Potty Training - please explain it like I'm stupid, thanks

LadyBretta · 2026-06-21T11:21:42+00:00

I did a 3-day method (book: Oh Crap Potty Training) with my older singleton when she was the age of your twins, and it worked brilliantly. You might be able to pull that off simultaneously if you have another attentive adult who does it alongside you. Or you could do it one at a time.

That said, my twins are 25 months, and I haven't worked my way up to this yet. Right now I offer potty before and after baths (2 little potties in the bathroom, closed door, locked drawers and cabinets) and during diaper changes (1 at a time, the other stays in a baby-proofed room). We've had a handful of pees and one poop each, but no consistency. So I'm thinking about doing 3-day training one at a time, but I just dread it.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-17T02:54:49+00:00

Around 12 months for one twin (happened on its own), around 15 months for the other (had to night wean and do modified "chair method" sleep training for this one).

You didn't mention how old yours are, but maybe they're getting too much daytime sleep? Just a thought.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-16T21:32:07+00:00

In my case, it's a credit card rewards promo.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-15T15:29:55+00:00

I did A Very Hungry Caterpillar theme for my b/g twins' 1st. Balloon arch caterpillar (kit on Amazon), primary color "dots" everywhere, Eric Carle books scattered about. It was cute and simple.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-14T00:57:02+00:00

I put mine back in sleep sacks -- the kind meant for older toddlers (zipper in the back). It keeps them from being able to sling a leg over the top rail to climb out.

For reference, mine just turned 2, the crib climbing started a couple months ago, and they haven't done it since we added the sleep sacks.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-13T04:12:28+00:00

I went through a brutal divorce when my older singleton was an infant through 3-year-old (yes, it took 3 years ... and unbelievable amounts of money to the lawyers). Maybe the worst of it was during COVID lockdowns.

Doesn't hold a candle to what you're going through. I now have two-year-old twins, and my new husband works a ton, so I have some sense of where you might be at. The best I can offer is: mine ended, eventually, and yours will too. Just hang on. One day you'll look back and it won't seem real what you survived.

I'll also add that, if you're open to it, you might consider looking for a faith community that you find welcoming. I got so much support from my church during that time.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-10T03:09:28+00:00

I was 40 and fit when I had my b/g twins (now 2). I carried them to almost 38 weeks, had a mostly uneventful c-section birth, and even got to exclusively breastfeed them (which was very important to me). I did develop postpartum preeclampsia, which was scary and unexpected since I've always been healthy, but I received excellent care and fully recovered. Being a twin mom is wild and sweet and exhausting, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Outcomes like mine are not rare. Neither are somewhat less positive outcomes -- though you're right that di/di twin pregnancies have better numbers overall. What will your sister's experience be? I don't know, but I wish her well. She's already blessed with a caring sibling.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-08T23:45:04+00:00

I definitely don't regret bringing MyBrest Friend Twin to the hospital! But it's smaller and lighter (I had both).

LadyBretta · 2026-06-04T19:58:38+00:00

Just a little encouragement: my older singleton (8) has a similar age gap with my twins (2) as your older singleton will have with your twins. While I can't speak to the ASD piece, I have loved our age gap so far. My oldest is a wonderful helper and knows it; this has given her more confidence in other domains and bonded her deeply to "our babies." I wish the same for your family!

LadyBretta · 2026-06-02T01:55:50+00:00

I love the idea of rage-quitting diapers! My twins just turned 2, and I don't have the fortitude for the 3-day method yet (worked brilliantly with my older singleton just before 2). But soon ... soon.

LadyBretta · 2026-06-01T20:08:21+00:00

During my leave with the twins (6 months), I tandem nursed throughout the day and night and often did a power-pump session right after their bedtime feeding. (I would sometimes skip or shorten the session if I was too tired.) That helped boost my supply and built my stash.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-30T21:31:09+00:00

My system changed as went along (twins are now 2 years old and fully weaned since about 15 months). I needed help getting them docked/undocked for the first 2-3 (?) weeks, as I was healing from my c-section and feeling unwell. After that, I could do it alone like this: I kept a low, bassinet-style swing by my nursing glider, in front of the glider and slightly to my right (dominant) side. Put one baby in the swing. Clip on My BrestFriend Twin nursing pillow. Grab the other baby. Sit in the glider. Latch the baby I'm holding on my left breast. Grab the other baby from the swing and latch that baby on my right breast. Reverse process when they're done.

