general questions...just wondering how others do stuff...

Hi everyone, just some thoughts that often come to my head and I wonder how other twin moms/dads do things!

1. Sippy cup and milk...we always have them lying around, the girls like it warm, so sometimes I throw out the old milk and pour new milk, and it's such a waste-do you refrigerate and then warm it up a bit after? Do your twins like cold milk?

2. Going out...one started walking at 12 months, the other 15 months, they are now just over 16 months-how do you find taking them out to run around together? Do you tend to go enclosed play areas? What about parks? I am always nervous about one running away and me chasing them and someone getting hurt!

3. The 'SCHEDULE'...I am a big stickler for the schedule. Our days revolve around their nap, and our socializing, since they have just in the last two months converted to one good nap. My inlaws seem to b&*%# a lot about us not bringing the girls over, especially since they live a good 45 minutes to an hour away. I find that longer trips like that for a short visit are pointless and people should just come over and see the girls in their own environment until they are a little bigger. What do you think???

4. Traveling...I have to admit, I get a little jealous when I see friends with single babies going all over the place with their ONE baby. I find life is so different for us because I really do depend heavily on my husband for help. With one baby you can switch, take breaks, whatever! Two is so different! We are planning to go to Hawaii when they are around 20 months or so, which I think will be fun. Do you travel much in this second year? Do your twins adapt fairly well to sleeping when you are away???

Thanks everyone, for your expertise!

 

Yeah, I wonder how other people function as well. It seems like trying to do anything with twins is like planning the invasion of Normandy!

1. I only offer cold milk, and only at meals/snacks except for the warmed bedtime sippy. If they don't finish their milk, it goes back into the fridge to be topped off for the next meal. The leftover milk from the bedtime sippy gets tossed. We've had some constipation issues, so we only give water or diluted juice in between meals for hydration.

2. Heh, we don't let our miscreants loose without DH and I both there with them. :lol: Right now they're not very good about listening, and are becoming willful. We recently learned the signs for "stop" and "go", so I'm starting to practice with them, but I just don't feel comfortable taking them out alone when they're not confined to a stroller or wagon. ardon:

3. I preserve my boys' schedule pretty strictly. I will make exceptions for special occasions, but I realize there will be consequences if they don't get proper sleep (read: EXTREME CRANKINESS). I don't go out a lot with the boys for visits, except to the ILs who are 2 hours away. Then we make a day of it. Otherwise I make people come see us.

4. We haven't traveled much, except to the aforementioned ILs. We did travel to a funeral a few weeks ago, but only stayed overnight. My guys do sleep pretty well, even in hotel rooms, but they tend to eat poorly and act like buttheads. I have a great video of them trashing our hotel room (never fear, I cleaned it all up before checking out)! :lol:

Everyone has to find what works for them, but this is what we do. Hope this helps and that you have a great trip to Hawaii!

 

I often wonder what other moms do too ... so here's me:

1. Milk is really only given at meals and it's given cold. We will usually save from one meal to another but don't save from one day to the next. They get one/two snacks per day and that's usually diluted juice or h2o.

2. As of right now I don't go anywhere with out my hubby to let the boys play. We do have a fenced in backyard that they have run of right now and that's hard enough to chase them around. I haven't ventured to an enclosed park by myself yet but have been thinking about it.

3. I'm pretty big on schedules too and yep, it's around the nap. I, personally, can't see any other way of negotiating my day if the boys didn't have their nap. Eek. :crazy:

4. We've only traveled and stayed away from home a few times since they were born and honestly, they've done really well. We haven't had to travel long distances so I don't have any words for prolonged car rides. Here too, I'm hoping to venture out more.

You know you're babes best and can handle whatever situation they throw at you so I'm sure you'll do great on your trip to Hawaii!! Super jealous there! HTH!

 

good questions!

1. my girls get cold milk with their meals - their sippies also go back in the fridge between times. they have access to sippies with water all day for thirst.

2. i do take them out & let them run around by myself - i prefer enclosed playgrounds, or at the least, playgrounds that are away from busy roads. it does get a little hairy sometimes but i have a sort of 5 foot rule - if one of my girls is getting too far away, i scoop up the other and chase the first one down. as they get older though, they're getting better at obeying verbal commands to stop, come back, etc & it's less of an issue. i also like to take them to the mall by myself - again, it can get a little hairy but i use the same sort of rule. if one's getting too far, i'll scoop the other & chase. i probably look like an idiot sometimes, but it's important to me to feel a sense of independence & to not feel like i can't go out because i'm by myself, if that makes sense. all that being said, we have had our share of trips, falls, head bonks, etc because i haven't been quick enough. the more i do it though, the better we all get.

