From the time we found out we were having twins, they forever became lumped together in sentences.  They were always referred to as “the twins” and probably will for the rest of their lives by many people.  One of the things that I have tried to do is to work on fostering their individuality and letting them be who they are as individuals.

As a parent of multiples, it really is easy to fall into the rut of doing the same thing with one as you do with the other.  This includes buying the same toys, feeding them the same foods, dressing them the same and expecting the same behaviors, likes and dislikes from each of them.  I have had to work hard to keep out of this rut.  Yes, it might involve a little more work on my part but I want them to be seen as two little people, not just “the twins”.

From the beginning I have sworn off matching outfits (much to the dismay of some of my family members).  Since I have boy/girl twins this was somewhat easier but we still managed to receive a lot of identical clothing.  I felt like if I dressed them alike it wouldn’t show their personalities, interests and, as they grow, hobbies.  I broke down on some coordinating stuff like pjs, I must admit I am a sucker for coordinating pjs like pink with sheep for her and blue with cows for him.  But, that is where I’ve drawn the line.

When it comes time for pictures, I make sure that I get just as many pictures of them alone as I do of them together.  This is true for the “milestone” pictures as well such as 3-months, 6-months, etc.  I always get poses of them by themselves and one together.  I keep a separate baby book for each of them for myself and to give to them when they are grown.  I want them to know that it was important to me the day he said “it’s a biiiiig truck” and the day she said her ABCs for the first time.  I want them to know that I recognize their individuality.

I always try to buy them different toys and books.  She loves books right now and he loves cars and trucks.  I don’t buy them both a book or both a truck, I buy them what they like.  Yes, it would be easier just to pick out two of the same or similar thing all the time but I really want to buy them toys that match their personality and interests.

Food has become the biggest challenges with them.  They are picky eaters, but picky in different ways.  I used to try to feed them the exact same thing. This would always result in left over food.  If you think about it, you and I probably like different things so why would we force ourselves to sit down every night and eat the same thing that one of us doesn’t like?  This often means cooking pasta for her and a chicken patty for him or slicing an apple for her and an orange for him.  As long as they are eating a healthy meal, that is all I care.

As I have learned to let go of the convenience of doing things in twos, I have learned to embrace their individual personalities even more. As a mom of multiples, it is so amazing to watch them grow up at the same time and develop their own personalities, their own quirky ways of doing things and their own likes and dislikes.  As their mom the best thing I can do for them is to offer some guidance and guidelines and let them be who they want to be.  And oh what wonderful little individuals “the twins” have become.

I am somewhat of a perfectionist and definitely one who likes to do things on their own and not ask for help.  I was determined to take care of my twins without any outside help: just me, my husband and two munchkins.  After the twins were born, I hung on stubbornly for a short period before I broke down and realized that it is ok to ask for help.  It doesn’t mean I was a failure or that I was giving my childrearing duties over to someone else.  It just meant that I was exhausted from 1-2 hours of sleep every day for almost 2 months, I wanted to take a shower more than once every 3 days (don’t think that is gross, especially if your multiples aren’t here yet), and I discovered that I wasn’t superwoman.

It all started when my son’s water broke at 28 weeks.  We spent 3 weeks in the hospital before they came into the world at 31 weeks.  Then, for the next 5 weeks, I was either pumping or hanging at the hospital.  My husband played superman for as long as he could for the 3 weeks of hospital bed rest until he became exhausted and we realized it was ok to ask our neighbors to let the dog out in the morning and put him up at night.  Somewhere between bed rest and NICU time I learned to say “yes, there is something you could do for me.  Could you please pick up milk, bread and cat food at the store for me”.  I didn’t fall over or get hives for asking for help and it allowed me to focus on the babies while they were in the NICU.

When I got back home, I turned back into superwoman for a long time.  For about 1-2 months I would feed, feed, pump around the clock until they learned to breastfeed and then I would feed, feed and start all over again.  I tried not to wake my husband during the week as he had to go to work.  After getting only 1-2  hours of sleep every 24 hours for almost 2 months, I  finally had to break down and ask him to help with either the 1:00 or 4:00 feedings.  It wasn’t long after that that they started sleeping longer at night, but I cherished that extra 2 hours of sleep while he was helping.

