You're going to hear this a lot over the next couple of weeks... but where has the last year gone? It has flown by with amazing speed, and I'm happy to say that we've survived! So I thought I'd celebrate by sharing a few of the things we couldn't have got through the year without. Here goes...
Top of the list without a shadow of a doubt... my sanity saver! Very few people have heard of these, and there is a great divide between those that have. It has the Marmite effect - you either love it or hate it. Those against rant on about laziness and ruining the mother/baby bonding experience. I'm assuming they've never had to deal with more than one baby screaming for milk at the same time. I used to dread bottle-time when I was on my own with the twins. Tilly didn't take to the Podee, I think it takes a bit of effort to suck the milk up through the 'straw', but Jasper took to it like a duck to water... It's now the only bottle he will use! There are also the additional benefits that it alleviates reflux, colic and ear infections by promoting an upright feeding position and removing air from the feeding system. The only problem is that they are difficult to get hold of in the UK. I managed to get mine from the USA on eBay, and occasionally they are available on Amazon
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So you've got twins, but only one pair of hands... where do you put the other baby when you're holding/feeding/comforting the other one? The bouncy chairs have probably seen the most use out of all of our purchases. A safe place to put the babies when you need a few minutes to do something, sometimes a place for daytime naps, we even used them in the early stages of weaning when the twins were too small for highchairs. In the days BP (before Podee) these were useful in attempting to feed both babies at the same time. We opted for chairs that played music (of a sort!) and vibrated in the thought that it would add a bit of entertainment for the babies, but I think they were just as annoyed with the music as we were so the electronic component was removed and the remaining hole was used as a receptacle for muslins, bibs and dummies!
Because of a cot death in Keith's family it went without saying that we would take part in the CONI Plus scheme. They kindly lent us apnea monitors for the first six months, and the tick tick tick of every breath soon became part of the background noise of our lives. I feel awful saying that at times they were a bit of a faff, but to Keith the reassurance was enormous. When they moved into separate cots we switched to movement monitors
to continue the peace of mind. Thankfully the only time they have gone off is when they have positioned themselves right against the bars of the cot and moved off the sensors!
to continue the peace of mind. Thankfully the only time they have gone off is when they have positioned themselves right against the bars of the cot and moved off the sensors!
It didn't take me long to do a complete u-turn on my opinion that none of my children would ever use dummies! When you're faced with 2 unhappy babies that you can't console at the same time a dummy works miracles. Yes, I know it's probably going to be difficult to wean them off them, and I can't see it happening any time soon, but they are a comfort to them and that's good enough to me. And I have to admit that they do look quite cute with them now! And just to stop the constant trips to put them back in in the night dummy clips are a must.
Tilly and Jasper shared a cot for the first 6 months, side-by-side to begin with and then head-to-head when they got bigger. In the early months we swaddled them to stop flailing arms and legs disturbing each other. It also had a calming effect on them too. We loved the swaddlers that were t-shaped to make them easier to use and we became quite competitive over who swaddled best! As soon as they learned how to escape the swaddle we move on to sleeping bags to remove the worry of them wriggling under blankets.
that were t-shaped to make them easier to use and we became quite competitive over who swaddled best! As soon as they learned how to escape the swaddle we move on to sleeping bags to remove the worry of them wriggling under blankets.
Teething twins are not the funnest experience especially when they are teething in tandem. With Tilly we had 3 weeks of sleepless nights as she was cutting her first tooth, and then a night from hell when they were both inconsolable. We'd tried teething gels and teething powders with little success but then I was advised to try Anbesol and Bickiepegs and the difference was amazing! Anbesol is a little bottle of miracle liquid... just use your finger to dab it onto sore gums and sit back with amazement. The Bickiepegs
are hard biscuits on a string (and look a bit like dog biscuits!) and are great in between treatments for the babies to gnaw on. They can be quite difficult to get hold of though!
is a little bottle of miracle liquid... just use your finger to dab it onto sore gums and sit back with amazement. The Bickiepegs are hard biscuits on a string (and look a bit like dog biscuits!) and are great in between treatments for the babies to gnaw on. They can be quite difficult to get hold of though!
Choosing highchairs can be quite troublesome when you've got to find the space for 2. If you visit friends and family often you also have to decide whether to go for booster seats or collapsible travel chairs. We finally settled on the Cosatto On The Moveon the recommedation of my sister-in-law. It folds down easily and compactly, and is sturdy enough to use as a daily chair too. It's not really ideal for restaurants though so we are planning to invest in a couple of booster-type seats soon.
on the recommedation of my sister-in-law. It folds down easily and compactly, and is sturdy enough to use as a daily chair too. It's not really ideal for restaurants though so we are planning to invest in a couple of booster-type seats soon.What would be on your list of essentials for the first year with twins?
Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments. I'm bound to have forgotten something obvious - my brain still hasn't returned to it's former self!
Pictures courtesy of Amazon
