin girls are 12 now and this takes me back.

Both of mine were walking at 11 months and seemed to egg each other on into mischief. It seemed to be a whirlwind from dawn to dusk and very exhausting but also a lot of fun.

It def helped to get out to the park every day regardless of weather and run them ragged. At least then they would attempt a quieter activity at home, or a bit of tv, if they hadn't been out they'd be climbing up things, jumping off sofas, swinging off chairs, sitting on the dining table ......

Enjoy them, they grow up so quickly and I'm now struggling with moody nearly teens who are as tall as me!!

[MultipleMama]

Mine are 9mo have been crawling about a month. Holy crackers it's knackering and dts2 has just learnt to stand on his own. I'm terrified of this stage too! Already babyproof as I have 2 other dc
I'm not ready for this stage! Haha.

[ladythatlunches]

I love the scoop and run :)

Mine are 17 months and aren't walking yet. I think they feel my fear so avoiding walking :)

[Twinkles14]

I have just laughed so hard at this thread. I have twin boys at 2.5years. One a climber (I have metre high dog gates - which he now gets over as he could climb baby gate at 18 months. I have been seen pinning one between knees while trying to restrain other in high chair/pram. The pig run - I do regularly. Can't take them to mothers and toddlers or the park now on my own. So hoping they start behaving and walking nicely holding my hand (it happens rarely and i usually utter - this is what I dreamed of - then one usually decides to lie down, pull in opposite direction etc. lol!

[DeepRedBetty]

Don't have time to read whole thread so apols if someone's already suggested this... when out and about I used harness, but instead of the standard reins I used clip-on dog leads, thus easily slipped over wrist while rooting for change etc. Got told off by a judgey old biddy over this once in the street, but was supported by another old biddy who weighed in out of the blue, saying she'd had twins a zillion years ago and if she'd thought of dog leads she'd have used them.

Otherwise, stairgates all over the place and put away anything you value until the little demons start school.

[steviegirl]

I have looked after my 3 year old twin grandsons 2 days a week since they were 6 months old. They are non ID and have developed at different stages. When one was crawling the other wanted to walk holding my hand. (All very well except I'm nudging 6 ft tall and the non walker was the heavier boy and the walker the shorter of the two! ) It's never easy, I would suggest putting anything of value away especially books, the pages tear oh so easily! Use a gate and try and confine them to one child friendly room. They're going to climb, and fall, and fight and drive you nuts but you know what, you'll get through each stage.

[rednellie]

D'oh!

[ClairesTravellingCircus]

Simpleton?

[rednellie]

Damn link. here it is

[rednellie]

I love http://www.shitmykidsruined.com this website. And the worst carnage is always that caused by twins. They seem to be able to achieve more than any simpleton could dream of.

Best advice is to baby proof beyond any reasonable amount then sit back have a tea (whilst not putting the tea on the ground) and watch the chaos unfold.

[MrsB74]

My two are also 3.5 and it does get easier as they get to about 3 and seem to develop a bit of sense! My girls both walked before age one, it was a nightmare for a while, but we got through it. I stopped going to one group as it was too big and there was too much scope for trouble! Our local twins club was my saviour, all the mums help each other as they know what you are going through. I also second the play pen and baby proofing - one of mine was also a real climber!!!

[MiddleAgeMiddleEngland]

Take all the 'security' precautions you can, and don't be put off by parents of one toddler thinking you're being a bit neurotic. We had baby gates on virtually every doorway for a couple of years, so we could quickly fence off various areas. A huge playpen, too, useful in all sorts of ways. It's so easy to be distracted by one toddler and not notice that the other is up to mischief.

Be prepared for them to help each other out - two toddlers can climb higher if one clambers on top of the other. They can get over baby gates this way after a while, so keep an eye on them all the time. We had a trainee nursery nurse one afternoon a week - she had lots of energy and gave me a bit of a break - might be worth asking around.

When you're out and about, it may be worth dressing them differently, even if you dress them the same at home. When one runs off, you need to know INSTANTLY which name to shout. Training them to walk nicely on reins in approximately the same direction was something we never managed, although a friend with triplets used to do it fairly successfully.

