Taking the First Steps in Feeding

It may seem hard to manage breast feeding two or more babies at first, and it’s probably something you’ve been worrying about since you showed your first pregnancy symptoms. If your babies are premature, it might be best to initially use a pump and bottle feed until your babies are strong enough to latch on to the breast. If you do choose to express milk, remember to do it 2-4 hours, even through the night. This can be a great way of getting your partner involved in the feeding process while ensuring your baby is getting all the benefits of breast milk. There are lots of great pumps on the market and if you make the decision to express before you give birth, you could ask for a pump as a gift from family instead of receiving lots of babygros.

Remember that the decision whether to breast feed or not doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can get advice from your midwife on how to mix breast feeding and formula feeding for your newborns. This mix can make it easier to manage more than one baby as your partner can help with the bottle feeds and any amount of breast milk that your baby gets is better than nothing.

How Long Shall I Feed For?

Experts generally advise to breast feed for over a year, however even breast feeding for one day is healthier for your baby than not at all. Some mothers find it easier to breast feed two babies simultaneously and if you manage to get the hang of this then it can save you time! If this is the case then place the stronger sucker to the breast first so that it will encourage your other breast to express, meaning the weaker sucker won’t have to try as hard to get milk.

If you find breast feeding too hard with twins or triplets, don’t feel guilty. Breast feeding isn’t for everybody and formula milk can offer lots of nutrients too. Make sure you get advice from your midwife on which formulas to use, especially if your infants are premature.

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1. Angelina Jolie (with Brad Pitt) – Boy/Girl Twins (Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline) born July 12th, 2008

2. Celine Dion (with manager/husband Rene Angelil) – Twin Boys (Nelson and Eddy) born October 23rd, 2010

3. Holly Hunter (with partner Gordon MacDonald) – Twin Boys (Claude and Press) born January 2006

4. Jennifer Lopez (with (now-ex)husband Marc Anthony) – Boy/Girl Twins (Max and Emme) born in February 2008

5. Lisa Marie Presley (with husband Michael Lockwood) (Finley and Harper) born October 7th, 2008 – Fact: Lisa Marie’s famous father, Elvis Presley was a twin himself, but brother Jesse was stillborn.

6. Marcia Cross (with husband Tom Mahoney) – Twins Girls (Eden and Savannah) born February 20th, 2007

7. Mariah Carey (with husband Nick Cannon) – Boy/Girl Twins (Moroccan Scott and Monroe) born April 30th, 2011

8. Nancy Grace – Boy/Girl Twins (John David and Lucy Elizabeth) born 2007.

9. Rebecca Romijn (with husband Jerry O’Connell) – Twin Girls (Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip) born December 28th, 2008

10. Sarah Jessica Parker (with husband Matthew Broderick, but delivered by a surrogate mother) – Twin Girls (Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge) born June 22nd, 2009

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Are you one of the few lucky parents on this earth who have been blessed with twins? Well, although you do get to enjoy double the fun them, it can also mean double the trouble once they reach their potty training age. The good news is that it really doesn’t have to be a load of trouble. You can actually take full advantage of the situation and teach your twins faster than other parents teach their kids. You just need to know how to approach the entire thing. Read on.

Kids tend to learn best through imitation, so you can motivate your kids faster by giving one of them the other one as an example – and this actually works. To start, know the facts and systematically use them when the opportunity arises itself. If one of your children starts to show real signs of readiness, then you are in luck. All you will have to do is train him while the other twin learns through observation. Naturally, there might still be mishaps when doing this and you might still get exasperated every once in a while; but if you keep your cool, you are sure to look back at this stage of life with fondness in the future.

Ideally, though, you should start potty training your twins when they both don’t need to go to the bathroom at the same time. After all, handling the both of them in the bathroom at once can be quite stressful. Instead, set time aside for the overall duration of training. This could last up to half a year and you might have to go at it several times a day, as well.

The secret would be to pay close attention to your children’s cues and figure out when they need to go to the bathroom. In fact, this would be the most vital factor when it comes to potty training your kids. The minute you see an urge on their part, get them to their potty as soon as possible. This way, they will get used to sitting on the potty and eventually get used to using it every time.

Now, your twins might pick p their potty skills at different paces – remember that – but this isn’t something you should worry about. It would be absolutely essential not to discriminate between your twins if one seems to be a slower learner compared to the other. Remember: always give them positive feedback and approach things in a gentle manner. If you do this, you will soon see both of your kids using the potty on their own and cleaning themselves. Of course, the cleaning part won’t happen until they are more mature and have much better motor skills, though. Good luck!

