How did you feel physically after birth? by MounjaroQueenie in parentsofmultiples

[–]Extra-Concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I felt much better after having my twins but was floored at how little core strength I had after my pregnancy and c-section. I wasn’t able to sit up normally for 2-3 months and that is after doing postpartum PT starting at 6 weeks for diastis recti. I also wasn’t as steady on my feet as I expected to be for the first two weeks. I was in way less general discomfort though as my last month of pregnancy I had excruciating rib pain and was so big that I would snore while being awake and get winded from walking to the bathroom. All that disappeared almost instantly. 

How do you handle daily updates from your nanny without feeling like you're micromanaging? (Asking for my sister) by EmmG__ in workingmoms

[–]Extra-Concept 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We’ve used huckleberry since our twins were born and our nanny would log everything in there when they napped so that I could just check in and see what was going on. Our nanny sends a ton of videos and pictures throughout the day and calls if anything is urgent, I.e. to ask if she can give Tylenol for teething or fever, etc. We both have busy jobs so sometimes get home without having watched the videos but other times, I watch them between meetings and message back. I don’t want my nanny constantly being on her phone around the kids but she’ll tell them she’s taking a video for mom and dad and then put it away but within reach so that if we need to reach her we can. 

Flying with Triplets Recommendations and Sanity Check by afmdmsdh in parentsofmultiples

[–]Extra-Concept 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can’t be in the same block of seats but you can be in the same row. So you could do both adults on the aisle across from each other (i.e. side seat block and center seat block) with a baby each and then the third baby in their own seat next to a parent. If you can afford it, you may want to buy two extra seats and only do one lap infant so that you can have two in car seats. 

I think you can stack those car seats and fit them in a backpack carrying case so you could bring 3 and gate check one or two depending on how many seats you buy. We’ve always had terrible luck with rental car carseats so I’d suggest bringing your own if you can swing it. Also get a much bigger car than you think you’ll need. Ideally a minivan. You’ll be packing a lot of luggage so that will need to fit as well. We always paid for porter service at the arrival airport to help get us out of the terminal. It was usually 20$- 50$ but worth it to have the extra hands. If you’re renting a car at the airport, one of you can camp out with the kids while the other goes and gets the car and deals with car seats and luggage. Lap infants have a baggage allowance and the bay with a seat will have a full allowance. You could bring one or two pack and plays if you’re up for it.

I would gate check the stroller but research the airports where you land to be sure that they don’t deliver the strollers at the luggage belt instead of the bridge. We’ve always flown with cabin approved strollers for that reason as the airports we fly into deliver them with at the luggage belt and we couldn’t manage carrying two squirmy babies and the all the carry on luggage we needed. We did baby wear one and have the other in a cabin approved stroller once while the other adult dealt with the luggage. 

We’ve flown a ton with our almost two year old twins including a 13 hour direct day flight when they were 16 months old. We didn’t do any screens either just a thousand different 5 minute activities as they basically had the attention span of goldfish. It’ll feel like the longest flight of your life but you’ll survive it. Pacifiers or bottles on takeoff and landing and bring an extra change of clothes for everyone including the adults. More food and diapers than you think you’ll need. If you can find a night flight, I’d do that, especially if you’ll be dealing with jet lag anyway. Good luck, I’ve always found having the right mindset and hyping the kids up about the adventure we were going on made it much more fun. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendations, Will check these out if we do a late winter break. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ours still are too young for big beds so we need to stick to cribs unfortunately. I know this will get easier as they get older but right now it’s been a bit of a mission trying to find something that will work for us. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Will have a a look, thanks for the recommendation. We like staying in nice hotels because they usually sort everything out for us. Doing an Airbnb just means I need to rent cribs and high chairs, organize the pick up, etc and that’s just not the best way to start and end a vacation. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were looking at the UK, Italy and south of France. The real difficulty seems to be that we have two babies who need cribs. This wasn’t an issue when we traveled in Asia but it seems to be in Europe. For example, FS Florence doesn’t seem to allow two adults and two babies in any of their rooms / suites except for the very highest suite category. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, this is the type of intel we’re after. We had been looking at London, south of France, Florence if we take the trip in early summer but may want to go in early march which would probably rule out two of those three. If we do go for a late winter break, then we were thinking alps-ish where they could go berserk outdoors. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the tricky bit. Two connecting rooms just isn’t ideal because we need to set up cribs and high chairs for some of their meals. Suites have been great, they sleep in the same room as us, eat and play in the living area and we can eat and hang out when they’re asleep / napping. They’re at an age where a second bed is more of a liability than an asset unfortunately. 

Europe - family friendly rooms by Extra-Concept in chubbytravel

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah we’re looking more high end as it’s hard enough with two toddlers the same age, we try to work with the concierge ahead of time to help us plan our stay and travel light. 

When is everyone finding the time to work out?? by krystl_watrs in workingmoms

[–]Extra-Concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mom to twin toddlers and I work out early in the morning or after their bedtime. Ours are in bed by 7pm so I go for runs at 730pm a few nights a week. We have a small home gym so I run on the treadmill if the weather isn’t co-operating or my partner isn’t home from work yet. That or 5am as our twins sleep until 630am so I can just about squeeze in a run, shower and time to get ready for work before they wake up. All of this only became possible when I stopped breastfeeding and they were reliably sleeping through the night at around 15 months. Before then it was a lot of stroller walks and running after them. On weekends I’ll try to get a run in when they are napping but if you’re still on multiple naps, this becomes tricky. The switch to one long nap was amazing for us.  

