surviving twin toddlers, how is it done?

[drlove8]

what am i doing wrong?, my home is destroyed, i cant understand why my twins are so distructive. today dd4 was empting a box of soappowder and using it as an impromptu sandpit!- and ds4 striped naked and shoved a full loo roll down the bog and flushed ... am strugling to control the little horrors darlings. my singleton kids are less work put together(6). i need help ...... suggestions on a postcard too ......

i don't have any advice but am feeling exactly the same. when you turn your back for only a minute with one twin, the other one is up to no good! i wonder why sometimes i tidy in the evenings as the destruction will only begin in the morning again!

, well at least im not the only one then,. you have my sympathy..... at least school is only two years away!today my little horrors darlings have drawn on the walls and sofas, broken two photo frames, the full bog roll down the loo, got into the fridge and chucked the eggs about and rubbed chocolate cake into the carpet.and to make it worse i had "spur of the moment" visit from the FIL !

I know it doesn't help at all and I only have singletons but my youngest is far far far more destructive than the older 3 every were put together. I am very grateful I didn't have 2 of her at the same time

its so bad im going to have to make a serious choice here........... vodka or prozac? ( for me, not twins.... although i do wonder)

some of each???

It's not just twins. My two are very close in age and just today in the two hours since picking them up from nursery they have had a pea and tomato fight as I was washing up whilst they ate their dinner (very sneakily quiet too).

Then when I was in the loo DD went into my handbag, found a new hairmask I just paid £15 for and smeared half of it all over her head. As I was cleaning her off and running their bath DS got the tub of hot chocolate from the kitchen surface and filled it up at the kitchen sink, before making pictured with it all over the surfaces.

Thankfully they are now both bathed, in PJs and watching cbeebes. Bliss.

I understand the term 'eyes in the back of your head' now.

I'm just counting the days till mine start nursery.

My two were exactly the same. One day i left them alone for a moment and came down to find they had emptied the entire contents of the fridge out onto the floor. Eggs all smashed, coffee powder everywhere, food wasted. I nearly cried. Another time they smashed all the diswasher tabs onto the floor, didnt look so bad but was next to impossible to clean, so soapy, had to mop the floor about 20 times. I think containment is key. Childproof everything. Make sure the garden is safe (if you have one) and chuck them out there to play every day whatever the weather. I was lucky enought to have a playroom. So that room was childproofed ie furniture attached to the walls, wipeable paint etc. If they drew on the walls i just repainted periodically. Then i lad little latches on all the rest of the doors ie sitting room, kitchen etc. So they couldnt get into these rooms if i wasnt there to supervise them. It worked quite well, although thinking about it - it maybe wouldnt work so well if you have older children!

You're not doing anything wrong, it's just normal, and thankfully, JUST A PHASE!!!!!!!! We had the loo-roll down the toilet often and other such problems.

I used to find taking them out to as many toddler groups as possible the best bet as then they messed up someone else's room and not ours! Plus lots of toys and lots of children to play with, stops it being so intense, they always played much nicer when we returned home afterwards.

Plus the garden is a Godsend and the park when they're bored of the garden.

And definitely toddler-proof as much as possible, so much less stress. i don't think it's possible to be one of those 'I'll leave it and they'll just have to learn the word no' Mums with twins. Too much like hard work if you ask me!!

I am also struggling big time at the mo. I just dont seem to have any sort of control over them . Both are having major meltdowns at the mo . It is so hard.

I have 2 1/2 year old twin boys and the past few weeks have become a total nightmare. They have become completely unruly. I have even sat down and cried as I feel I am my wits end! I have two older boys and wonder if it was this bad when they were the same age, I know then I only had to keep my eye on 1 toddler instead of running around like a mad woman after two little monkeys!!