Derrick Webb is a blogger and writes a variety of topics including relational database development. He is also a writer for Toledo web design, a firm that provides SEO services and web design for small businesses.

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There are lots of reasons why twins fight—maybe it’s because of jealousy, to catch attention or sometimes it maybe because they are bored (yes, I know, what the heck?). As parents, we would like to know how we can reduce these twin rivalry. How can we stop them from fighting and killing one another? Indeed, it is just common for twins to have a rivalry between them however we should stop it before things get out of hand.

How should we do this? Here are some tips:

1. Give time to the twins separately. Give each of them your quality time. Play games, talk about things, cook together or go shopping together. By doing this, you will make them feel loved without the competition and jealousy that will arise when you do these things with both of them. Once they feel loved, they will feel happier hence they will not fight with each other. Since they got what they want (your attention), there will be no reason for them to fight again. Also, being away from each other the whole day will make them miss their twin. They will understand the importance of one another.

2. Reward their good behavior. Tell them that you will give them a prize if they wouldn’t fight for a day. As time goes by, extend the time that you will tell them. Tell them to start fighting for a few more days, weeks and so. Once they have achieved that, give them their prize—toys, a day at the park or anything they want. You’ll see that they will get motivated by their rewards that they will stop fighting even if you don’t reprimand them anymore.

3. Get rid of things that is the root of all their fights. For example, the fight started because they both like a new toy or that they both want to learn this and that. As a result, they will not have something fight over with.

4. Stop comparing. When you compare, you are instilling jealousy and insecurity on your children’s hearts. This is the reason why they will never get along in the near future. So, do your part and treat both of your child equally.

5. Teach them how to work out things without hurting or yelling at each other. Let them watch movies that will teach them that.

6. Be a good example. Also, you can show them how to constructively work things out by being a good example yourself. Never let them hear you shout at your husband. Always be calm and collected when you are fixing a dispute.

7. Lastly, if all else fails, Ignore. Sometimes, they will fight just to get your attention. If you try to ignore them and not give them what they want, they will stop fighting.

About the author:

Sarah is the relationship manager of Nanostyle. NanoStyle’s contemporary jewelry collections present an exquisite range of onyx and cubic zirconia jewelry collections interconnecting faiths and beliefs through the power of adornment. NanoStyle pendants are made using a unique imprint technology with outstanding visual impact coupled with the flawless CZ stone to bring everlasting beauty to your expression of faith, belief or ideas. NanoStyle has amazingly unique jewelry, from love pendants to Christian pendants and Jewish Pendants.

The first thing you will need to do is contact the minister or lay chaplain who will be officiating your double ceremony. Now while they do this day in and day out every Sunday, there is a chance yours will be the first twins they have ever officiated. Luckily for all parties involved the ceremony does not need to be reworked much do work for two children. They might have to double up some parts, but the for the most part the official christening or naming ceremony will work very well.

Once you have the minister on-board with your super double christening, it’s time to plan the fun stuff – the guest list and the party! You are welcome to invite as many friends and family as you would like. And with two “centers of attention” that day, you will get everyone wanting to show up. When you know who will be invited, it’s time order up the christening invitations. Now there might be a little snag here. Most invitations that are “fill in the blank” do not have room for two names. So for here you might need to get custom made ones, or do it yourself.

After the invitations are mailed it’s time to host the party. The party will take place after the actual ceremony at the church occurs. Some people prefer to give the newly christened baby some downtime before the party starts. Depending on their age and mood, they might need a little nap or even have it the next day if needed. But if your twins are well behaved and get their naps on time you can easily host the party that afternoon.

At the party you might also want to serve a christening cake. While you could get two cakes, that really is too much. Every cake baker will be more than happy to personalise a christening cake for your twins with both of their names on it. And also at the party, the guests will be brining christening gifts and presents for your twins. This might be a little interesting since many people will not want to give them each the same thing. If they get any duplicate items do not worry too much about it – after all, the ceremony is the important and symbolic part of the day, and the party is truly a time to celebrate the joy of having twins!

Bio: Carol is a mum of two who has seen lots of christening gifts in her days, and loves kids.