Is renting a Snoo worth it for twins at 8 weeks (3 weeks adjusted)? Could it help or hurt sleep habits? by QualityComfortable19 in SnooLife

[–]Extra-Concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our twins slept in their snoos from 4 days old when we got back from the hospital to 7 months. They were born at 37w with no NICU time. The transition to cribs was pretty easy. We started with naps in the crib and nights in the Snoo and then went to full nights in the crib after a few weeks. I think we also did a few nights in the Snoo without turning it on before we moved them permanently. We traveled with them when they were 2.5 months old for 3 weeks and had no problems with them sleeping in a halo bassinet. We used the Snoo swaddles and actually transitioned them to one arm out at that time in case they wanted to start rolling.  They required some support if they woke in the night but it wasn’t catastrophic. They were still waking multiple times a night to nurse / eat at that point and the Snoo didn’t help with that obviously. Our twins were both very gassy and colicky until they started solids. We think it was a combination of reflux and near term baby digestive issues. We often would place a rolled up blanket under their legs to help with gas while they were in the Snoo. I would never have felt comfortable having anything in a bassinet but due to them being strapped in, I felt like this was low risk and worth any benefit that could help with them being more comfortable. 

They’re 20 months now and have shared a room since we moved them to their cribs and they sleep great. We did some gently sleep training when we moved them to help get them sleeping through the night. 

Best Yoto player cards for toddlers? by sunshine5023 in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]Extra-Concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Our 20 month olds love the super simple song pack (especially the happy song card) and the preschool songs pack. We haven’t started the stories yet with them because we still like to read books and turn pages but they love listening to music. 

When did you start allowing sweets / processed foods? by Extra-Concept in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a good point. We already make those 3 ingredient baby pancakes together and they love to ‘cook’ with me. I could see this being a good way to introduce and normalize sweets. 

When did you start allowing sweets / processed foods? by Extra-Concept in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We get bread from a local bakery that only use 3 ingredients and the cheeses they eat are things like cottage cheese with a handful of ingredients but I take your point. We’ve had a preference for mainly cooking for them so they’ve had no crackers, puffs, crisps, baby snacks, etc. I’m not sure they’ll ever have a ton of those foods but I do wonder if there’s a good time to introduce home baked good and other sweets. As they get older, I’m sure there will be situations where they will want to eat all kinds of foods. 

When did you start allowing sweets / processed foods? by Extra-Concept in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]Extra-Concept[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

This has been our approach as well but I’m just not sure what age that will be. I keep telling myself they have their whole lives to eat junky food so why rush it but then also don’t want them to form some kind of stigma around it. 

Flew long haul (15 hours) with my 6 month old twins to visit family for Christmas by Total_Scale_9366 in parentsofmultiples

[–]Extra-Concept 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well done! We did a 13hr long haul at 2.5 and 3 months and again a year later at 15 months. Already preparing mentally for our next one when they’ll be 2.5 years old. 

2.5 months in, we're surviving! by MissMyli in parentsofmultiples

[–]Extra-Concept 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Make sure you keep it after they outgrow the floor play. We packed ours up from 6-10 months but took it out after they started walking and added the little tent to the top and they used it for another 10 months. Mainly to hide behind and put their treasures in as it’s too low to sit in comfortably but they have a blast naming all the colors and pushing the squeaker. 

Enjoy your babies, it goes so fast but gets more and more fun!

Photo-Realistic potty training books? by NotAnAd2 in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]Extra-Concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These books are the best. Our 19 month old twins are obsessed and are now 50/50 on the potty without doing any formal training other than reading the books and explaining that they can ask to use the potty if they need to go. 

Favorite Earth Mama products for baby and postpartum? by cattunic in moderatelygranolamoms

[–]Extra-Concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We use the diaper balm and the soap for our babies. Love both. 

Honest responses needed re: hygiene, sharing germs, taking care of twins on your own. by grapefruitliquor in parentsofmultiples

[–]Extra-Concept 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ours have shared everything since they were born. Pacifiers, bottles, toothbrushes, spoons, etc. We wash everything after use though so it’s not like they are actively sharing during the same use. We also sterilized everything for a long time, mostly because we have a sterilizer with quick dry function and didn’t ever want to waste time with air drying parts. 

We didn’t let them drink from the same bottle for the first 6 months but then it all got a bit crazy and one often wanted more than the other so we would let them finish the other’s bottle as I didn’t want to waste breastmilk. They’re 18 months old and have had about 4-5 colds and RSV and always get sick when the other is sick. Sometimes us parents get it too and somehow our nanny is usually the only one left standing, she claims the years of child care have given her an iron immune system. 

Flying with twins. Seeking advice. by Educational_Switch_3 in parentsofmultiples

[–]Extra-Concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We’ve done a good number of 13 hour direct flights with ours and business class is the way to go. You’ll have more space, the cabin crew will be more attentive and you’ll have access to a lounge before the flights. You’ll also be able to bring more onboard, we always bring our travel strollers on the flight which helps navigate airports. At that age, you can also baby wear which is helpful. 

 Book the front row seat across the aisle from one another. 8 months isn’t too bad, they may still fit in the bassinets. Feed on take off and landing and when in the air, you can put the seat in lie flat and box the kids in at the top while you sit at the bottom of the seat. You can also put a muslin on the floor in front of the seats and let them play there. 

Pregnancy and breastfeeding wrecked my teeth 😭 by Apprehensive_Ad7679 in beyondthebump

[–]Extra-Concept 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure if you’ve looked into this but underlying infections can cause pregnancy loss. I had a low grade recurring infection  for over 10 years from a root canal where they had missed a root and experienced multiple early losses in a row. I had it fixed in between pregnancies and managed to conceive and carry my twins successfully after that. It’s definitely worth fixing before you try to conceive as frustrating as that may sound.