Coping with twins

No idea but congratulations.

My niece had twins after having a daughter, her Mum my sil decided early on that she couldn’t cope with twins on a regular basis as she had with their daughter she gave them plenty of warning. It’s a lot of hard work, I don’t have any advice but congratulations and good luck.

Congratulations. As an identical twin, my Mum told us many stories of us growing up. I think the initial stage of breastfeeding (one on each side!) and sleepless nights were demanding (not that you should be involved as the grandmother) but as we grew up it was great that we had a ready made best friend with us all the time and played together nicely for the most part. Although we're heading close to 70 years old she's still my best friend and we have the same hobbies etc and tastes. I've just finished WhatsApping with her about sewing.

My brother has twins. now in their late twenties.
Both he and his wife always said that they didn't really want children at all, so to find out first of all that she was pregnant and after the first scan , that it was twins, was a big shock to put it mildly!
My sister in law had absolutely no experience with babies. The hospital they were born in, were worse than useless as each time a member of staff came in, they told her something completely different- until I spoke to the sister on the post natal ward and requested that she was specialled, so only had to deal with one nurse each shift.
Luckily, her dad had a job that meant he could pop in throughout the day to help with the feeds(she couldn't breastfeed) and on days off my sister used to go and take her out SiL and brother couldn't drive - he had a motorbike.
Both sets of parents helped out, we had them come to stay for weekends from when they were quite tiny, if only to give the parents time to catch up on sleep!
Best advice I can offer is to help out as much as poss, the parents should take whatever help is offered , especially in the first 12 months.
I found that "twice is nice" definitely true even with the extra work involved. It has been an absolute joy watching them grow up into wonderful adults with their totally different personalities!

Congratulations, there will be lots of love around, hopefully friends will rally round to help.

If the twins are identical, they face a lifetime of daft questions and the same old jokes!
My husband is an identical twin. They are away together this weekend, to watch motor racing, and yes, they are very close.

My husband's eldest daughter has twins, a boy and a girl. They are now 4 and due to start school in September.
When they were born their brother was almost 3. It was/is hard work but lovely to see them grow and develop. The little girl is very girly, the little boy is very full on. Never still and gets up to lots of mischief but also very loving.
Congratulations to your daughter and to you. Just help out when you can, they soon grow up and before you know it will be at school.

Congratulations! That’s lovely.

My niece had twins, after two other children and ended up with four under 4yo! She and her Dh managed v well, they were just super-organised. One of the older children caught chickenpox and passed it on to one of the babies at just a couple of weeks old ? but they got through it. They’re growing up now and just the loveliest family, they’re all so close, being within four years of each other.

We have two sets of twins in the family,one pair being identical girls,the other twins were one of each.
And all four of them have totaly different characters.
The mothers coped so well,as if they had a single child.
I think it`s a case of being organised and having support.

My son and his wife have a 3 year old (who I look after one day a week at least) and have 6 month old twins.
DiL started breast feeding but found it easier to pump breast milk and bottle feed so others could help. They certainly find having two is much harder than they thought and it did take a bit for the 3 year old to come to terms with having to share mum and dad with two babes.
Parents used to come to mine so I could look after the babes while they went upstairs for a sleep (that’s getting better now) and I have started to have the babes half a day a week and go to theirs one early evening so DiL can spend time putting 3 year old to bed while I look after the babes. Non identical twins all three are boys.
I’m loving it!

Congratulations!
We have twin grandsons, now aged 8. They have an older brother aged 14. Due to the fact that they used to live a 3 hour drive away, we would go down to their house to help out when the twins were babies. The elder child often came to stay with us before the twins were born and this continued. Once the twins were about 10 months old, they used to stay too, sometimes on their own and sometimes with their big brother.

The early baby days were very hard work but to be honest, once they got to 12 or 18 months, they entertained each other and so it has continued.
Big brother no longer comes to stay but we have a great relationship especially now that the family have moved nearer to us, just a 20 minute drive.
I hope you enjoy your time with your grandchildren.

We have Twin Grandchildren, age 9 now, we did a lot of full on child care in the early years. It was exhausting but fun. It was very much like juggling soot or platting fog. Now they are older, we are older, still exhausting but wonderful. Congratulations!

My DS and DiL had twins 11 years ago , a boy and girl . Great fun hard work and they are still close and delightful . DiL’s mum and I helped out a fair bit as did many other friends and relatives.
They both slept for England fortunately when very small once out of SCBU .One good piece of advice they were given by their Health Visitor was, if one wakes for a feed , wake the other too so at least it’s not constant feeds . DiL expressed her milk too and bottle fed so that she could have help feeding .Once they were toddlers it really was double trouble and doubt if I could cope with them now at 71 !