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Trying to plan an entertaining birthday party for one child is always a challenge, but planning for twins may be even more demanding. It is important to give each twin equal amounts of attention, but at the same time allow them to each express their individuality. The following ideas should serve as a springboard to help make planning a double birthday party easier and without doubling the cost:

Planning the Details

While a single theme may be desired by some younger twins, many begin to develop separate interests by the time they are school age. If a joint theme is not appealing, it might be better to allow each child an area reflecting his or her preferences. Elementary aged twins might enjoy some of the following ideas:

• Set up two tables or split one down the middle with a colorful banner; allow the twins to have decorations in their favorite colors on their chosen side.

• Use cupcakes or two smaller cakes so that each twin will be able to choose the colors and characters that appeal to him or her; also, allow each child to have a special colorful drink.

• Consider letting the children dress up for the occasion in outfits matching their chosen themes.

• To save money, some of the twins’ own possessions may be incorporated into the decorations. Several Barbie dolls or some Transformers anchoring balloons make a wonderful centerpiece for a table. An arrangement of stuffed animals in a wagon or a child’s swimming pool filled with Lego can add to the party atmosphere as well.

• Alternate active games, such as relays, with quieter games, like party bingo, to keep children from becoming bored; have plenty of small items to serve as prizes and make sure that every child successfully wins one.

Preparing the Home

Rather than worry about the havoc that can be wreaked by a large party of children, it is best to prepare the party area for a miniature invasion. These few changes will reduce worry and accidents:

• Keep the party confined to a limited area of the home by closing doors to unneeded rooms and making it clear to the children where they are allowed to be.

• Temporarily remove all breakable items from the party area.

• Cover table surfaces with colorful vinyl or plastic cloths that can easily be wiped clean.

• Consider buying washable furniture throws to keep upholstered couches and chairs free from mashed cake, spilled drinks, and chocolate-covered fingers.

Whether the twins prefer a joint theme or individualized activities, it is better to keep any party for twins as simple as possible. Remember, children can create their own fun if given the chance, but these tips for a birthday party for twins may make the party easier for Mom and Dad. The priority should be to make sure each twin feels special and enjoys their celebration. With a little advance planning, parents should be able to enjoy the occasion too!

Caroline writes for GetSlipcovers.com. This site has all sorts of slipcovers for furniture that can be useful when hosting a birthday party.

Coming up with a name for one baby is hard enough. Coming up with names for twins, or multiples of three or more, creates a whole new level of difficulty, stress, and possibly anxiety.

When you need to name twins, it involves more than simply coming up with a baby name, times two. There are several considerations that are unique to naming multiples.

Since the twins are likely to be together for much of their early life, their names need to work well with each other, as well as with their shared surname. There are a number of ways that the names may not complement each other. These could include factors such as language of the name, style, period, and even just the “sound” of the paired names. For example, the following pairs do not play well together, for obvious reasons:

• Caroline and Ehud
• Noah and Brianna
• Isabella and Wayne
• Sophia and Lachlan

Possibly as a way to avoid the situations noted above, or possibly because it seems the traditional thing to do, parents of twins often turn to similar sounding names, or pairs with a common theme. A glance at the most recent data from the U. S. Social Security Administration, showing the most popular pairs of twin names, reveals the extent of this trend. The top ten twin name sets for a recent year include:

• Jacob and Joshua
• Matthew and Michael
• Madison and Mason
• Ethan and Evan
• Faith and Hope

There are several pitfalls associated with this style of naming for twins.

First, and most important, experts in the field of multiple births would be quick to point out that twins need to feel unique, not like part of a package. It is difficult enough to help twins experience their unique identity, without compounding the problem by giving them matching names. Whether the matching is in the initials, such as “J” above, or in the sound, such as Madison and Mason, or in some other cute fashion, such as Faith and Hope, the likelihood is greater that other people will mix up the twins, making it harder to establish their own personalities.

Second, cute name pairs are almost certain to become a target on the schoolyard. No parent wants their children to be the object of teasing. However, with paired names like “Taylor” and “Tyler”, for example, it may well happen.

Third, a very important fact to remember is that similar sounding names, or similar initials, can easily be mixed up. Where can this happen? With medical records, school records, applications, and so forth. Such mixups, should they occur in the case of medical or pharmacy records, have the potential to be very dangerous. For this reason, even the initials should be different. Jacob and Joshua Smith are both J. Smith in many situations, and there is simply no reason to invite that kind of problem.

So what are parents to do in this situation? Admittedly, it is more difficult than naming one child. But if the suggestions noted above are followed, the major stumbling blocks will likely be avoided. Parents can look for names that complement each other in style, sound, and origin, without falling into the “Mary and Maria” trap. There are thousands of names that work well together, while at the same time maintaining the individuality of each child. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started!