I again had to learn that it was ok to take people up on their offers.  Yes, if you want to come visit on Wednesday I would love if you could bring some diapers.  Yes, if you want to come watch them for 3 hours I would love to sleep.  After about 4 months I even had my mother-in-law come weekly to hang for the afternoon while I took a bath, cleaned or went for groceries.  It was good for me and a good change for them.

As you prepare to give birth to your twins, triplets, quads or higher order multiples, the biggest tip I can give you is to ask for help and accept it when it is offered.  Friends, family, neighbors are all good resources for you.  Send thank you notes often to let them know how much you appreciate them and what they are doing for you.

If you have triplets or more munchkins on the way, please consider asking for overnight help.  You would be surprised at how many people will volunteer.  Everyone loves to snuggle with a baby!

If you have a strong church family, ask if there is anyone who would be willing to volunteer to help once you come home.  Don’t be surprised if you aren’t overwhelmed with the number of people who want to come help you.  Set up a schedule of when you need volunteers.  Better yet, if you have a friend who would be willing to coordinate a volunteer schedule, let them help you with that task too.

You can also advertise at local colleges for someone to come a couple of hours/week to play with the kids while you get things done.  Yes, you might have to pay a little for this, but you would be surprised at how much you can get done in 2-3 hours and it will be $30 well spent!

If I had it to do all over again, I would have shed my superwoman costume and accepted offers for help from the beginning.  It helped me to be better rested, stay healthy and get a few things done so that when my help wasn’t there I was able to devote all my time and energy directly to my children.  That in itself makes any help well worth the asking and the taking.

If you are a Mom-to-be or new Mom of twins and are planning to breast feed, there are a few tips that can help make your job easier.  Even if you are having triplets and quads, it can be done with a little ingenuity!  It truly is one of those things that “practice makes perfect”, but hopefully these few helpful hints will help your breastfeeding experience to go as smoothly as possible.

The first thing that you need to realize is that every baby is different.  Some take to breast feeding immediately and others never do.  It is not something you have done or something you didn’t do, it is just in their nature.  Particularly if your little ones have a stay in the NICU and start out by taking a bottle you might find that some prefer the bottle to the breast when it comes time to eat.

The reason I write this is that this was how things started in my case.  My one twin came home from the NICU and took to breastfeeding immediately.  The other twin took forever to decide to breastfeed and always preferred the bottle over breastfeeding.  I finally had to let go and realize that I needed to let him feed the way he felt comfortable and I would pump for him to give him breast milk.

I would highly recommend that you breastfeed your twins at the same time.  You can still snuggle and cuddle with them while you are feeding.  It will save you plenty of time which, as a mother of twins, you will come to cherish time.  If you feed at the same time, when you are done you can play with them both and either take a nap when they nap or have a little “me” time while they nap.  If you would rather breastfeed one at a time, make a pallet next to you on the floor so that you can breastfeed one and lie the other one next to you and dangle a toy over him/her for play or talk and sing to them both.  You have to find the routine that works for you in order to feel the most comfortable with the breastfeeding experience.

They have special nursing pillows for Mom’s with twins.  If you can buy one of these, I would encourage you to do so.  These truly help you to be able to breastfeed them both at the same time comfortably.  If you can’t buy one, purchase a Boppy or other breastfeeding pillow for mom’s with singletons and create an extension with pillows on either side.  You need to do this for height and comfort for both you and your babies.  I actually did the Boppy and pillow thing using large sofa pillows and I maneuvered them around to find the best position for them and me.

Before you get totally comfortable with breastfeeding at the same time, have someone hand you your twins one at a time if at all possible.  This helps prevent the fumbling and awkwardness of trying to latch one baby on and then attempting to latch the other one on without disturbing the first baby.  After a while you will get the hang of it and be able to find a comfortable way to perform this task alone.  The first few times I did it by myself I was a wee bit uncoordinated but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it.

In the beginning, you might have to stop nursing them both to burp them both and then start nursing again. As they get older and you get more comfortable, you will actually know their burping needs and can burp one while continuing to feed the other.  I would not suggest doing this in the beginning though because it is awkward enough to burp a newborn let alone burp and nurse at the same time.

Keep toys, books and other things of interest close by so that if one twin is done nursing before the other you can keep them occupied.  They might just want to lie against you and snuggle even though they are done eating and that is fine too.

There are a number of different ways you can position your children to breastfeed at the same time.  It was easiest for me to have their heads both facing in and bodies out to either side.  Trying to feed them facing the same way was too awkward for me but might be perfect for you.  Try out the different twin breastfeeding positions to find the one that is most comfortable for you and them.