3. i'm also a big fan of the schedule. that being said, i don't mind mixing it up once in a while (but only if i know DH will be home in the evening to help out with tired and/or cranky babies). i sometimes use the go-out-in-the-morning-nap-on-the-ride-home trick for special occasions - especially if we're going anywhere that's more than an hour away. or, like Valerie, i'll just make a day of it & have them nap at the other person's house. i also often invite people to my house though too - because, frankly, it's much, much easier logistically & i'm lazy! :laughing:

4. we've done a number of car trips/vacations with the girls and each one seems to be a brand new adventure - everything we learned on the last trip, no longer applies! :headbang: i find the best thing for me is to adjust my expectations of the vacation - it, bottom line, is never going to be like vacationing BB (before babies) so i try to enjoy it for what it is now, extra work and all. sleep does seem to be the biggest variable - we try to make the new place as much like home as possible, but i've found the best thing to do is just go with the flow. if they don't want to go to bed until 11:00pm, we let them stay up. if they sleep in till 9:00am, we don't worry about it. if they only take a 45 minute nap, i figure it's better than no nap! it really becomes about flexibility - and i worry about getting back into our regular routine when we get home.

 

1. My two like cold milk but if they don't finish it & leave it out for a bit then I will put the sippies back in the fridge. Milk is given at breakfast and after dinner.
2. I took them to enclosed play areas at that age & parks I only did that with another adult.
3. I am stickler for the schedule myself but I am willing to change it up for a special event. Do your in-laws have a spot for the children to rest? My parents live about 45 minutes away and they have a spare room with two cribs for the kids to rest in. Maybe on days that you do visit the IL's you can put them to bed earlier and try to leave during naptime so that they will get some sleep on the ride home. Those are just some ideas. Maybe work out a visiting schedule with your IL's (they come one week, you visit the next).
4. We took our 1st family vacation when my two were 17 months, we took the kids to Michigan to visit my aunt/uncle/cousins and it took the kids a night or two to get used to sleeping at my aunt and uncle's house. But once they did, they were fine. I just made sure to have a lot of their loveys,blankets,fan * nightlight with me to ease the transition.
I agree with Valerie, you have to do what works best for your family. Good luck!!!

 

1. Sippy cup and milk...we always have them lying around, the girls like it warm, so sometimes I throw out the old milk and pour new milk, and it's such a waste-do you refrigerate and then warm it up a bit after? Do your twins like cold milk?My two drink cold milk, ice water, juice with ice - they like cold! We never have any milk leftover to save - my two usually come to me within minutes of my giving them a cup begging for "mo" (more). We give milk when they wake up to tide them over until breakfast, and then with lunch and dinner.

2. Going out...one started walking at 12 months, the other 15 months, they are now just over 16 months-how do you find taking them out to run around together? Do you tend to go enclosed play areas? What about parks? I am always nervous about one running away and me chasing them and someone getting hurt! I do usually try for enclosed areas if I am by myself unless we go to the zoo which means wagon, the grocery store (car cart), or somewhere where the stroller is key. I do let them hold my hand and walk most places now, and if we are playing in our neighborhood I will let them ride on their ride-on toys but that is definitely a recent development since they now will somewhat listen and the neighborhood is low traffic.

3. The 'SCHEDULE'...I am a big stickler for the schedule. Our days revolve around their nap, and our socializing, since they have just in the last two months converted to one good nap. My inlaws seem to b&*%# a lot about us not bringing the girls over, especially since they live a good 45 minutes to an hour away. I find that longer trips like that for a short visit are pointless and people should just come over and see the girls in their own environment until they are a little bigger. What do you think??? We do some visiting, but it is always around the naps - we are big sticklers too. Lately, we have allowed their nap to be pushed back to 1:00 if we are doing special things like the Easter Egg hunt, or their first trip to the children's museum, or if we are eating lunch out, but usually we are home in time for their noon nap. That actually gives us plenty of time since the kids wake up at 7:00 and we can go to breakfast or the park or the zoo in the mornings or afternoons after their nap and that time is about all they can handle now anyway.