• Caleb and Joshua
• Hailey and Morgan
• David and Katherine
• Olivia and Emma
• Annie and Jacob

Neil Street is co-publisher of Baby Names Garden, a leading resource helping parents and others find names they love.

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Raising twins is twice as difficult as raising one child. There are a lot of obstacles and problems on your way but you need to make no compromises and accept nothing but the best for them. One of your duties as a parent is to protect them from an emerging disease, obesity.

Parents tend to give everything they can for their kids and they usually spoil them with food and toys. However, by not taking care what you feed your children could result to obesity. It is very important to teach your children how to eat healthy from their early childhood because once they grow up as obese children they will end up obese adults.

#1 Protect them while they are still in the womb

Recent studies show that women who are obese during the time they were pregnant are more likely to give birth to obese twins. For that reason, it is highly recommended to take care of your weight and overall state of health from conception to childbirth.

Though low calorie diets are discouraged during pregnancy, this does not mean that you should eat anything you want. If possible, skip or at least keep in low amounts your sweet, salty and oily food consumption. Do walking exercises to manage your twin’s birth weight which could greatly reduce their risk of being born with a tendency to become obese.

Caution: Always consult your doctor about your diet and exercise before, during and after your pregnancy.

#2 Eat healthy when you are breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is encouraged because of its many benefits to you and your twins. But you should remember that you need to continue your healthy diet because the quality of milk your produce is dependent on the food you eat. That means, if you consume foods high in fat, the milk you’ll be feeding to your twins will also contain high amount of fats.

#3 Be a hands-on parent

TV keeps kids occupied and parents usually leave their kids watching Barney for hours. Though they’ll learned a lot from Barney, wouldn’t it be great if you are the one whose going to teach them shapes, colors, alphabets, numbers, and songs? Just like Barney, go on a real adventure with your twins in the park or encourage them to sing and dance with you. This way, both their minds and bodies are on the move.

#4 Encourage them to play with other kids

Twins seems like they have a world of their own. They have this unbreakable bond which sometimes makes them feel different from other kids, thus they do not want to play with them. If this is the case, talk to your twins and tell them that although they are special, they are still kids who should have fun playing with the other kids.

#5 Buy them activity toys

Have you already decided what to give your twins this Christmas? If not, how about buying each of them a bike or roller skates or a micro scooter? Everybody treasures their first bike because we had a lot of fun with them, and your twins will have loads of fun with their bikes as well. Toys like these will not only provide countless years of fun but it will also keep them fit and healthy. So, drop the idea of buying them video games and buy them something that will keep them physically active.

Chris is a parent of twin boys. She also wrote about how to lose weight after having twins plus she provides healthy weight loss tips in her own blog.

You’re in the ultrasound room with your partner. The nurse is rolling the scanner gadget over your bump. “Congratulations Mrs Smith”, she exclaims. “You are having twins!”.

This is a situation that occurs more often than you would expect in clinics all around the world. For parents of twins there is a whole world of challenges that lie ahead for them, and one of the biggest challenges they will encounter once the babies are born is the challenge of shopping with twins!

There are two parts to this challenge. The first being what you actually buy for them, the next challenge is the actual act of shopping!

Twins or Individuals

The first thing you will want to think about before the twins arrive is how you want to dress them. Some parents of twins like to have them dressed in exactly the same clothes, and looking almost identical in appearance, whilst others decide to deliberately dress them differently so they each have an individual appearance.

This choice is really an individual one, and there is not really a right or wrong answer. Some parents claim that dressing their twins exactly the same helps them develop a very strong powerful twin bond, whilst some say that doing this stifles the children’s ability to grow individual personalities which could cause them problems in later life.

Toys

You will cross a similar bridge when it comes to toys. do you buy exactly the same toys for both twins or different ones? A great piece of advice I once heard was that you should just buy one set of toys as this forces the twins to share from an early age. You may have to deal with some squabbles at first but they will learn very quickly.

This problem is sidestepped if you happen to have twins that are different sexes of course. The same of course would be true of the clothes challenge.

Taking The Plunge

Shopping with one child is a challenge, and shopping with two can border on extremely stressful! If you are lucky when the twins are very young they may even sleep while you shop. It is when your twins hit toddler age when the real fun begins.

