From coming home to overnight feedings, the life of being a parent of twins is rewarding and exhausting. There will be days where you are pushed to the limits and feel like you have no more energy to give. Then, your baby twins look at you and give you a smile. Looks of love are enough to give you a boost of energy to keep going and to do your best for you and your babies.
At TwinStuff, we have experienced parents of twins who provided insight on parenting hacks. These tips can help you in raising your newborn twins. We will highlight everything from leaving the hospital to insightful nighttime routines. Be sure to share what parenting hacks work for you on our friendly and supportive TwinStuff Facebook Group.
Bringing Home Your Newborn Twins
Your newborn babies are finally free to leave the hospital, and you are so excited to bring them home! Typically, one of the nurses will want to check your car seats and that your twins are big enough to safely ride home in their seats. To be on the safe side, you may want to have two car seat pads. The head and body cushion provides additional comfort for your newborn twin babies. Keep these in the car seats to make it easier upon your newborns being discharged to come home.
Another thing that you will want to have on hand are adorable outfits for twins. If you prefer to dress your boy girl twins in casual attire, twin onesies with cute sayings are the way to go. In order to keep the onesies looking fresh, cotton bibs are gentle against the skin of your newborn twins. As a mother of twins, your twins pictures will capture a moment that you will always cherish.
Home Sweet Home
Raising twins becomes reality when you arrive home. Do not be surprised if your twins are hungry after riding home in the car. Bottle feed or nursing your twins, you will want to feed your babies at the same time. Tandem feedings work well when using a twin nursing pillow. This provides you and your babies with extra support while they nurse. If you are bottle feeding, the twin pillow helps to keep everyone comfortable during each of the feedings.
As you know, after feeding your twins, they will need to be burped. Protect your clothes with organic cotton burp cloths. You will appreciate having the burp cloths within your reach to quickly wipe up any spit-ups or spills.
Diapers and Wipes
Your twins will be very hungry, which leads to plenty of dirty diapers. Discard the disposable diapers and wipes in a trusty diaper pail. Diaper pails are equipped with plastic clamps to seal the diaper pail bags.
If you are planning on using cloth diapers, you want to find ones that are high quality and durable. Adjustable cloth diapers grow with your twins. Typically, the eco-friendly diapers fit size 0 for babies on up to size 2 for toddlers. They are machine washable and reusable, as are the diaper inserts.
No More Tears: How To Cope With Crying Twins
While parenting twins, you will experience times of your twin babies crying. As you get to know more about your boy girl twins, you will learn how to cope with crying baby. Sometimes they cry because they are gassy, hungry, scared or in pain. Teething can cause your twins to cry more than they would normally.
Around three months of age, your twins may begin to experience teeth cutting through their gums. Provide comfort with twins baby teething toys. Soothe their discomfort by placing the teething toys inside of your refrigerator. Chilled teething toys can ease the pain. Different textures can be felt on the toys themselves, which gives your twin babies a safe object to suck and chomp on.
Sweet Dreams: Sleep Training Twins
Sleep training twins may sound overwhelming but is found to be much easier than twin parents expected it to be. Healthy sleep habits start when setting a sleep schedule. Spend some time creating a nap schedule and bedtime routines. While raising twins, you will discover what times work for your twins and for yourself.
One way of keeping up with daytime naps is by having a portable pack and play with twin cribs in the living room. While your twin babies sleep, you can get things done around the living room and adjacent areas of your home. When your babies wake up, you will be there for them.
Bedtime routines can consist of a nightly bath in their baby bath tubs. After a bath, keep your twins cozy by wrapping them in a hooded bath towel. Dress them in cotton footless pajamas and place them each into their twin cribs. Their twin baby beds should have a fitted mattress sheet, to keep babies cool and comfortable.
If you are planning to night nurse your babies; help yourself by having a twin bassinet next to your bed. A helpful hack is to have your twin nursing pillow and burp cloths near you. As soon as you are done caring for your twins after nighttime feedings, be sure to swaddle them back in each of their cribs. Having a sound sleeper will help to calm your babies and help if they wake up overnight.
More Tips for Parenting Twins
These parenting hacks for raising your newborn twins. Pick the tips that will help you and your twin babies. For additional suggestions and support, join our TwinStuff Facebook Group. Other parents of multiples gather within the virtual group to share their ideas and suggestions. On our website, TwinStuff posts quality blogs that provide more insight on the multitude of milestones that twins and parents experience.
If you are in need of advice on baby products for your twin gift registry, or searching for answers about twin habits, TwinStuff is here for you and your family. We cover relevant content to help you with your twin pregnancy, caring for your newborn twins, and bringing up your twins through their toddler years.