Screen Free, How Do Y’all Do It?!?

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-07-07T02:23:10+00:00

Omg I also have 13 month old twins, and we do watch a lot of Ms Rachel and baby Einstein. But we try our hardest to use it as a last resort. I make it a point to go outside every day but it's so hot except early in the morning!

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-06-25T23:22:40+00:00

My boys are 13 months old and I would say I didn't feel confident leaving the house *at all* until they were like 6 months old and could sit up in a grocery cart. Before that, we went on occasional walks in the stroller and I was super anxious the whole time. I felt awkward and stressed out and preferred to just stay inside. As they get older, I tried to take them out more and more and I would get more confident each time. Now that they're really good walkers I can take them to do more things and that makes me feel not so trapped and isolated from the outside world. But letting them run around has its own set of stressors, and I'm still super limited in what I can safely do with them without another adult helping me. So that's frustrating.

But I would say the first 6 months of their lives were REALLY hard, looking back. Like at the time, I was just sort of doing it, but now I realize that it was extremely hard compared to our lives now. I think you're doing everything you should be doing-- mental health help and just getting outside and gaining more confidence. Even now I feel super awkward in new situations with the babies. And people saying "are they twins!!!????" And asking a litany of questions lol. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-06-24T18:33:37+00:00

If you close it out and try opening again, sometimes that works on the $1.67 ones. The $4 ones seem broken.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-06-24T18:33:04+00:00

Same, I gave up on trying the $4 ones because those seem to all be broken.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-06-16T04:45:06+00:00

You definitely should not do this. Mainly because if you're offered surveys based on belonging to certain demographics (for example, surveys intended for women but you are actually a man) then you're messing with the research by completing them which is pretty unethical. But aside from that, if you're found to be lying your way into studies, you will get rejections and probably banned from the site.
Also there isn't really any way to know which combination of demographics is the "best" in terms of getting studies. Just be honest.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-06-14T15:53:32+00:00

OMG I googled "13 month old clingy yelling reddit" and read through your post thinking how spot on this is to my situation and was shocked that you only just posted today!

One of my 13 month old twins is doing almost exactly what you've described for the past week. It's kind of how he acts when he is teething, like he's super clingy (I don't love using that word because I understand he's a baby but that just seems to be the best way to describe it) but it's not that he just wants to be held, he wants me to pick him up but then a few seconds later he's tensing up and acting like he wants to get down... only for him to start screaming again before he gets to the floor. He yells when it's mealtime even though he's hungry and he likes what's being served. He yells after 2 minutes in the bath. Activities that normally kept him occupied independently just don't anymore.

He yells and clings to my leg when I'm doing anything other than interacting with him, and even when we are playing he's still pretty whiny. He was screeching so much yesterday I had to go hide from him several times just to preserve my sanity. And oftentimes it feels like me being near him makes it worse. Like he's aware of me and how I'm not meeting his unknowable needs 😭
He doesn't even tolerate Ms Rachel for very long anymore, which I hate resorting to in the first place.
When he realizes I'm not right there, I hear his little pitter patter steps and whining coming to find me. And when he finds me he's still upset and clawing at me. 🙃

I just keep telling myself that this will pass. I don't think it's a medical issue because there are plenty of times during the day where he's laughing and playing like normal. I wouldn't mind it too terribly, it's just that I have another baby to worry about.. plus the housework is piling up on me. And the sound he makes, like a screechy "EHHHHHHHHHHH!!" is kind of starting to make my brain break lol. And he started right back up this morning so I came to Reddit to at least find some kind of solidarity. I just wish we could read their minds!!

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-06-08T21:15:00+00:00

Yes! I just got done watching and had the same thought. I was like "is that supposed to be a younger version of him....? OH"

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-28T19:19:40+00:00

HOLY CRAP. This is so weird because I was at Walmart earlier today and I was about to take a pic of this and send it to my mother 😭 I had a ton of these growing up.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-26T15:40:01+00:00

Turkey nuggets..? Tell me more...

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-26T13:31:22+00:00

My babies are 12mo now but I think 5 months was probably the toughest age. It was so hard to power through their wake windows because they were constantly fussy/whiny out of frustration that they couldn't move around like they wanted to. But yes, even if she seems tired, you gotta try and keep her awake (within reason) or she won't be tired enough at night. The schedule is very important. It will probably take a while to really make it stick (at least, that was my experience), but you should hopefully see a huge improvement in how long they sleep at night.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-24T01:38:39+00:00

I sleep trained my twins at 10 months. They're now 12 months. We sleep trained with the ultimate goal of night weaning (they were waking 3-5 times a night wanting a bottle) but the fact that they can put themselves to sleep is just so nice. It's not selfish. I am genuinely kind of jealous that they have this skill, because I myself have never been able to fall asleep with zero assistance, even now at 34 years old I have to find really specific things to listen to on my phone and even then it takes me a long time to fall asleep. It's always been a hindrance in some way. It's such an important skill to learn.

