Wife pregnant with twins..
Discussion
Congratulations, we've got twins, they've just turned 9. They weren't our first children so we at least had some idea what to expect. As said already; buy two of everything and everything takes at least twice as long to do, my wife couldn't breast feed so at least I could help with the feeding.
My only advice is; get a routine and stick to it.
When your wife delivers she is going to be knackered for a few weeks, so get as much family help as you can, don't be afraid to ask.
Find out if there is a twins support group in your area, we took ours along and made some good friends, I'm not a very group help type person, but its great to hear people with the same problems and concerns as you.
Although its hard work enjoy yourself with them, take them for walks in the double pushchair/pram, young ladies love twins!
My only advice is; get a routine and stick to it.
When your wife delivers she is going to be knackered for a few weeks, so get as much family help as you can, don't be afraid to ask.
Find out if there is a twins support group in your area, we took ours along and made some good friends, I'm not a very group help type person, but its great to hear people with the same problems and concerns as you.
Although its hard work enjoy yourself with them, take them for walks in the double pushchair/pram, young ladies love twins!
Congratulations!
My advice:
Apart from 20 vests and 20 babygros, don't buy clothes. Within 2 days of the birth you'll be deluged with new and used babyclothes. By the binbagful.
Don't go to Mamas & Papas. That's how £3k vanishes. Go on eBay instead.
When they sleep: you sleep.
Whenever you cook proper stuff between now and the birth, cook twice as much and freeze it. You'll be glad you did.
Use the grandparents! You aren't putting them out - they want to be involved.
Aldi nappies.
Certainly not Huggies nappies.
Let them sleep when they want, but don't shut-down the house when they sleep. They don't need silence and pitch black and you'll make a rod for your own back if that's what you give them.
My advice:
Apart from 20 vests and 20 babygros, don't buy clothes. Within 2 days of the birth you'll be deluged with new and used babyclothes. By the binbagful.
Don't go to Mamas & Papas. That's how £3k vanishes. Go on eBay instead.
When they sleep: you sleep.
Whenever you cook proper stuff between now and the birth, cook twice as much and freeze it. You'll be glad you did.
Use the grandparents! You aren't putting them out - they want to be involved.
Aldi nappies.
Certainly not Huggies nappies.
Let them sleep when they want, but don't shut-down the house when they sleep. They don't need silence and pitch black and you'll make a rod for your own back if that's what you give them.
Start cooking food now and freezing it!
Seriously, don't underestimate how much time it will save you later on, especially once you are back to work. Buy a new freezer if you have to.
Join amazon prime for free fast delivery of bulky things especially nappies - wouldn't be surprised if you do 10-20 a day to start with; plus you can watch films ..
I don't know about prams for twins but you may be able to get ones where the baby car seat clips directly on the pram chassis, which is a great saviour when you go anywhere, especially if coupled with an isofix base.
You have a big car right? Two car seats and a double pram in a Golf sized car leaves very little room for anything else.
Good tip above re. clothes; people love buying clothes for babies (often the wrong size..) but after the first few months they stop. Look out on local Facebook groups for people selling clothes, NCT nearly new sales, charity shops etc - you'll get bundles of good clothes for pennies. Same for toys, especially big ticket ones.
At six months old buy two Jumperoos, I guarantee it will be hilarious (and buy you hours of peace)
Seriously, don't underestimate how much time it will save you later on, especially once you are back to work. Buy a new freezer if you have to.
Join amazon prime for free fast delivery of bulky things especially nappies - wouldn't be surprised if you do 10-20 a day to start with; plus you can watch films ..
I don't know about prams for twins but you may be able to get ones where the baby car seat clips directly on the pram chassis, which is a great saviour when you go anywhere, especially if coupled with an isofix base.
You have a big car right?
Two car seats and a double pram in a Golf sized car leaves very little room for anything else.Good tip above re. clothes; people love buying clothes for babies (often the wrong size..) but after the first few months they stop. Look out on local Facebook groups for people selling clothes, NCT nearly new sales, charity shops etc - you'll get bundles of good clothes for pennies. Same for toys, especially big ticket ones.
At six months old buy two Jumperoos, I guarantee it will be hilarious (and buy you hours of peace)
Edited by essayer on Tuesday 26th January 13:56
Edited by essayer on Tuesday 26th January 13:57
I have one thing to say. F CK SNOBBERY.