How old are your toddlers? I found with my twin girls that the twos were fine for the majority of it, but when they hit three its like something changed! They wanted to challenge EVERYTHING i said 'why mummy, why mummy?' repeat times twenty until i wanted to explode. Also they had/still have at times a big issue with listening and wanting to touch everything they cant have. The few months before they started nursery (they started a month ago) they were awful and i found the days so hard with them, particularly the afternoons. They were bored, i was tired, and started looking forward to my days at work (!). As soon as they started nursery though, every day 12.45-3.15 things have improved majorly. We have structure to our day, they are loving nursery and get all the stimulation they needed (and i couldnt give them with all the best will in the world), and i get a whole two hours to myself!! It really makes a difference to have those two hours, they dont sound a lot but you will be amazed what you can do with that time and how refreshed you will feel.
How long is it till they start nursery? Do you have any other little ones? Dont feel bad or abnormal, i really sympathise as i got to that stage just before nursery and now its all calmed down. Keep your chin up:))))

So nice to know I am not alone!

I have 3 year old twin boys, and OMG they can be horrors at times. They do seem to want to just destroy everything they touch. My house looks like a bomb has gone off in it most days and we have gates everywhere to try and contain them! Please tell me it gets easier

I do sympathise because mine are 2 and are getting increasingly hard work (esp as I'm 8months pregnant with baby no.3) but I confess, the first thing that struck me from this post was "how are they allowed in the fridge??!". Maybe I've gone OTT on the childproof thing but basically the kitchen has a safety gate, the door of the bathroom is locked and generally they stay where I can see them or they play in their bedroom which is again childproofed. I hate that my house feels like a fort sometimes but with twins I just think it's easier, otherwise you're just stressing yourselves out with things that can be avoided. Ditto for things like crayons / paints - keep them out of sight until it's a supervised activity. Life's too short to create battles with the kids.

Sorry if this sounds negative - trying to be helpful...

My 2 1/2 year old twins laugh at my childproofing.. when they were smaller one use to use the other to get over a stairgate he would push brother to the floor the climb on him and over - now they can pull themselves up and over the gate -or drag a chair or toy. Went to the park today (they are much worse if they haven't had a run) and found A dangerling off the monkey bars saying weeeeeeeee i was helping L climb the lader thing.
Its the speed that the move as well as the tag team - you go spill the sugar on the floor in the kitchen so mummy has to go and clean that up then i will use my big sister felt tips to draw mummy a lovley picture on the newly painted wall.... Cant wait till Jan when they start nursey :)

CoffeeDog - I love your post! Can't believe they work together so well and gang up on you. I have say, thankfully, mine haven't worked out that strategy yet, so maybe that's why I've had an easier time. Divide and Conquer has been my approach :) You'll probably see me back on here in 6months time having the same problems once they've seen through my plan!

I do still sometimes find them asleep in 1 bed which is just sooo cute - I can almost forgive them for the rest. They have also just started comming up to me at random time with a big hug and 'love you mummy' which makes up for the hard work they are for the rest of the day ;)

PMSL at Coffeedog's twin's gateclimbing strategy. DDs turn 2 next week and are quite chilled at the moment but am intrigued to see what the year has in store for us...

What bothers me about this thread is that I came on as I am similarly wondering 'what am I doing wrong' so was looking for some tips, but I see that all your children are over 2 or even over 3....mine are only 18 months....does that mean this 'phase' is due to last for at least another 18 months!!!

I think I will have had a nervous breakdown before then.

I have just bought 'houdini stop' for them, which helps some issues of escaping from car seats/prams and high chairs.

Today is the first day in 8 months that I am on my own with DTDs 2.3yo as DH has started a new job today (having been unemployed since Christmas). I am relieved (that he's working) and terrified in equal measures as I've just got into the habit of having an extra pair of hands and eyes available.

However, the old routines of closing stairgates, closing and locking bathroom doors and closing the barrier across the kitchen came back very quickly this morning. Crayons and chalks are out of reach, TV/DVD etc are in a room they only use with supervision. H

Having said all that, I can see that their climbing ability will probably pass a critical level at some point soon!

drlove8 - I had to come back on this thread and apologise profusely. They say pride comes before a fall.... well when I replied to your post, my twins had just turned two and they were fine. Then baby no3 came along, they've hit the 2.5yr mark and they too are destroying everything! Plus they've dropped their 2hr nap so I don't even have down time in the day. It's suddenly got much harder. I'm so sorry that I wasn't more sympathetic. I now realise that I just wasn't at that stage yet! Role on nursery!

Hope you're getting on OK.

I feel so so so so relieved after reading this thread