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Parents Info
 So you have given birth to Multiples! Now what do you do? First of all stop panicking, and get organized! If the multiples are your first children, your life is going to be a bit less complicated as you don't have to worry about getting your other children to school, swimming, ballet, Scouts etc for set times each week.
On saying that, it is very daunting being left in a room with newborn multiples, especially as they do not come complete with their own instruction book!
At first your multiples are likely to sleep, (Yes!) and cry and get fed; not to mention having their diapers changed (did I mention lots of diapers?) that's about it. They are quite easy going at first but this gives you chance to settle into some kind of routine and for your body to recover some before they become more active and independent.
I have said this before but remember. Ask for help... get help!
The main thing to remember is that you can have as much help as you need, do not feel afraid to ask your partner, parents, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and so on to help you in whatever way you feel necessary, be it for advice, reassurance or just for a chat.
Keep a list of people who you feel would support you through this time by your phone, or in your computer address book and don't forget to ask regularly for help. Also it will be a good idea in scheduling your help. What I mean is that you can ask helpers to come at certain times or days, that way maximizing the effectiveness of your helpers and avoiding too many helpers trying to do the same task at one time. Believe me if you do this it will avoid many problems.
Q. How long should I stay in hospital?
A.
This will depend on your Insurance, Doctor and how difficult your delivery was for you and your multiples. The hardest part is however when you have to leave your babies in the hospital for some extra time. Even though this is extremely hard and mind boggling, take the time to rest and get better because when you babies get home they will need you. Remember you will not be a bad mommy by leaving your babies in the hospital; you'll actually be a better mommy when they get home since you had some rest.
**Remember to talk this over with your doctor and your insurance company ahead of time.
Establish a routine that works for you!
While in the Hospital you can establish a routine of feeding your babies, changing them and then putting them back down to sleep. I cannot stress this more... DO NOT GET OFF YOUR ROUTINE! Unless you don't care about sleeping, eating, showering and so on. If you get the routine down from the beginning not only will it take the guesswork out of knowing what your babies need, it will give you a chance to plan ahead.
Limit visitors to a few at a time!
Limit the amount of visitors you get per day to a few, in time increments you are comfortable with, you need to keep your strength up for caring for your babies. Remember that your new babies are trying to get used to their new surroundings too.
Let your partner help with changing diapers and help him become more confident in handling your babies if he is unsure of what to do then show him how, you will really benefit from his increased confidence when your babies get more active!
Q. Breast or Bottle Feeding?
A.
If you are unsure whether or not to breast-feed, have a go while you are still in hospital and have the support of the hospital team. It is easier to change from breast feeding to bottle feeding than vice versa, your breast milk is produced on a supply-demand basis, if you don't have the demand for it... it wont be supplied. Remember to drink plenty of fluids; this will help you stay hydrated and produce more milk. Some people love breast-feeding, others find the whole idea horrible and would prefer to bottle-feed.
You must do whatever you feel most comfortable with, some people have successfully breast fed two at a time without using bottles at all, others made the active decision that bottle feeding is the way forward and never considered breast feeding at all.Whatever is comfortable with you is the best decision.
Mixed Feeding (Using a combination of breast and bottle feeding)
Other mothers have found the ideal answer for them was to mix the two methods, by offering breast for most of the babies' feedings and then using breast milk, by way of bottle, to supplement for other feedings.
Breast feeding (if you breastfeed exclusively and do not offer breast milk in any other format than direct from your breasts) does not require the financial outlay that bottle-feeding does, it is also less preparation based, as your milk is always ready to be dispensed at the correct temperature when needed.
However if you to want your babies to take a bottle of breast milk when you are unable to offer them your breast (for example if you need an afternoon or night out, or if you are returning to work) you will need to buy a breast pump, bottles, sterilizer and so on.
Breastfeeding can work brilliantly well for some mothers and is achievable. It does help pass your own immunity on to your babies, and is convenient in that you do not have to prepare bottles at odd hours during the night, you can just get up and latch your babies on.
However you can find that you get sore nipples and that you need to constantly eat and drink to keep up milk production and that it can be tiring holding two babies simultaneously for any length of time particularly when they get a bit older.
Formula Bottle-feeding
Formula Bottle-feeding can work well if you are organized and make the day feedings up in the morning, quickly cool them and store in the fridge until required. You will have the initial financial outlay with having to buy formula; sterilizer, bottles, bottlebrush etc. and you will have to ensure you have a constant supply of formula on hand.
Always ensure you have a bottle prepared ready for overnight feeds, there is nothing worse than having multiple screaming babies wanting to be fed at 2am and no bottles prepared!
Never keep a warmed bottle for more than an hour without discarding it and never keep prepared bottles for more than 24 hours.
You will need to sterilize the bottles for the first 6 months to 1 year (check this with your pediatrician because some of them recommend continuing sterilizing bottles till age 1.)
Diaper Changing
One of these jobs, which neither parent really wants to do, but someone, has to! Always ensure that there are no traces of baby feces anywhere on the babies bottom as it will make them sore and more prone to diaper rash.
Choose the diaper that is right you and your baby and change babies regularly to prevent diaper rash. (We have found out that some of the store brand diapers are just as good as premium diapers and of course a little easier on your pocketbook)
Wash your hands carefully after diaper changing with an antibacterial soap and put some hand cream on or your hands are likely to get chapped due to the amount of times you will need to wash them in one average day!