Aldi nappies are superb, and a quarter of the price. Ditto bubble bath and shampoo.
Don't fall for the "keeping up the Jones'" snobbery.
Babies want to be with Mummy and Daddy, warm, clean bumbums and well fed. That's it. Remember this at all times.
Oh, and for tummy aches there's a product which cures them instantly, can't recall the name but it tastes of oranges. It saved our life.
Oh and don't be afraid of the Calpol.
As the BBC war corespondent Kate Adie once said, to survive a warzone, there are three rules.
1. Never run out of whisky
2. Never run out of whisky
3. Never run out of whisky
Good luck you're fookin well going to need it
Sage PHer above said:
Apart from 20 vests and 20 babygros, don't buy clothes. Within 2 days of the birth you'll be deluged with new and used babyclothes. By the binbagful.
TOTALLY. AND CHARITY SHOPS ARE YOUR FRIEND. MASTER SOOV HAS BEEN CLOTHED IN A SUCCESSION OF £50 JOOLS, ARMANI and CK TROUSERS AND SHIRTS FROM THE LOCAL CHARITY SHOPS, USUALLY BOUGHT FOR £3 A GO. Nice hot wash and he'll never know the difference. They only wear them for a couple of weeks before they need new ones and you get your money back on ebay plus some. F CK SNOBBERY.
Don't go to Mamas & Papas. That's how £3k vanishes. Go on eBay instead.
+1000. GOOD QUALITY LIGHTLY USED PRAM WILL BE £250 INSTEAD OF £2000. Again, a good wash and no one knows. Again, F CK SNOBBERY. Think of buying a one owner Bentley for £40k instead of £140k
Pyjamas from Asda/Tesco. They're lovely and comfy and £3 a pair. Not £30TOTALLY. AND CHARITY SHOPS ARE YOUR FRIEND. MASTER SOOV HAS BEEN CLOTHED IN A SUCCESSION OF £50 JOOLS, ARMANI and CK TROUSERS AND SHIRTS FROM THE LOCAL CHARITY SHOPS, USUALLY BOUGHT FOR £3 A GO. Nice hot wash and he'll never know the difference. They only wear them for a couple of weeks before they need new ones and you get your money back on ebay plus some. F CK SNOBBERY.
Don't go to Mamas & Papas. That's how £3k vanishes. Go on eBay instead.
+1000. GOOD QUALITY LIGHTLY USED PRAM WILL BE £250 INSTEAD OF £2000. Again, a good wash and no one knows. Again, F CK SNOBBERY. Think of buying a one owner Bentley for £40k instead of £140k
Aldi nappies are superb, and a quarter of the price. Ditto bubble bath and shampoo.
Don't fall for the "keeping up the Jones'" snobbery.
Babies want to be with Mummy and Daddy, warm, clean bumbums and well fed. That's it. Remember this at all times.
Oh, and for tummy aches there's a product which cures them instantly, can't recall the name but it tastes of oranges. It saved our life.
Oh and don't be afraid of the Calpol.
As the BBC war corespondent Kate Adie once said, to survive a warzone, there are three rules.
1. Never run out of whisky
2. Never run out of whisky
3. Never run out of whisky
Good luck you're fookin well going to need it
Edited to correct s
t awful grammar.... FFS
t awful grammar.... FFSEdited by Soov535 on Tuesday 26th January 14:12
Samcat said:
Soov535 said:
Oh, and for tummy aches there's a product which cures them instantly, can't recall the name but it tastes of oranges. It saved our life.
Oh and don't be afraid of the Calpol.
Infacol?Oh and don't be afraid of the Calpol.
Edited by Soov535 on Tuesday 26th January 14:02
David A said:
Samcat said:
Soov535 said:
Oh, and for tummy aches there's a product which cures them instantly, can't recall the name but it tastes of oranges. It saved our life.
Oh and don't be afraid of the Calpol.
Infacol?Oh and don't be afraid of the Calpol.
Edited by Soov535 on Tuesday 26th January 14:02
David A said:
What's the deal with calpol? Thought it was only if they had a temp or is it use at other times?