You may feel that you can't do things that friends with one toddler can do - ours didn't go swimming for ages as there wasn't a suitable session when we could both take them. Not a problem in the long term, both started lessons when they were at primary school and can swim like fishes now.

It will be fine, though, toddler twins are huge fun, and we enjoyed nearly all it it! When anyone says "double trouble" to you, just give a big smile and reply, "no, twice as nice."

[ceeveebee]

Minesa, one under each arm like this

Easiest way to apprehend two crawling babies (or even walking)

[minesapintofwine]

Oh yes op it is a bloody nightmare isn't it? Mine are 1 too (looks fearfully at the other posters) they break everything and then fight each other. Hate supermarket trips most. They always fight, bite, pinch pull hair and take each others hats etc off. What can you do but suck it up? One kindly lady said to me today 'I just told dh if I had twins I wouldn't go out'. She meant well but ha ha like . Erm no words of wisdom or advice whatsoever just get through the next few years like I will. Stay away from gin it's a mothers ruin (all other alcohol optional necessary).

[minesapintofwine]

How do you carry them like pigs? No seriously I need to know this for my own sanity!

[BlueberryHill]

I love the idea of scoop and run also. Mine are 2 1/2 years and I find this age difficult, they are both daft and have no sense.

Agree the smaller playgroups or Surestart centres, they helped me out a lot and other parents will watch them especially as you start to make friends. I babyproofed the downstairs rooms and had a gate going into the kitchen so I knew the area was safe, we are slowly moving furniture back in as grow up and stop swinging off it. Keep an eye on how safe it is as they grow up and get taller etc plus twins working together can create hazards that single babies can only dream of. I've lost count of the number of times I have changed a nappy single handed whilst trying to stop the other twin running the other one over with a ride on with the other hand.

Accept that they will fall over more than singletons as you aren't there to catch / hold them all the time.

On the other side, they play together really well, they talk to eachother so much, it is really sweet.

[jumblejam]

Thanks for the positive posts - lots of ideas there DW123. Thank you. Our two are coming up to 13 months and have only just really got their heads around crawling (when they can be bothered) so walking might be a way off yet but that hasn't stopped me from having a complete meltdown panic.
I can't drink alcohol but often take refuge in the cake tin - really must try to get online more though x

[benjalamummy]

Agree with everything here. Love the scoop and run technique! Mine are just 2 and most days are pretty bonkers. Tantrums, food refusal, fights with each other, general carnage of toys and emptied stuff everywhere! But interspersed with loads of fun too, and now they are talking and really starting to play together, it's fab.
Best thing to help recently has been red wine and reading threads like this, just to feel like I'm not the only one :)

[DW123]

Sorry for duplicate post - love the sound of my own voice...

[DW123]

Oh - and teaching them to climb and descend stairss/steps was worth the time, and teaching them to go down slides feet first on tummies was one of my very few sensible parenting choices (some kids won't do it of course!).

[DW123]

Oh - and teaching them to climb and descend stairss/steps was worth the time, and teaching them to go down slides feet first on tummies was one of my very few sensible parenting choices (some kids won't do it of course!).

[DW123]

Hello - mine are 21 months now. They only started walking at 19 months so I'm getting used to that but I found other stuff wasn't too awful. Because I can't do everything for them they actually only climb things that they can climb and then they have to learn to get down. I found some singletons got into tricky situations because they were helped up and down so much. I babyproofed as much of downstairs as possible as they just screamed behind a gate. Then let them learn to negotiate it (easier for me as they were late walkers so not as many bruises). If you have wooden floors, get slippers with rubber soles - socks are lethal. Most soft play places are ok but I avoided a few that have lots of platforms behind nets - its just too hatd for me to crawl through them guarding my two against bigger children.
I'm taking them to parks etc to practise walking together on and off reins. Until I'm more confident streets etc are done in a pushchair or with DH.

Having witnessed some humdingers I'm now dreading tantrums (especially simultaneous ones).

[Supergiggle]

Mine are 3.5 and I can confirm it does get easier . They can play together nicely now for hours at a time though are still prone to toddler meltdowns