Bathing twins
Your hospital staff should have showed you how to bathe your multiples while you were in the hospital. When you have multiples you need to ensure that the multiple that is not in the bath is safe and kept warm, I used to find that taking a bouncy chair into the bathroom was a good way to park the baby that wasn't in the bath. Alternatively, you could either get your partner to help or get him to baby sit the other baby while you bath the other. Make sure you have every thing you need in the bathroom with you, clean baby gown, diapers, towel and so on, you must never leave a baby in the bath even for a fraction of a second, even if he or she is big enough to sit up.
Back Home at Last!
Prior to your delivery organize yourself and try to decide where everything should be, that way you do not have to go backwards and forwards every time you need to something.
Try to Rest
Try to rest as much as possible, this may be limited to some extent if you have other children in that they may need to be taken to playgroup or school or whatever, but if you can find someone who can help you with say the school run or whatever this would make life so much easier for you.
Keep it Simple
Make simple but nutritious food for your family, or better yet to enlist somebody to cook for you. Keep your own energy up by having regular small meals and plenty of fluids (this is especially important if you are breast feeding) and ensure that each day you get some fresh air, even if it is just going to your porch for a few minute, it will do you good.
Keep in touch
Try to keep up with friends and relatives and as soon as you feel up to going out for a couple of hours without your babies, do just that, the break will do you the world of good.
Sleeping Issues,
If possible, try to get your babies into their cribs or Moses Baskets while they are still awake. Believe me, if you allow them to fall asleep while breastfeeding or having a cuddle from you, they will probably develop a tendency to NEED to have a breast feed or a cuddle from you EACH TIME they want to go to sleep.
This may sound cruel for some but if you don't do just that; it can cause issues if they are not able to get themselves back off to sleep without you.
The same applies to using pacifiers, babies find it notoriously difficult to find pacifiers on their own which could leave them and you very distressed in the night.
Once your babies reach around 12 weeks they may be starting to sleep through at night which is wonderful news for you, as there is nothing worse than going for weeks at a time having to get up and give lengthy night time feeds not to mention that going to work with little or o sleep.
One sleeps through the night and the other one keeps waking up hungry?
If this happens to you it will be best to wake the second one up and feed them both at the same time. What? Wake the other one up? Are you crazy? Perhaps. (at least some people say so). The theory behind this is that if they are both fed they may both then fall back to sleep with their hunger satisfied. This will avoid the problem of just getting snuggled back into bed only to be woken up by the other one a few minutes after you are settled in.
Teething
Your babies may start producing teeth any time after birth (most start around 4 months) classic symptoms of a baby teething include:
Drooling
Chomping on anything hard they can lay their hands on.
Being increasingly grumpy.
Low temp fever.
Red sore cheeks.
Chewing on their hands.
Diarrhea
The best cure is to either give lots of drinks or use a pain suppression gel as baby Ambesol. Lots of cuddles and teething rings will keep your sanity at bay.
Solid Foods
As they get older you may find that they are becoming increasingly hungry and going less and less time between feeds which can indicate that they are getting ready to have something more substantial. The current recommended age to start your babies with solid food is 6 months (it had previously been four months but recent studies have shown that there is no real benefit to the baby weaning them any earlier than this in the majority of cases.) If you think that your babies would benefit from solid foods and they are at least 4 months old, mention it to your pediatrician, either when you get them weighed or call for advice.
The doctor will be able to assess your babies' individual cases and advise you accordingly.
There are a few foods that are unsuitable for babies under the age of 6 months old, either because of the risk of an allergic reaction or because the body is not quite developed enough to cope with it yet.
Peanuts and other nuts, in any format. Whole nuts pose a risk of choking in children under the age of 5 years.
Any product that contains gluten, such as flour, wheat products, breakfast cereals that contain wheat, pasta etc.
Eggs.
Citrus fruits and their products.
Fish, Fish products and Shellfish.
Once baby reaches around 7-9 months old you may find that he or she is ready to progress onto having food that is more lumpy and try finger foods, something that can be held in their hands and that they feed themselves. It is very important though that you don't leave you children unattended as they may choke on finger foods.
You might also want to look into buying a high chair, if space is limited buy ones that fold flat. There are a few foods to avoid at this age, these include:
Honey.
Foods high in Salt and processed foods which may be too high in salt.
Sugary foods. Do not add extra sugar onto any cereals etc.
Everything into their mouths
At this age, everything is taste tested by your babies, so make sure that you don't leave anything that is small enough to choke on or poisonous lying around the house. Baby proof your home! It is very important to do so since they tend to go separate ways from time to time... besides it only take one second to have an unfortunate accident. Some toys come with particularly small parts, do watch out for baby putting these in their mouths. Another thing about babies is that they have the kin ability to find little things around your house, no matter if you clean all the time.
Crawling
From six months onwards babies start crawling, so you may want to invest in some baby gates so they don't crawl off upstairs or into the kitchen when you are cooking. Baby proof your house; cover electrical outlets lock kitchen and bathroom cabinets, cover sharp edges with padding and any other precaution you may need so that your little ones can't hurt themselves.
A play pen can be good for keeping crawling multiples if you need to ensure they are safe, put some toys in there for them to play with while you are preparing dinner for instance. Be prepared to act as a referee and break a few fights from time to time.
Starting to walk
Babies generally progress from crawling to attempting to stand by pulling themselves up on the furniture, so when this starts to happen, do not leave hot coffee lying around on coffee tables or you risk your baby getting scalded. You may need to re arrange your furniture but remember... better safe than sorry.
Approaching One year.
By the time that your baby approaches his or her first birthday he/she should be eating similar foods to the rest of the family. He or she may be having a good attempt at walking and hopefully should be drinking from a lidded cup and sleeping through at least some nights.
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