4. Traveling...I have to admit, I get a little jealous when I see friends with single babies going all over the place with their ONE baby. I find life is so different for us because I really do depend heavily on my husband for help. With one baby you can switch, take breaks, whatever! Two is so different! We are planning to go to Hawaii when they are around 20 months or so, which I think will be fun. Do you travel much in this second year? Do your twins adapt fairly well to sleeping when you are away??? This past weekend I actually had one that slept an hour longer than usual on Saturday at naptime and got to spend an hour with the one that woke up at the normal time (2:30) and then on Sunday they switched and the other one slept an hour longer (crazy). I enjoyed spending just hang around time with one and marveled at how low-key it felt not to have to be pulled in two different directions and having two fighting for my attention and lap! I wouldn't have it any other way, and actually appreciate that it has made dh a much more involved dad, but I do get jealous that other people's lives haven't changed so drastically with one child. We have traveled, mostly for holidays and a couple of vacations, and the kids did surprisingly well. The routine stayed the same wherever we were and they just picked it up great. Our problem was that other people couldn't get on board and wanted us to let the kids stay up or skip naps but in Hawaii you won't have that problem - I'm jealous of that trip!

 

Great thread!

1. Mine will drink any type of milk I give them - they are addicted to their milk! They get a milk/yogurt blend first thing in the morning to hold them over until breakfast, and then regular milk at lunch and dinner. In between they get water and occasionally juice. If there is any milk left after meals, the cups go back in the fridge and are topped off for the next meal. At the end of the day, the leftover (if any) is tossed and we start with a fresh cup for the next day.

2. I have a 3 yr old in addition to my twins, so I have to go out and about with them. My little 2 have just started to walk well and I still have one who would rather crawl, so it is just starting to get hard to keep up with them. I prefer fenced play grounds or play grounds that are at least borded by something and a good distance away from the road/parking lot. We also have a fenced back yard that they love to run around in. My biggest problem is that the little 2 are both climbers, so I am more worried about them climbing on the play stuff than running off.

3. I try to stick to a schedule, but not strictly. I go more by hours they are awake than set times. They don't get up at a consistent time, so going by hours awake works best for us. They still take 2 naps a day most days, but there are days when they catch the morning nap in the car while we are running errands or skip it and go down earlier for their afternoon nap. As long as I don't do this too many days in a row, they don't get too cranky. I am still strict about the afternoon nap though. All 3 have to have an afternoon nap or they are a mess by bedtime.

4. We have only had a few long weekends that we traveled with them so far. It is exhausting to travel with 3 kids, so we don't do it very often. The few times we have done it, it has been to the IL's and they have cribs and beds for everyone. The hardest part is that we have to sleep in the same room with the twins and they are very noisy sleepers! We are going for a full week this summer and I am hoping to work out some different sleeping arrangements. Otherwise, I might be a very sleep deprived, grumpy mommy by the end of the week.

 

1. Mine like cold milk. They also don't usually leave any for me to save till later, but it has happened and I'll just put it back in the fridge until later.

2. Most of the time, if I'm alone, I will walk them up and down our block with their monkey backpacks on. What a lifesaver! They usually hold my hands, but they get hot and tired and so they don't always want to hold my hands. Luckily, they don't put up much of a fight if I insist. I will go shopping with one at a time, but that rarely happens, cause my DH works at home and does not always have the ability to watch the other one, so shopping is usually done during naps and after they go to bed when DH or I can watch them at home while the other goes out. We go to playgrounds as a group. I'm not brave enough yet to go out with them to an open playground without DH.

3. I stick to a time schedule. It works best for us. Though I'm thinking of giving their milks at the same time as their meals now so there's more time to play. But for now, they get milk when they wake up from the night time sleep and naps and then an hour later they get their meals. At night they get their sippies at around 7 and their dinner at 8. Then their bath and then bed. They have water available to them any time they want it.

4. I have yet to travel with them. Mostly cause we have been afraid of taking them on a plane. It's expensive and to carry all that stuff is what's upsetting us. It's not the plane ride itself. We have been discussing driving them to visit some family up North sometime this year after they both are in toddler beds.

 

I agree, as much as I absolutely LOVE my twins, it looks sooo much easier with a singelton and i've often wondered how other moms do it, as sometimes i feel sooo overwhelmed, okay all the time i feel sooo overwhelmed with all the extra stuff two babies at once bring on.