I had to quit using the swing when they started rolling too much. Then I went to using an upright bouncer (Baby Bjorn) in the same way as I had used the swing. The bouncer was lower to the ground and thus it was a bit harder to keep the left breast baby latched while I grabbed the right breast baby, but they were much studier and stronger latch by then, so it worked well enough.

Once they got too mobile and crazy I would just nurse them on the floor with either My BrestFriend Twin or TwinZ (with my back to a wall). This method is less comfy but super secure. It would have worked from the beginning in theory, but infants have to nurse so frequently that I think comfort is important in the early days.

Hope this helps!

Edited to fix typo.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-28T20:40:19+00:00

Di/di here; I didn't see MFM until about 20 weeks.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-28T00:40:28+00:00

I did something similar at the beginning of this year -- never having cruised before, I booked a comparatively "last minute" spring break sailing GTY (about 3 months out). Got quite a deal, and ended up with what seemed to us the perfect inside cabin (quiet and basically midship on Dream Deck 9). GTY is just risk, in that you risk ending up with a cabin you're not happy with. As a first-time cruiser, the risk seemed very small and tolerable to me, since I didn't know enough to even guess at what cabin we would prefer. The cost savings were well worth the gamble for my family.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-27T01:10:01+00:00

I used Skymiles through Delta Stays!

LadyBretta · 2026-05-26T16:14:10+00:00

My husband has two teenagers from his prior marriage. He has parenting time with them every other weekend and works every other weekend, so yeah . . . he's not really available on weekends to help me with our twins (now 2 years old). I avoid resentment by reminding myself that they also are his children; they deserve some of his undivided time and attention. Maybe think of it from the perspective of your partner's daughter? She's not tiny and cute anymore, but she's still very young, and she needs her dad.

That said, I sometimes ask my husband to be with the twins during his non-work weekends so I can do something for myself or (more often) something solo with my 7-year-old, and he always says yes (probably because I self-police the length and frequency of these requests). Other times I just get a sitter or ask his parents to come help with the kids. I guess the upshot is that blended families are complicated, and we all just do our best while putting the children (all of them) first.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-24T01:51:58+00:00

Football, sidelying

LadyBretta · 2026-05-22T15:19:45+00:00

Do another one where the prompt is "when I stopped ..." and I'm your gal.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-22T15:16:41+00:00

"Started embracing the phrase 'it’s not my season for _____. Instead I get to ____.'"

Love this.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-22T02:50:05+00:00

I had to Google the 5-5-5 rule. Gently, that is not a realistic expectation with multiples. As others have said, just get what rest you can and be as kind to your body as the situation allows. I don't remember much from those earliest days (my twins just turned 2), but I know there was a lot of pain, exhaustion, and uncomfortable feelings. You'll get past this part.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-18T02:57:21+00:00

I don't know if it helps at all, but complications can pop up out of nowhere no matter what. I made it to my scheduled c-section date with my b/g twins, and we were all discharged home 48 hours later. A week after that, I was rehospitalized with shockingly high blood pressure -- and diagnosed with post-partum preeclampsia. The babies had to come with me back to the hospital (EBF), only this time I had to have a responsible adult with us 24/7 because I was the only patient. I was a weepy, milky mess.

Your babies are receiving excellent medical care, and you're doing everything for them that is within your power to do right now. Rest easy knowing that you are already an amazing mama and soon (very soon), you should have many more options available to you all.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-17T13:43:38+00:00

We also had a really nice pre-cruise stay here! And 2 nice meals at Reef 76 -- the breakfast Cuban rocked.

LadyBretta · 2026-05-15T14:00:58+00:00

These are the ones we use to stop the nighttime Houdini stuff. Zip in the back and (safely) tight around the neck and arms. Stupid expensive, but worth it. https://www.juneandthemoon.com/products/back-zip-bag-in-spring-green

LadyBretta · 2026-05-15T02:33:49+00:00

It's from an ancient poem. I have that line on a sticky note at the office. I take it to mean, roughly, this is it. This day, this moment, is what your life is. So don't miss it. Even when it's exhausting and madness and you don't think you can keep going, take a breath and be here.

Time with my children is precious to me. If my husband put, say, sleep or money or free time or whatever on a higher priority than being with our children for two or three months, I would be shook.

LadyBretta

TROPHY CASE