It can be given as soon as they hit 3 months. Babies can't tell you if they feel poorly or something hurts, calpol is the first response of the sleep deprived parent if they are grumpy/whingy/crying/teething/whatever. Don't worry about it unless you've given it to them for several weeks in a row!OP, when it get's really bad (and it will - I don't have twins, but I do have a 4 year old and a 23 month old - and the 23 month old has slept REALLY badly for 20 months of those), remember that you can double dip calpol and ibuprofen. Although ibuprofen doesn't work so well on mine. Also, you can buy big bottles of calpol (think it's called Galpromol, tastes like cherry drops) from the pharmacy of most supermarkets for £2, whereas small bottles cost £4.
Also, when they have a cough - especially at night - vicks on the soles of the feet, with socks, works. No idea why, but it does.
gashead1105 said:
David A said:
What's the deal with calpol? Thought it was only if they had a temp or is it use at other times?
It can be given as soon as they hit 3 months. Babies can't tell you if they feel poorly or something hurts, calpol is the first response of the sleep deprived parent if they are grumpy/whingy/crying/teething/whatever. Don't worry about it unless you've given it to them for several weeks in a row!OP, when it get's really bad (and it will - I don't have twins, but I do have a 4 year old and a 23 month old - and the 23 month old has slept REALLY badly for 20 months of those), remember that you can double dip calpol and ibuprofen. Although ibuprofen doesn't work so well on mine. Also, you can buy big bottles of calpol (think it's called Galpromol, tastes like cherry drops) from the pharmacy of most supermarkets for £2, whereas small bottles cost £4.
Also, when they have a cough - especially at night - vicks on the soles of the feet, with socks, works. No idea why, but it does.
Samcat said:
Infacol?
We were recommended this by nurses, GPs, etc and you can get it on prescription ... and it doesn't actually do anything. Wife was trying to debunk the conflicting advice we were getting on several topics and one of the things she came across was a meta study that showed Infacol had no measurable effect on babies. While I was unaware of this, it was at least acting as a placebo for me ... but that wasn't helping the baby much.There is a great deal of conflicting advice from midwives of various generations, authors of various baby books. Few of these groups are completely retarded, so where they disagree violently with each other, I conclude that (a) no one knows and (b) it can't really matter much, because of it did then the outcome would have been obvious and would have removed the confusion.
Soov is 100% right. You get given tons of stuff, they grow out of it in a few weeks, or s
t it to oblivion in an enormous poonami.A car seat that slots into a buggy to make a pram has served is well.
And the very very best of luck.
First of all congratulations...
I have twin girls, aged 12 and yes you are in for a different ride from the moment they are born, your partner probably won't be able to deal with both at the same time so you will need to be hands on. Always amazes me how little my mates do with one child - that wasn't my experience with twins.
However, whilst the first few years are tough, my experience is that once they get to 2-3 years old, they are actually easier than either a single child or two of differing ages; they are both doing roughly the same thing and have each other for company and entertainment - this advantage continues to grow over time. My memories & experiences albeit a bit distant, (some are a repeat of previous comments so take note!) are:
- These ( I think) are your first children, so you won't know any different (having 2 as opposed to 1), the change will just be your new normal (ignore advice from those with 1).
- your partner will get big, very big - DO NOT run around the house naked high fiving yourself when her weight overtakes yours (I weighed 15 stone!!)
- Freeze food, lots of it
- Sleep and eat when you can
- Don't row with your missus - you'll both be knackered and irritable
- We didn't get too hung up on breastfeeding, despite NHS making us feel like bad parents - yes they were breast fed but also bottled fed - gave Mum a break as she found feeding two very hard and painful. Enabled her to get sleep so that when i went off to work she could manage.
- routine - ours responded well to a routine, not overly strict, except for bedtime - bath at 6pm asleep by 7pm.(It took a while to get here though)
- Join toddler groups, sing a longs etc - your wife will want to get out of the house and this enables her to go somewhere where there are other mothers also struggling (with one) - it will make her feel better.
- Buy cheap! - ebay, tescos (£1 babygrows) - they don't last long and anything else is just a waste of money. let family/friends buy the more expensive stuff they rarely wear.
- Buy extra feeding bottles - you will use more than you think and occasionally you won't have energy to clean & sterilise 12 bottles. Also helps when you go out for the day and dont need to worry about either geting them clean or having clean ones ready at home.
- Milk in cartons - these used to come in really handy. Keep a stash in car and at home.