My boys get milk in sippy cups only at breakfast and dinner, diluted juice at lunch, and for snacks, either water or diluted juice and very rarely but occasionaly choc milk. I leave their sippy's out and when they are done with the milk i tossed the milk and they get fresh milk at their meals.

I am a stickler as well for naps, I LIVE for their naps..LOL...unless we have to, i do not go out in mornings, they need their morning nap, my boys are usually cranky about 2 hrs after they get up...I usually venture out in the afternoon if I have errands to run or go to the park, otherwise they get their afternoon nap, my boys have not transitioned to one nap, they are not ready for it and neither am I, but when we do go out in the afternoon and they miss their afternoon nap, they ARE cranky toddlers till bed time.

I do take them to the park by myself to walk around with the stroller, for my exercise, but if I take them to the playground area I make sure i have an extra person with me, as I will not take them to the play area myself, they both run in 2 different directions, it's frustrating, LOL..I am chasing after one toddler while my friend chases after the other...Same goes with at home, I will only take them outside in the yard when the hubby is home to help watch. They do not hang around each other when outside, they like to go separate ways...am hoping as time goes on it will get easier...LOL

As for traveling, the only long distance traveling is to my parents mostly, which is about 90 min away or my sisters about 2 hrs away...sometimes they nap sometimes they dont...I am too nervous to travel overnight somewhere as i know it will be stressful for me. But we will one day when they get a little older, so day trips are about the most we do for now.

 

Great topic!
1) mine prefer their milk warmed up but I am tired of throwing it out so now they get it cold and only with meals/snacks and only if they are in their high chairs. We learned the hard way that leaky sippy cups stain the rug

2)I take mine out in the back yard but we have a fence. Otherwise I keep the twins in the stroller at all times!

3)I am a total nut when it comes to the schedule. We don't deviate from it at all!!! everything revolves around the schedule in our house and it sometimes isolates us a little but we deal with it because its easier. I live only 5 minutes away from my parents and inlaws and my boys have only been there maybe half a dozen times in the last 16 months because its easier if they come here. Especially now that the boys are walking around and getting into everything.

4)As for travelling it is absolutely my biggest pet peeve. I hate packing my three kids in and out of the van and avoid it most of the time if I can. If we do have to go on a longer trip we make sure that we leave during their nap time so they still get a decent nap in and they don't get thrown to far off schedule. Staying at other places for us is a nightmare and we avoid it at all costs but my kids are used to sleeping in their own rooms with minimal noise and thats not the case when we stay other places.

 

1. Sippy cup and milk: They drink cold/room temperature milk, but not warm. We refill sippy cups with milk after a meal. If they are still thirsty later, they are allowed to take the sippy cups with them for drinking until the next meal. Before the next meal, the sippy cup with unrefrigerated milk is poured out, the sippy cup is washed, and then refilled with milk from the refrigerator. At the end of the day, all milk is removed from all sippy cups and all sippy cups are washed and replaced with new milk. If your girls like warm milk, I would do just as you are doing--throw out old milk and pour in new milk. I worry about the milk spoiling if it is left out for too long. Have they tried cold milk?

2. Going out: I have recently decided to go to the park alone with the two. In the past, I would wait for another person to go with me. It is working out okay. There are rules they have to follow. They have to stay in the same area and no wandering off. If one wanders, he or she goes in the stroller. If both wander, we all go home. The park is not enclosed and and I do not think this would work in a bigger park. Now that the weather is nicer, they are allowed to play in our backyard, with just me watching them, but our backyard is fenced. I think you are very brave for going all the places you do by yourself.

3. The 'SCHEDULE'. I think a schedule is very important. It lets everyone know what is coming next. My lo's live for the schedule and if we deviate, crying (due to tiredness or hunger) almost always follows. If we are going out, I try to incorporate the schedule into what we are doing. For example, pack a meal to eat out or plan to have a nap in the car.

4. Traveling. We have traveled but not lot. My lo's adapted very well, but there was not a change in time zone. They did sleep very well, as all the new activities in which they participated kept them active and made for tired, sleepy babies.

 

Thank you ladies! LOVE LOVE LOVE all these replies, so interesting, and probably gives us all some new ideas.

I may have another post coming with new questions...so much to talk about...

Have a great twin-toddler day everyone!