As I write this and hear one of my two twin infants, it’s easy to flashback to the advice that I got from singleton parents and how little of it applied to parenting multiples. How different is parenting multiples. When a parent who hasn’t had multiples sees then, they invariably say “how cute.” When multiple parents see twins, they say “it gets better.” Here are some of the lessons that I’ve learned from other multiple parents and the lessons that I’ve learned from real-140-diapers-a-week experience
Expect Less… And More
Parenting multiples, I haven’t gotten the one-on-one time I’ve expected with my babies. Right when I’m getting into my groove with William, Thomas will start crying. Then again, parenting multiples also means that there’s usually always a child to play with or to snuggle with.
Outfits Are for Singletons
The amount of laundry I go through with multiples is nothing short of amazing. Especially when they’re young, consider keeping it simple and doing without outfits. Footie pajamas are great for nighttime because they’re warm and self-contained, and rompers are great for day time. Anyways, my boys look good in whatever they wear.
Fear the “Nursery Effect”
Singleton parents can disagree on whether or not to attachment parent or to let babies cry it out. While it’s generally agreed that you can’t spoil a baby by picking it up when it cries, there’s a different factor that comes into play with multiples — the nursery effect. If one baby cries for too long, it will eventually set the other one off. Trust me, too. It does. With this in mind, staying on top of your multiples and their needs will keep everyone happier.
Make Friends… Lots of Friends
When we had our twins, we lived in a town where we had no family and little support structure other than friends and neighbors. Without them, I’m not sure that I could have survived my first few months. Our friends made us food, helped us feed when one of us needed to step away and made the process more pleasurable. Learning to ask for help is one of the key lessons I’ve taken away from multiple parenting
Snuggle ‘Em All
Now that my boys are approaching 20 pounds each, holding both at the same time isn’t as easy as it was when they were 6 pounds. I know that I can snuggle a single child until it runs away. With multiples, though, my strength comes into play. I’m getting as many double hugs and squeezes in while I can.