- Come up with some witty replies to the constant stupid questions you will get asked..Are they twins? Are they yours? Do you think they can read each others minds??
I could probably go on for ever, but to summarise I'll say, no matter how good you think things are, they just get better and better.
I have twin girls, aged 12 and yes you are in for a different ride from the moment they are born, your partner probably won't be able to deal with both at the same time so you will need to be hands on. Always amazes me how little my mates do with one child - that wasn't my experience with twins.
However, whilst the first few years are tough, my experience is that once they get to 2-3 years old, they are actually easier than either a single child or two of differing ages; they are both doing roughly the same thing and have each other for company and entertainment - this advantage continues to grow over time. My memories & experiences albeit a bit distant, (some are a repeat of previous comments so take note!) are:
- These ( I think) are your first children, so you won't know any different (having 2 as opposed to 1), the change will just be your new normal (ignore advice from those with 1).
- your partner will get big, very big - DO NOT run around the house naked high fiving yourself when her weight overtakes yours (I weighed 15 stone!!)
- Freeze food, lots of it
- Sleep and eat when you can
- Don't row with your missus - you'll both be knackered and irritable
- We didn't get too hung up on breastfeeding, despite NHS making us feel like bad parents - yes they were breast fed but also bottled fed - gave Mum a break as she found feeding two very hard and painful. Enabled her to get sleep so that when i went off to work she could manage.
- routine - ours responded well to a routine, not overly strict, except for bedtime - bath at 6pm asleep by 7pm.(It took a while to get here though)
- Join toddler groups, sing a longs etc - your wife will want to get out of the house and this enables her to go somewhere where there are other mothers also struggling (with one) - it will make her feel better.
- Buy cheap! - ebay, tescos (£1 babygrows) - they don't last long and anything else is just a waste of money. let family/friends buy the more expensive stuff they rarely wear.
- Buy extra feeding bottles - you will use more than you think and occasionally you won't have energy to clean & sterilise 12 bottles. Also helps when you go out for the day and dont need to worry about either geting them clean or having clean ones ready at home.
- Milk in cartons - these used to come in really handy. Keep a stash in car and at home.
- Come up with some witty replies to the constant stupid questions you will get asked..Are they twins? Are they yours? Do you think they can read each others minds??
I could probably go on for ever, but to summarise I'll say, no matter how good you think things are, they just get better and better.
Edited by rpgk on Tuesday 26th January 14:55
Oh and Aldi baby event is on next week. Start stocking up on the Mamia wipes and nappies.
In fact boots, asda and morrisons all have events on. Make friends with them. Sainsburys do really good clothing (I'd say it's the best out of the supermarkets)
You won't need lots of washing products for a few weeks. Oh and you're only supposed to use water and cotton wool for the first few weeks to clean bums.
Half the stuff you're told you need is rubbish. Babies need very little (apparently. I'll let you know in a few weeks)
In fact boots, asda and morrisons all have events on. Make friends with them. Sainsburys do really good clothing (I'd say it's the best out of the supermarkets)
You won't need lots of washing products for a few weeks. Oh and you're only supposed to use water and cotton wool for the first few weeks to clean bums.
Half the stuff you're told you need is rubbish. Babies need very little (apparently. I'll let you know in a few weeks)
congratulations, my cousin has identical boys, and i believe its possible in my family AND my fiancée's!
My Mrs has more than hinted that kids after we are married in April is quite quickly going to be a thing. I am terrified as no idea what i am doing, i just hope i am not bad at it
From my friends and relatives who all have young ones just now, its a blur basically, but you get through it, after all some 7 billion humans are testament that we overcome the terror and sleeplessness, and it worth it in the end
I worry that i am still a man child, watching sci-fi and playing boardgames with my mates down the pub, not sure i should be allowed responsibility of fatherhood...though i was eyeing up a nice legacy diesel estate the other day......
My Mrs has more than hinted that kids after we are married in April is quite quickly going to be a thing. I am terrified as no idea what i am doing, i just hope i am not bad at it
From my friends and relatives who all have young ones just now, its a blur basically, but you get through it, after all some 7 billion humans are testament that we overcome the terror and sleeplessness, and it worth it in the end
I worry that i am still a man child, watching sci-fi and playing boardgames with my mates down the pub, not sure i should be allowed responsibility of fatherhood...though i was eyeing up a nice legacy diesel estate the other day......
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