Parenting Tips: What to Expect Your First Year with Twins

The best advice I can give someone about to have twins is to sleep now why you still can. The first year with your twins will be the most exhausted you have ever been in your life, but don't worry it you will survive and sooner or later you will sleep again.

The first three months are the hardest your twins will need to feed every two hours. Sometimes you will just finish feeding them both and it will be time to start all over again. Getting your twins on the same schedule and keeping them there is extremely hard, but trust me as a father of twin girls six months down the road it will be a life saver. For the first three months you will find that the only things your twins do are cry, eat, sleep and poop pretty much in that order every two hours. I suggest you and your partner take shifts. One of you takes the midnight, two and four A.M. and the other one takes six, eight, and ten A.M. My wife and I found this was the only way we were able to sleep more then one or two hours at a time. Bassinets are very helpful during this time although in my opinion it is better to keep them in the living room near the couch rather than in your bedroom. No matter who is on baby duty at nighttime your partner will need rest before there shift starts. The fact of the matter is with two crying babies in your bedroom no matter who gets up and feeds them neither one of you will be sleeping.

During the three to six month period things will start to change. You will start to give your twins solid foods establishing a bed time and a wake up time. Again I can not stress enough the importance of keeping your twins on the same schedule. I found that at night when you want them to stay asleep (after your set bed time) thinning there formula in half will help them sleep all night. Also giving them there baby cereal at the same time everyday will establish what time they are supposed to wake up. Keeping lunch and dinner at the same time is also very important, although my twins will snack most of the day and if you are a busy working couple like most people you will find it very hard to keep these two meals on an exact schedule. The next thing that will happen at this stage is your twins will sleep less butt will take a morning and afternoon nap. If you can get them napping at the same time it will give you some time to get your house work caught up. (Trust me it will be the only time you have) I have found that after meal time is the easiest time to get them to nap at the same time.

The six to nine month stage is where things start to get interesting. By now your twins should be sleeping at least five to six hours a night and your twins are starting to move. Although movement is very fascinating it is dangerous by six months you should have baby proofed (see my article on baby proofing) your home because change comes very fast and it will surprise you how fast your twins can get away from you taking off in two different directions. The scary part is when you go to the bathroom and come back and neither twin is where you left them. Baby gates are your best weapon to keep your twins in a safe area. The best advice I can give the parents of twins during this period is to pick up your twins as little as possible they will get very jealous of each other and scream when you're holding one and not the other.

The nine month to one year stage is when your twins will start cruising around the furniture and walking. You will find out very quickly any cupboard or drawer without a latch or tables with in there reach will be all over floor again containment is key to keeping your house in order. Your twins will be very creative in finding ways to get to things they are curious about. They learn what team work is very fast. The best part about this stage is they will both be sleeping though the night and so will you. From experience I can tell you the sanity you regain from sleeping at night you will lose during the day trying to keep your twins from destroying your house. Good luck your twins will make you the happiest you have ever been and drive you insane at same time.