I recently had a friend who had twins.  I still remember her quietly mouthing the words "its twins....HELP", as she didn't want anyone else to know at that stage.  She wanted to know everything i knew and so i started writing a list of things that helped me

survive, and i thought i would share this with you too.

I have so far survived nearly 4 years with my twins, but i will share with you the experience of our first year.  My twins were fortunately healthy, and born at 36.5 weeks, so some of this info may need to be altered for prem and/or/sick babies.

Feeding twins

I simultaneously breastfed for the first 4 months.  It helps to have a good firm foam breasfeeding pillow.  mine was big enough to sit my dinner on and eat at the same time.  It helps to learn to simultaneously breatfeed from the first feed and learn to set yourself up with the pillow and the babies without help whilst you are in the hospital.  There is nothing discreet about simultaneous twin feeding, so you can either learn a tactful way of asking people to leave, or just deal with everyone seeing your boobs (i did the later).  My twins were slow feeders in the first few weeks, so feeding them seperately would have taken about 1.5-2 hours.  I almost always fed at home.  Feeding twins at the shops is a bit of a nightmare.

This can be hard on your back, as your sitting posture cant be altered significantly during a feed.  I managed to get a professional massage every couple of weeks.  It also helps to be mindful of your back, neck and shoulder muscles during a feed and try to relax.

When my babies hit 4 months, for various reasons i decided to bottle feed one a combination of expressed milk and formula.  I found a comfortable position to still breasfeed one baby and bottle feed the other at the same time, usually with my bottle fed baby in my lap or lying on the couch next to me.

When starting on solids, I had 2 rocker chairs that i could feed them both at the same time, before they were big enough for highchairs.  these were also good for settling them at the same time.

 Feeding yourself

Anything that you can eat one handed is a bonus.  Now is not the time for steaks.  Meals like stirfry, pasta etc are quick to cook and easy to eat when you have a baby or two in your lap.

once you are set up to feed, your not going anywhere in a hurry.  I am currently breastfeeding my 'singleton baby' and can still feed and jump up to answer the phone or tell off the other kids at the same time.  with 2 babies and a feeding pillow on your lap, thats not so easy.  make sure you have a big bottle of water and a snack next to you before you start feeding.  Also the phone, mobile, TV remote control, vomit towel comes in handy. I also made a point to wee first, as i was stuck there for such a long time, with a lot of weight on my bladder.

Handling twins

I slept my twins side by side in the cot for the first few months.  This made it easier to pick both babies up at the same time, either by sliding one arm under their head and one under their bottoms; or rolling them onto one arm each and lifting them at the same time.  After some practice, you get clever at carrying and lifting 2 babies at once.  As long as their heads aren't flopping all over the place, they are not going to break.

Going out

This was vital for my sanity.  I went out nearly every day, even if it was just for a walk with the pram.  As hard as it is some days to leave the house, I needed to just to feel normal.

I hired baby capsules from the red cross.  These are great in the first few months, as i could take both babies in to and out of the car at the same time, without having to make 2 trips, and leaving one unsupervised.

We had a Childcare delux shopper pram, which was bulky and took up most of the boot space, but it was great for walks to the shops as it had nice big baskets underneath.  We then got a childcare stroller, to fir in my husbands car.  This was fantastic, as it folded down to a size smaller than a single pram and it suited from newborns.  think about what you want out of a pram before you buy.  A friend of mine bought a Emmuljunga posh bulkiy thing, and regretted it everyday, as it was bulky, difficult to erect and fold.

keep an eye out for disabled/wheelchair signs.  you will need the ramps, toilets, wide aisles etc.  Some big shopping centres have parent rooms, but in my local shops, the toilets aren't big enough to hold a twin pram.  Disabled toilets are ideal.  I used these all the time.  Unless you want to pee with the door open!!

Avoid small, clutered shops and anything with breakables.  As the twins get older, you need to account for the width of the pram plus how far they can stick their arms and legs out, to knock things off shelves.  What annoyed me most, was that so called baby shops and kids clothing stores, always had displays and extra racks blocking the aisles so we could not get through.  This is when you need to be confident in learning just to push things out of your way!!

You will also discover that the wide checkouts are always the longest, usually full of people who don't need a wide checkout.  Dont be afraid to point out an alternative checkout for those in front of you.  When you have 2 whingy babies and want to get home, you don't want to wait for some ignorant moron in front of you.

Feed right before you go out have have your bag already packed and everything ready to go, that way you get the maximum time out between feeds.

Plan your trip and make sure you will have everything you might need.

avoid driving if you are severly sleep deprived, but go for a nice walk in the fresh air.

Night time

I had to deal with the night feeds by myself for various reasons.  Even if you have a partner that is willing to help, its best if you can learn to deal with night feeds by yourself and then hand the babies over when dad gets home from work, so you can have a rest.  Its better to have one tired parent and one rested helpful parent than 2 tired parents.

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture.  Ignore the housework.  it wont kill you if its still there.  get some sleep with a day nap instead,  because lack of sleep may tip you over the edge, and you wont cope with your babies as well.

At night, I would change the nappies of both babies and then feed, so that if they fell alseep during a feed, i could put them stright down.  If they didn't fall asleep with the feed, I had a baby swing which was essential for me.  I would put one baby in the swing, settle the other baby then come back to the swing baby, who would usually be asleep.  I made the mistake of rocking my twins to sleep (i felt giulty that i didn't spend enough quality time with them during the day, so i tried to make up for it at night), so they took a while to get to sleep.  I would recommend just wrapping your babies after a feed and putting them down, whether awake or alseep, it saves you time- you get back to bed quicker, and they learn to settle themselves.  I did this with my 3rd baby and it worked a treat. 

general tips

think about everything you do and plan the most efficient way of doing it.

take lots of photos.

always buy nappies on special in bulk.

multi taks- you'd be amazed at the things you can do at the same time.

use your pram, not just for outing, but around the house and garden too.  i used to put on a load of washing, go for a walk and park the babies outside with me whilst i hung it when we returned.

keep babies in the same routine and try to do as much as you can at the same time- ie. feed, burp, sleep.

create a little book for each baby to record milestones and illnesses.  You will forget who did what when, and it also comes in handy for visits to the doctor.

ASK FOR HELP.  they say if it takes 2 parent to raise one baby, then it would take 4 parents to raise 2 babies.

WOW this is getting long.  hope I'm not boring anyone.  Anyway, that all i can think of at the moment.  I hope i haven't scared any twin mums- to- be.  I think that if you have 2 arms and 2 boobs, then you can have 2 babies.  Its the parents of triplets or more that i feels for!!

Good luck with your twin parenting endevours and adventures.

xx josie