Drink tons of water when breastfeeding twins.  It helps in milk production and helps keep you hydrated.  It doesn’t matter whether you are an A cup or a D cup, you can breastfeed twins successfully.  One of the greatest keys to accomplish this though is to consume plenty of water…at least 80 oz per day if not more.

These were a few of the things that I found the most helpful in my breastfeeding experience with my twins.  There is an abundance of breastfeeding information for Moms of multiples.  Talk to your local la Leche League or the Lactation Consultant at your hospital.  Both of these places gave me an abundance of information to help me with my breastfeeding experience.  In fact calling them for tips is one of the best tips that I can give you!

If you are a Mom-to-be or new Mom of twins and are planning to breast feed, there are a few tips that can help make your job easier.  Even if you are having triplets and quads, it can be done with a little ingenuity!  It truly is one of those things that “practice makes perfect”, but hopefully these few helpful hints will help your breastfeeding experience to go as smoothly as possible.

The first thing that you need to realize is that every baby is different.  Some take to breast feeding immediately and others never do.  It is not something you have done or something you didn’t do, it is just in their nature.  Particularly if your little ones have a stay in the NICU and start out by taking a bottle you might find that some prefer the bottle to the breast when it comes time to eat.

The reason I write this is that this was how things started in my case.  My one twin came home from the NICU and took to breastfeeding immediately.  The other twin took forever to decide to breastfeed and always preferred the bottle over breastfeeding.  I finally had to let go and realize that I needed to let him feed the way he felt comfortable and I would pump for him to give him breast milk.

I would highly recommend that you breastfeed your twins at the same time.  You can still snuggle and cuddle with them while you are feeding.  It will save you plenty of time which, as a mother of twins, you will come to cherish time.  If you feed at the same time, when you are done you can play with them both and either take a nap when they nap or have a little “me” time while they nap.  If you would rather breastfeed one at a time, make a pallet next to you on the floor so that you can breastfeed one and lie the other one next to you and dangle a toy over him/her for play or talk and sing to them both.  You have to find the routine that works for you in order to feel the most comfortable with the breastfeeding experience.

They have special nursing pillows for Mom’s with twins.  If you can buy one of these, I would encourage you to do so.  These truly help you to be able to breastfeed them both at the same time comfortably.  If you can’t buy one, purchase a Boppy or other breastfeeding pillow for mom’s with singletons and create an extension with pillows on either side.  You need to do this for height and comfort for both you and your babies.  I actually did the Boppy and pillow thing using large sofa pillows and I maneuvered them around to find the best position for them and me.

Before you get totally comfortable with breastfeeding at the same time, have someone hand you your twins one at a time if at all possible.  This helps prevent the fumbling and awkwardness of trying to latch one baby on and then attempting to latch the other one on without disturbing the first baby.  After a while you will get the hang of it and be able to find a comfortable way to perform this task alone.  The first few times I did it by myself I was a wee bit uncoordinated but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it.

In the beginning, you might have to stop nursing them both to burp them both and then start nursing again. As they get older and you get more comfortable, you will actually know their burping needs and can burp one while continuing to feed the other.  I would not suggest doing this in the beginning though because it is awkward enough to burp a newborn let alone burp and nurse at the same time.

Keep toys, books and other things of interest close by so that if one twin is done nursing before the other you can keep them occupied.  They might just want to lie against you and snuggle even though they are done eating and that is fine too.

There are a number of different ways you can position your children to breastfeed at the same time.  It was easiest for me to have their heads both facing in and bodies out to either side.  Trying to feed them facing the same way was too awkward for me but might be perfect for you.  Try out the different twin breastfeeding positions to find the one that is most comfortable for you and them.

Drink tons of water when breastfeeding twins.  It helps in milk production and helps keep you hydrated.  It doesn’t matter whether you are an A cup or a D cup, you can breastfeed twins successfully.  One of the greatest keys to accomplish this though is to consume plenty of water…at least 80 oz per day if not more.

These were a few of the things that I found the most helpful in my breastfeeding experience with my twins.  There is an abundance of breastfeeding information for Moms of multiples.  Talk to your local la Leche League or the Lactation Consultant at your hospital.  Both of these places gave me an abundance of information to help me with my breastfeeding experience.  In fact calling them for tips is one of the best tips that I can give you!

