A year ago, I was taking care of my 4-month old twins
wishing I could activate the Carry Four Flo boost. If, like me, you were hooked
on Diner Dash many years ago, you will remember this as the boost that allows
Flo (the game's main character) to carry up to four items at a time in order to
serve more customers quickly. In a way, parenting twins is like Diner Dash. You
have to complete numerous tasks and feed (then burp, bathe, and dress hehe)
demanding customers. Luckily, I've learned a few things in my first year of
twin parenting that can help fellow twin parents navigate life with twin
infants without having to grow an extra pair of hands. (Wow, that's a lot of
"twin" for one sentence!)
Get 2 nursing pillows.
It seems so long ago when the twins were still unable to
hold their feeding bottles on their own. I remember worrying about how I would
be able to feed them both at the same time should the need arise. The answer?
Nursing pillows! We bought the twins those U-shaped nursing pillows so that
when feeding time came, all I had to do was prop them up on their own pillows
which freed my hands up to hold their bottles for them. Simultaneous feeding,
done!
Use only white socks.
When the twins were younger, we always made them wear socks
to bed to prevent their feet from getting cold. At first, we used cute printed
socks like those with trucks and cars for Antonino, and flowers and hearts for
Audrey. It took us a couple of weeks until we decided to switch to all white
socks for both of them. It eliminated the need for sorting and made putting
away their laundry 10 times faster. I mean, all white socks go together, right?
Use different bottles for each twin.
This is a hack we discovered by accident. We were all set
for the twins to share a set of baby bottles since we thoroughly washed and
sterilized them after every use anyway. However, Audrey had colic issues which
were only solved once she started using Dr. Brown's bottles. Antonino continued
to use the original set of bottles since they worked well for him. Little did
we know that giving the twins different bottles would help a lot. It prevented
mix-ups during late night feedings (they drank different milk brands because of
Audrey's sensitive tummy), and it minimized the chance of cross contamination.
If your twins are comfortable with the same feeding bottle, try to see if they
come in different colors so you can just assign a color to each twin.
Use plastic links (or colored ribbons) to identify identical
strollers.
I remember we were originally supposed to get one blue and
one pink stroller for the twins. But when we were at the store, we discovered
that the same model in red was around P2,000 cheaper. Can't really argue with
that, right? So Audrey and Antonino have identical red strollers. The thing is,
Antonino is a bit taller than Audrey. So we tied a ribbon (and later on
attached a sturdier colored plastic link) to identify which stroller goes to
whom to save us time from having to adjust the straps whenever we put them in.
Take notes.
In our sleep-deprived state, it was challenging to remember
every single feeding and diaper change. To avoid getting confused about who
needed to be changed and/or fed, we kept a chart of their activities which
contained feeding, nappy changing and sleeping times as well as medicine intake
when needed. This helped us avoid the horror of feeding one baby twice while
leaving the other hungry by mistake. I also started keeping a running list of
health-related questions and concerns in my phone to make sure I don't miss
anything during their doctor appointments.
Are you a fellow twin parent (or parent-to-be)? If there are any specific topics you'd like to read about, please let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you!
Are you a fellow twin parent (or parent-to-be)? If there are any specific topics you'd like to read about, please let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you!
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