At that point it becomes a good idea to have someone watch your children while you shop if you can. If you do take them with you then make sure you have plenty to entertain them as you go.

Make the trip interesting for them. Pointing various different things out to them, and getting them to say the names of things as you go round. A good thing to do is to get them working together, with one naming things and the other pointing the item out as they see it.

Generally shopping with twins is no different than shopping with two children that aren’t twins. The only difference being the odd admiring glance of people who recognize your children are twins.

The Future

Generally, whichever avenue you go down with your twins in regards to dressing them alike or not, you will find that as they get older they will decide how they want to dress. Some twins grow up liking the matching outfit idea, whilst other totally reject the very thought of being dressed in the same way as their twin.

In reality, as much as a challenge shopping with and for twins can be, as long as your children are cared for and loved just the same, they will grow up centered and happy individuals.

This article was written by William Eve. William writes about saving money, property investment and real estate for Home Loan Finder. If your looking for a home equity loan or a mortgage broker, visit the Home Loan Finder website for great advice and competitive mortgage products.

I get lots of comments from people I know and people I don’t know (usually in stores when I have all four with me and am in a hurry) about how I have my hands full or one of the other usual remarks people make about having twins. The thing is that they just don’t get it. They don’t get to experience, to observe, to participate in the daily activities of two little ones of the same age. I must say that one of my favorite ages is 18-24 months, which is precisely where Carlton and Franklin are right now at 22 months. That is the age when they truly start trying to communicate and play with each other and start using their own “twinspeak” words. For instance, my boys call drinks “neh neh” and they both understood that long before I finally figured it out.

I get the impression that people are in awe of MOMs (with twins or more) and are happy that they are not in that position. I would say that I was one of those people before I had twins of my own. Now that I have twins, especially two sets, I really would not want it any other way. My husband, Hans, and I have talked about this many times since our girls were born, even as recently as this week. In our situation with the kids 3 1/2 years apart and the girls the older of the two sets, things flow very naturally in that we are able to assign one girl to watch each boy or hold a boy’s hand. When interaction between the two sets is not needed, each twin plays with her/his co-twin almost exclusively. Yes, we do have four (FOUR!) children, but we only have two ages to deal with. I honestly think that it would be much more difficult to have kids of four different ages than having two sets of twins.

OK, let me back up a bit here. YES, it was extremely difficult at first, especially our first time around. Taking care of two newborns is pretty much double the work of taking care of one newborn. It means double diapers, double feedings, double baths, double the chance of being awakened in the middle of the night, double everything. However, lets clarify that comment about feedings. Generally twin parents are able to feed two babies at once, so that’s not exactly double the amount of work required. MOMs can breastfeed or bottle feed two babies at once (I even know of MOMs who surfed the internet while breastfeeding their twins!). Once the babies are being spoon-fed (with a Baby Dipper bowl, of course), parents can prepare one bowl of food and alternate bites between babies, so while one baby is swallowing, the parent is scooping up a bite and feeding the other baby. The babies can be bathed together once they’re able to sit up, so around 5-8 months or so, thus saving some time there. A big time-saver is when both twins are thoroughly potty-trained. There is no way around it when they are both in diapers. Each baby’s diaper change is a separate event, some more involved than others, naturally.

Once the twins start playing together and sharing interactively, mom will suddenly find that she can actually slip away for a few minutes, though she still must listen in and check on them every few minutes as twins can sometimes get into more trouble than a single child. My understanding is that singleton babies require more parental attention since there is not a built-in playmate. This is not to say that parents of multiples should leave the teaching of things such as colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc. to the kids themselves, but that this is another aspect of twin life that turns out to be easier than having only one child. Now that our girls are five years old, they play together just about all the time that they are not at school. There is very little arguing, surprisingly. They are really starting to realize how special it is to be twins and like to announce to people (even those who haven’t inquired about if they or their brothers are twins) that we have two sets of twins. I certainly hope that they continue to be close and get along well through their entire lives.

So, when others insinuate that having twins (especially two sets) must be incredibly difficult, I sometimes tell them that it is actually not that difficult, that my girls help with the boys, that each kid has a playmate all the time, that I only had to go through two pregnancies, that we only need to have two types of food/books/toys/clothes around at any given time. But sometimes I just humbly nod and move along, letting them remain in awe of us Mothers of Multiples and ignorant of the benefits that aren’t obvious to outsiders. Let’s not forget that from the time the babies are able to react, MOMs get double smiles, double giggles, double hugs, and double kisses.

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