When we found out we were having twins, the hunger started almost right away.  I didn’t suffer morning sickness, I had morning dizziness unless I ate properly and drank enough water.  I consider myself somewhat healthy, so I began to search for ways to get the extra calories I needed for the twins from healthy foods and drinks.

I was told to eat an additional 600 calories/day while I was pregnant and while I was nursing them.  Wow, 600 calories seemed like a lot.  But, once I began looking at calories on different foods and drinks I realized that it didn’t take a lot to get those extra calories.  About that same time, I talked to a Mom-to-be of quads and discovered that 600 calories/day was nothing compared to 1500-2000 calories.

When you are pregnant with multiples, your OB/GYN should discuss calorie intake with you and outline what he/she feels is the best amount of calories and weight gain for your body type, height, current weight, etc.  In general, women pregnant with twins should eat an additional 600 calories/day and gain 35-45 pounds during their pregnancy.  Women pregnant with triplets should eat an additional 1000 calories/day and gain 50-60 pounds during their pregnancy.  Women expecting quadruplets should eat an additional 1500-2000 calories/day and weight gain should be discussed with your doctor (I’ve read anywhere from 60-100 pounds).

For the mother of quads I mentioned, a book about how to eat that many calories stayed with her at all times and really helped her in preparing meals and snacks.  Women pregnant with twins and triplets have a somewhat easier time trying to fit in their calorie intake in a 24 hour period.

The first thing you need to realize is that you should not put your additional calories into your three main meals each day.  Because your belly is full of babies, you don’t have enough room for large meals.  Instead eat frequently but in smaller quantities throughout the day.

All of your calorie intake doesn’t need to come from solid foods.  Liquids can be a great source of calories and nutrition for you.  You need to increase your calcium intake during your pregnancy and 1 8oz glass of 1% milk gives you an additional 105 calories.  I would drink one glass in the morning and sometimes one at night.  Two glasses of milk knocks out 210 calories!  Fruit juice and fruit smoothies are good for you too.

Fruits and vegetables are great sources of fiber and calories.  One apple has about 50 calories, one banana 100 calories and 1 grapefruit 100 calories.  Just an extra serving of a fruit and vegetable each day adds anywhere from 100-200 calories.  I would often put a little peanut butter on my apple slices (really my only craving during the pregnancy and it had to be Fuji apples with Skippy peanut butter). This gave me protein and additional calories.

One of the quickest ways to get calories during my pregnancy was the nutritional Luna Bar.  Packet with nutrients including folic acid, protein and calcium each Luna Bar has about 180-210 calories.  They come in a variety of flavors and they were my mid-morning snack to get me through.  They are geared towards women who are pregnant and are nursing.

With just those few changes I was able to get my 600 calories/day.  Let’s review them: 2 8oz glasses of 1% milk = 210 calories, 1 apple with peanut butter = 100 calories, 1 banana or grapefruit = 100 calories and 1 Luna Bar = 200 calories.  If you add that all together you get 610 calories.  It doesn’t seem like much food, but the calories and nutrition of it all added up quickly.

If you want to keep a strict count of your daily caloric intake, you can look up different foods online to see how much calories they have.  This was how I started and I was pleasantly surprised that it was easy to get 600 calories.  If you are expecting quads, I would encourage you to work with a nutritionist to come up with a healthy way to get all your additional calories.

So, put away your box of Ho-Hos (I had a friend pregnant with one child who would polish off a box in two days) and pick up an apple and a nutrient bar.  Eating healthy to get all your calories for your multiples pregnancy is good for you, good for your babies and helps you to lose weight after the babies are born.  That fact is an incentive in itself!

When you are pregnant with multiples, your whole pregnancy game plan changes.  You have a whole new set of rules that you need to follow to make it through your pregnancy.  What you do or don’t do during your pregnancy can affect how for you make it before the babies are born.  I have included in the article some things that you can do to help you have a long healthy pregnancy.

First and foremost, rest is important.  The more you take it easy the better.  Your doctor should give you guidelines for resting, but as a whole you need to sit or lie down 1-2 times per day for about 15 minutes starting at 23-25 weeks for twins and triplets and around 18 weeks for quadruplets.  If your doctor suggested resting earlier or bed rest, follow his suggestion.

