If you are already have a child, you’ll know some of the challenges of parenting a newborn. On top of juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities, you have to ensure baby is kept safe, healthy and happy. This challenge is further intensified if you are expecting twins. With two babies on the way, you may be scratching your head and wondering how your parenting style needs to be adapted or change to handle the challenges of taking care of two babies simultaneously. In this article, we will look into how parenting changes with twins, so read on to find out more!
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1. You Need To Double Up – On Everything!
With two babies on the way, you can be sure than just one pram or one closet full of baby clothes and nappies will not be enough. When it comes to parenting twins, you’ll need to have twice the number of supplies than you would with just one child. This means investing in items such as premium twin prams, twice as many baby onesies, nappies, burping cloths, changing tables, baby formula, baby bottles, wipes and washcloths. Ensuring that you have enough supplies to tend to both babies at once is essential, and a fantastic way of reducing your own stress levels as you’ll know you have everything you need in the house, regardless of what time it is. The last thing you want is to run out of items in the middle of the night, when both babies are screaming at the top of their lungs. Get that baby arsenal well stocked and you’ll be set!
2. Prenatal Care
Dealing with twins starts way before they are even born. When it comes to multiple pregnancies, prenatal care is even more so important than it is with a single pregnancy. Because the pregnancy is significantly higher risk when multiples are involved, extra care and supervision will be needed to prevent any possible risks from occurring. There is a higher chance of mum developing symptoms such as high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and bleeding when carrying twins in the womb. Be prepared to visit your obstetrician more frequently than you did with your previous pregnancy, and look into visiting a specialised twins clinic which can tend to all your needs.
3. Be Prepared To Sacrifice Some Sleep
Everyone knows that when you have a newborn, getting even a few hours of quality rest can prove to be an extreme challenge. This is even more of the case when you are parenting twins. Newborns are often up and need to be tended to at odd hours, but balancing the need of two newborns can mean that sleep becomes a scarce commodity for parents. This lack of rest can add to your overall stress levels and cause you to feel exhausted at all times, especially when you still have to tend to your two little ones in the day time. Parents of twins often suffer from extreme lack of sleep, which is why we would advise rotating shifts between mum and dad, or getting a nanny/family member to help out a couple of times a week. This ensures you are getting proper rest at least once or twice a week, which will benefit your health, mood and ability to take care of your little ones.
4. Handle The Squabbling Early On
It is a common misconception that twins get along like best friends all the time. Whilst twins do share a very close bond and relationship, competition does start early on in life. It is not uncommon for twins to start fighting or squabbling at a young age, and this can sometimes be stressful and overwhelming for parents. Not only do you have to tend to your children round the clock, but now you have to figure out how you are going to stop them from squabbling with each other, adding another layer of worry to your load. Some good tips would be to keep the twins apart from each other when they are squabbling, give them individual attention, and discipline them early on so that they know that such behaviour is unacceptable.
5. Focus On Individuality
When it comes to raising twins, one thing that people tend to forget is that although your kids are a set of twins, they are also individuals. They may not both like the same kinds of foods, games, toys or activities. This is something that parents should tune into, instead of trying to force both twins to be exactly the same as one another. Allowing your twins to develop into their own individuals can sometimes be a challenging thing to accept, but a necessary one at the same time as it will help them to form a sense of self in the long run.
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We hope that this article has given you some insight into how parenting changes with twins. Whilst the parenting journey is indeed more demanding and stressful when dealing with two, it can also be twice as rewarding, so keep on keeping on!
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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