My brother in law worked out that it took twenty five hours a day to feed their twins when they were born! Their older sister was eighteen months old at the time.

We have had multiple births in the family, and family really rallied round with food, clothes, prams, cots etc. even preparing the house, not just the nursery.
TAMBA are good twinstrust.org/
and there may be local groups for support. Ask the midwife?
And multiple births are expensive - there may be council help available.

My DD had twin boys when her daughter was 3.
The father disappeared after a couple of months, so it was down to me to support and help her.
It was such hard work and I worried constantly but we got through it.
Routine, routine , routine. Is key.
They are now 15 and lovely boys.

My father was a twin born 1918.His mother already had one child aged just 14 months when my dad and his sister arrived.
It was so long ago now so times have changed a lot but I remember my dad telling us that he was cared for by his aunt until he started school.His mother had his younger brother when my dad was three so that was four children in four years.
The four were all close to each other growing up.
It must have been a worrying time for his mother in WW2 as my dad, his father and two brothers were all in the services.Thankfully they all survived.
There has been no more twins in my immediate family.I do not know about my dad's siblings families as we lost touch years ago.

I had premature twins born at 28wks gestation - just be prepared for an early arrival. Sticking to a routine and feeding both at same time saved the day.

How lovely. Heartiest of congratulations. Hope they become your joy and never your problem.

I am so envious ! My dd had twins 12 years ago after saying she wasn’t keen on giving up a career to have a baby! So when she became pregnant we all thought hope she copes and then she found out it was twins! Fortunately they were good babies and both dd and husband worked as a team sharing the load. I helped out as well. They were and remain a joy and are such pals together. They rarely argue and have such fun together. So lucky you. I was worried prior to their arrival as I’d no knowledge of twins but within a few days it seemed haveing two babies was normal. As said routine,routine,routine is the way. But most of all enjoy them as the time flashes past and they are staring secondary school before you blink.

Six and a half years ago my daughter had twins via IVF and born by Caesarian section. I’d recently retired and offered to help. I was at my daughter’s 5 days a week doing washing, cleaning, cooking whilst she breast fed both of them (for nearly a year). They were not difficult just happened to have different sleep patterns which meant one slept sometimes whilst the other was awake. I used to take them out for a daily walk rain or shine to give her some respite. She became very miserable and finally approached her doctor when they were 3 months. They gave her a mild anti-depressant and she became more settled as time went on. She needed lots of reassurance that she was doing well. Her other half was very good with the babies but became increasingly unpleasant over the slightest thing.

That all sounds really scary BUT on the plus side, after the initial problems and getting used to two little people it was great fun looking after them and watching their development. I feel very privileged to have been fully involved during their formative years. They are very different people with their own foibles. One has turned out to be rather a mathematician and a bit of a tomboy whilst the other loves drawing. Dad and Mum are no longer together (another story) but the girls are doing well.

If you are lucky enough to be able to help out be prepared to housework etc. as that is generally the thing that can relieve pressure. Just taking them out for a bit can give Mum and Dad a break and some peace for a little while.

They are now 6 1/2, two wonderful little girls, full of life and very inquisitive and school is going well. They are in different classes as the school recommended. This has helped them develop their own individuality.

Above all congratulations and enjoy. It’s a wonderful journey to be part of. ??

Congratulations! I have a twin sister , not identical but close. When we were born our brother was under three , so mum was busy . I would have been delighted to have had twins but it was not to be. I think it is important to encourage each twin to
be an individual. Even if they are very different they will always have a feeling of togetherness- conceived together , born together. So twins have never been without each other. One downside is that as children people expected us to have the same strengths and weaknesses and we were different. Our mum used to say " I got two for the price of one" - only one labour but two babies. Being a twin is great !!!

ayse, I think the school has been very wise . Different classes is a good idea, ensures there is not constant comparison and each twin can forge their individual characters. In my day teachers were not so thoughtful!

I have twin girls. They were born when my son was 4. I had to get a routine going. I made all the bottles up for the day. ( I was unable to breastfeed them ). I didn’t have disposable nappies then 45 years ago. So I had two buckets of nappies to deal with first thing. Get them out of the way was my first job,
What I would say to your daughter is to discourage too many well meaning visitors , I would end up making them tea while they cuddled the babies. I was exhausted after a c-section and the visitors would stay too long so I got all thrown out of my routine , Congratulations and enjoy taking the out in their pram so your daughter can have a rest. It’s a lovely time but hectic. Xx