This is not always an easy suggestion to follow.  If you have other children at home, they demand attention.  Find an educational DVD or TV show and lie down with them while they watch it.  Have them lie next to you and read a book or color.  Children need down time too so why not get the rest you need while they are relaxing too?  If you have a helpful neighbor or friend or family member that lives close to you, see if they would be able to come over for 15-30 minutes every now and then so you can rest.  You need to find someway to fit this rest into your schedule.

Cut out any exercise programs or excessive activity.  If you are an avid jogger, you need to learn to like to stroll during your pregnancy.  Jazzercise or spin class is just not in the cards when you are expecting multiples.  It doesn’t mean you can’t get any exercise during your pregnancy, you just need to find a way to do it that will not but too much exertion on your body, such as stretches or leg lifts while you are sitting down.

Drink plenty of water during your pregnancy.  You should drink at leas 80 ounces of water per day.  I found the easiest way for me to keep track of water intake was to refill a 24 ounce water bottle 4 times everyday.  Research shows that not having enough water intake can contribute to preterm labor for women who are only pregnant with one child and the risk increases as the number of children increase.

Get proper food intake.  When you are pregnant with multiples, you need to increase your caloric intake and also increase the amount of nutrients and vitamins that your body receives.  The more healthy you eat and the more food intake you get the better because you can ensure your babies are getting the calories and nutrition they need to grow and develop properly.

Go to all your doctor’s appointments.  When you are pregnant with multiples, you will be required to go to more doctor’s visits then a mom pregnant with just one child.  These extra visits are crucial to make sure that your pregnancy is progressing properly and you and your babies are healthy.  Your doctor will do more ultrasounds, blood work and tests to ensure that everything is going the way it should.  If it isn’t, it will hopefully be detected earlier with more frequent visits.  If you don’t attend all your scheduled visits, your doctor might miss something.

By following these suggestions and anything your doctor recommends or orders, you will hopefully have a long, healthy pregnancy. If you have any questions or concerns or something just doesn’t seem right, do not hesitate to contact your OB/GYN.  Sometimes a mother’s instinct will beat out any test or exam a doctor can give.  After all, you know your body and your babies’ activity better than anyone else.  If something seems wrong do not waste any time acting on you feeling.  A little prevention and caution might be all you need to get a few more weeks out of your pregnancy before your babies come out to meet you and the world.

The moment we found out we were pregnant with twins, we began to get what I call the “doomsday” stories or comments.  Everyone was determined that my little ones would come early.  I became determined that they wouldn’t.  I followed doctor’s orders and even created my own precautions.  My husband became the main cleaner in the household.  I rested twice a day starting at about 23-25 weeks.  I ate what I was supposed to and avoided excessive exercise and activity.  But still, being the planner that I am, I began to gather a few preemie clothes together just in case.  When my son’s water broke at 28 weeks (something I had not thought of when I was considering the “premature” scenario) I was glad that I had stored some preemie clothes away.

What I found when I began searching for preemie clothes was that they are hard to find.  When you do find them, they are often very expensive, which is crazy since they would probably be only used for about a month or two depending on how early they are born.  While I was on bed rest for three weeks in the hospital, I searched for preemie clothes online so that I could have some clothes ready for them when they were born.  I wanted to share some of the best deals that found so I can hopefully make your job searching for preemie clothes easier.  If your little ones come early, the less you have to worry about the better.

If you are not opposed to clothes that are gently used, I found some great deals for you.  Once you get the clothes home, you can wash them once or twice to be sure they are clean.  The best place I found to buy preemie clothes was online auctions.  You can buy clothes in lots, meaning you buy many outfits at one time.  I was able to even find some boy/girl twin lots that I paid less than $20 for 5 outfits each with some hats and socks included.  They were adorable and hardly looked worn.  In fact, one outfit still had the tags attached.

You can check a local Good Will for preemie clothes as well.  This way you can view them in person and see what kind of condition they are in.  If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on preemie clothes, check with pregnancy counseling centers in your area.  They often have a clothes closet and will give you the clothes.  You can then donate them back when you no longer need them to help someone else.

If you must have brand new preemie clothes, I found the most affordable preemie clothes at Wal-Mart.  They have a good amount of clothes to choose from and they are adorable!  They cost an average of $5 each and they have sleepers, gowns, onesies and pants among other articles of clothing.  Baby Gap and Gymboree also carry preemie clothes and, if you can catch them on sale, you can get really good deals as well.

I did find a few other sites online where you can purchase preemie clothes.  They were all very sweet, but they tended to range between $20-$40.  I wanted to get more bang for my buck and have plenty of outfits for the NICU as they changed clothes there 2-3 times/day depending on what they were doing that day.  However, we did splurge on the going home outfits!

I hope that this helps you in your search for preemie clothes for you multiples.  Even if your pregnancy is going well, you all know that the higher the number of children you are carrying, the greater the risk for an early delivery.  It doesn’t hurt to keep a few articles of clothing on hand just in case.  Hopefully you will never need them.  If you do, then you are ahead of the game.  If you don’t, you can donate them to a program that helps pregnant moms who might not be able to afford purchasing preemie clothes for their babies.

If you are expecting multiples, your doctor should have already talked with you about the need to take it easy and not overexert yourself to try to avoid strict bed rest.  For instance, when I was pregnant with my twins I only did light housework and my husband did all the vacuuming and heavy lifting in the household.  My doctor had me lie down for 15-20 minutes every morning and afternoon starting at 25 weeks.  We had been waiting a long time for the chance to have children and I didn’t want to take any chances, so I followed my doctor’s orders to the letter.

The higher the order multiples you are expecting, the less work and more rest your doctor will want you to do.  If you are expecting triplets, most doctors will suggest resting 2-3 times per day starting at about 21 weeks.  If you are expecting quadruplets, some doctors will suggest resting 2-3 times per day starting at 18 weeks and some doctors will require bed rest starting at 18 weeks.

Doctors suggest resting or bed rest for good reason.  For every day your babies stay inside of you they have an increased chance of being born healthy and spending less time in the NICU.  Doctors typically hope for 34-36 weeks for twins, 32-34 weeks for triplets and at least 30 weeks for quadruplets.  Believe it or not, there is a huge difference between 33 weeks and 33 weeks five days.  As you are trying to take care of yourself and your babies during your pregnancy, resting and bed rest become crucial.

If you experience any complications or preterm labor, doctors will begin to order (not suggest) strict bed rest.  Going from a suggestion to an order means that your doctor is very concerned and that preterm birth is imminent if you do not slow down and take it easy.

If you are now at the point of being on bed rest as you are reading this, there are some things you need to keep in mind to help you through this time.  First of all, learn to let things go.  Your house can be dusted and vacuumed when it gets dusted and vacuumed and laundry can wait too.  Chances are your spouse and your family are hopefully helping around the house when they can and what doesn’t get done one day will keep for the next.  At this point your main job and focus is on delivering healthy babies and that is all everyone cares about.  It doesn’t matter if you can write your name in dust on the TV.  What matters is your health and your babies’ health, so let it go.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  If someone offers to go for groceries for you or clean your house or walk your dog, say “yes”.  They ask because they truly want to help and you answer yes because you truly need it.  When I was on bed rest in the hospital for three weeks because my son’s water broke at 28 weeks, my husband played superman for as long as he could until he became exhausted.  We learned to say “yes” and write thank you notes expressing our gratitude.

If you have other children in the household, strict bed rest might be impossible.  However, you need to rest as much as possible or your home bed rest will become hospital bed rest and being away from them will be extremely hard.  Again, ask for help with them.  Make arrangements for play dates with other children and have their parents either come to your house and supervise or take your child to their house.  Enjoy snuggle time with your child.  You can read books, watch movies and do easy craft projects together.  Chances are they will enjoy the fact that they have your undivided attention.

Whether you are just beginning your pregnancy with multiples or have reached the point of needing daily rest or bed rest, I can not stress enough how important it is to follow your doctor’s orders.  One of the biggest responsibilities of parenthood is to ensure that your babies get here safely and soundly.  The best way to do this is to get as much rest as possible, take care of yourself and keep yourself healthy as well.

When choosing a stroller for our twins, we did a lot of research to decide what the best stroller was for us.  We did research online and talked to other parents of twins about what they like and don’t like about their strollers.  What we have learned over the past two years is that you essentially need more than one stroller when dealing with twins.

When our children were born, we received a Graco DuoGlider. This travel system has served us well over the past two years.  When the twins were first born, the travel system was an awesome feature.  The car seats both fit snuggly and securely in the stroller itself.  This allowed us to transfer sleeping babies from car to stroller without waking them up.  This is a front and back stroller not a side by side stroller which allowed for easier mobility in stores and malls.  Most people recommended a front/back stroller because it can be difficult to maneuver a side by side stroller down skinny isles in stores.

The one thing that our stroller lacked was having both seats recline completely so that as they got older they couldn’t nap in the stroller.  This was not a big deal for us as our son did not nap in public because he didn’t want to miss anything and he really slept best when he was home in the crib anyway.  This worked out great for his twin sister who was always free to have the back seat to snooze when we were out.  Most side by side strollers have a feature where either both seats completely and independently.

As our children grew, we made the purchase of individual umbrella strollers.  When my husband and I go out together with the twins, we both take a stroller.  This allows for even easier mobility and we can go to different sides of the store to shop.  This is particularly helpful if they are not in a shopping mood that day as we can get it done in a jiffy if we split up in the store.  Also, my son likes to be on the move if he is strapped in a stroller, so we can keep him moving if need be while my daughter relaxes and waits.  We chose the Jeep umbrella strollers.  They have a canopy to keep out the sun, small pockets on the sides of the frame and are sturdier than a cheap umbrella stroller, yet they are still affordable at just $30 each.  We still keep the Graco DuoGlider for when I venture out alone with them.

I have now convinced myself that my next stroller purchase will be a used double jogging stroller.  The DuoGlider worked great for walks when they were smaller, but as they have gotten bigger I feel like it doesn’t always maneuver well over rocks, etc. on the road.   After much research both online and through a local multiples group, two double jogging strollers are continuously mentioned.  One is the Baby Trend Expedition Double Jogging Stroller and the other is the Schwinn Safari TT Double Jogging Stroller.  Sometimes I like to mall walk in the cold weather and I feel that a double jogging stroller will also help the ride be smoother and more maneuverable provided I don’t feel like shopping and walking down cramped store isles that day.

Now that they are almost two years old we are at the point of not taking them out in their strollers all he time.  However, we still do when we go into a store with breakables or when I take them out by myself.  I am happy with the choices that we have made with our strollers.  I hope that these tips about strollers and stroller research help you in choosing the right stroller for you and your twins.

When registering for baby items for my twins, I was gravitating towards matching toys, but, luckily, my common sense told me otherwise.  We received different bouncy seats, swings, johnny jump ups and other small toys and this worked well because when they got bored, we could just swap toys and they were ready to play all over again.  The only identical items we got were the exersaucers and playmats.  When they got bored, they just got bored and we had to move onto other things.  Any mom of multiples can tell you that the short period of time they are occupied with these toys is important for us to be able to cook, clean, do laundry, etc.  When you have bored multiples, you can’t get any of that done and keep up with toddlers who are exploring or young babies who are crying.

When you have multiples, your toys multiply as well and with good reason.  In addition to the benefit of being able to swap toys, you have the opportunity for your children to explore a variety of different toys together and individually.  Also, if you have one riding car and three kids who want to ride it, that is just a recipe for disaster!  We have found that two riding cars and two push toys have been the best gifts for them.  They literally will chase each other around for hours on end and will stop, switch toys and take off again.  They have also already learned to negotiate the toy swap and to learn that, even if the other one doesn’t want to swap, they still have a similar toy to play with.

This doesn’t mean that I suggest having a two of every toy.  After all, they need to learn the importance of sharing, playing together and playing separately.  Some of the items that we have chosen to buy by itself have included alphabet blocks, stacking blocks, little people accessories, the Peek-a-Block Incrediblock and musical instruments.  They usually do well playing and sharing with these.  When there is a disagreement, we have turned into a learning experience so that they know they can’t take toys away from each other or keep all the toys to themselves.

We also keep a wide variety of books on hand.  Sometimes they want to read at the same time and sometimes one reads while the other one plays. When I am reading to them, I have them take turns bringing me books and they both sit on my lap at the same time.

While we try to buy them individual gifts for special occasions, they always end up sharing them.  For now, we have not entered into the “mine” stage.  This summer we are going to put a sandbox, playhouse and climb and slide in the yard.  Again, we thought this would be great since they can play together or separately, whatever they choose.

As you prepare to register for toys your multiples or head to the store to buy toys, I hope you find these tips helpful.  It is good to mix up the toys and have a variety of the same type of toys as well as not duplicating some of the toys.  You want them to be happy and learn to play well together, with others and by themselves.  Much of this is learned by how they play at home.