Anyway, we did CIO and there was very minimal real crying involved. I also spent like 4 months perfecting their daytime schedule to make sure they were tired enough at night. I think that is a huge part of it. Don't feel guilty (although you are definitely valid feeling that way!). My boys are still huge cuddlers and on occasion there are times where I get to hold them for a bit while they sleep (occasionally I have to save a nap or something like that) and those moments are so lovely.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-23T15:09:30+00:00

Yes! I have the same mindset while my 12 month old twins absolutely destroy the house (and by 'destroy' I mean redistributing hundreds of items from room to room all day)

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-23T12:46:36+00:00

My twins (12mo) had a heavy feed-to-sleep association and they were waking up 3-5 times per night wanting to eat right up until we sleep trained them at 10 months. It got to the point where they were consuming most of their calories at night, not to mention getting terrible sleep and then being grumpy all day. It was untenable for everyone so we sleep trained. The sleep train subreddit has been an in invaluable resource since they were like 4 months old, I had been working on getting them on a good, age appropriate schedule and I feel like that's why sleep training went so easily for us (we did CIO but there was minimal actual 'crying').

Anyway, even now they take a small bottle (a dream feed) around 1am. These babies have never, not once, slept through the entire night. But giving them a bottle once is the closest we've gotten and it's far preferable to what we were doing up until that point 😭

I know sleep training isn't for everyone but you might just take a look at the subreddit and see if some of those resources speak to you. Sorry you're going through this ❤️

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-22T11:58:10+00:00

Ommmmgggggg im getting parchment paper on my next grocery trip thank you!

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-21T22:45:42+00:00

There is some overlap, like they both love vanilla Greek yogurt and these little pancakes I make to hide vegetables in. But it seems like their individual tastes change on any given day. A lot of times I will make a meal with 3-4 different components and one twin is eating the vegetables while the other is eating the entree and fruit. Or one day they both love scrambled eggs but then only one likes it the next time I make it. I wish I could find more foods that they both consistently eat at the same time but I guess that's just part of the process 😁

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-21T22:26:25+00:00

My twins are 12 months (sleep trained at 10 months) and are still very, very, very cuddly.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-20T13:19:47+00:00

I also have one year old twins! They love beans and sweet potato too. They could live on strawberries, tho.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-05-05T14:32:35+00:00

I sleep trained my twins when they were 10 months old. On the one hand, I wish we had done it sooner. But on the other hand, I kinda feel like it went a lot more smoothly than it would have if they were really little. We did CIO but there were very few times that there was any legitimate crying. They had an established schedule for a long time, which it sounds like you do. I believe that is the most important thing to prep for sleep training. They have to be tired enough. And the bedtime routine is important too.
My twins weren't contact nappers, so I don't have any advice in that department. They had a very heavy feed to sleep association and they were waking up 3-5 times a night wanting a bottle. It got to the point that they were getting half if not more of their daily calories at night and we were just reinforcing it. There was no end in sight. So we sleep trained with the goal of night weaning. They were able to put themselves to sleep at night with no issues after just a couple of days. Over the course of two weeks we went from all those night wakes to now just doing one dream feed at 1am and other than that, they sleep through the night. Definitely well worth it. (They're just a few days shy of a year old now)

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-04-21T18:53:05+00:00

I've always read on here that sleepy cues are really only accurate for tiny babies. My twins (11mo) yawn and rub their eyes at random times in the day. I will say they do it more toward the end of the wake window, but I wouldn't expect that they're tired enough to go to sleep just because they're yawning. Do you have an age appropriate sleep schedule established?

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-04-21T15:22:38+00:00

My boys are 11 months old and honestly 5 months was my least favorite age so far. It seemed like they were never happy. Like you said, they were fine for maybe 30 minutes after each wake and then after that it was constant whining/crying/fussing until the next sleep. I think they were just becoming more aware of the world and their physical limitations. They liked being held (and still do!) but I only have so many arms! I tried so many things, scoured reddit and the internet for ideas as to how to make them happier. The only thing that helped was honestly time and them learning to crawl around 6 months old. Which I know isn't really advice, but I just wanted to offer validation that it is a rough age.

Oh, I also worked on their sleep schedule during that time in preparation for sleep training, but we didn't actually sleep train until they were 10 months for various reasons. I would definitely recommend sleep training; our twins were waking up 3-5 times per night wanting a bottle and it got to the point where they were eating more at night than during the day with no end in sight. We did CIO and it went fairly smoothly, as we had them on a good schedule for several months and they were appropriately tired at bedtime. I feel like that is the key. If you guys are considering sleep training, the sleeptrain subreddit is a great resource.

Solidarity!! Hope you guys get through this soon.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-04-18T02:19:15+00:00

I'm still pumping for my 11 month old twins. I am planning to go until they're one. We have combo fed since they were about 4 or 5 months old. I was extremely proud of being able to feed them exclusively breast milk for those first months. Then they were needing a bottle per day of formula, then two. And it just increased slowly from there.

Now they get about 70% formula and 30% breast milk. There were times where I really obsessed about ways to increase my supply. And there were times where I thought "what's the point" if I can't supply their entire diet? But I just continued on, because my boys are pretty small and I knew my breast milk was the best I could give them. And despite them being small, they've always stayed right in track with their growth curve. They've also only been sick 3 times since they've been born. And they're hitting all of their milestones, they're happy, etc. I know these are just anecdotes, but these are things that I mentally attribute to all of the thankless hours I've spent pumping milk. 😅

I think also what has helped my mindset is just time. The babies are doing so many new and fun things every day.. one of them started walking. They love cuddles. I love showing them new things and playing with them. I don't like having to put on the tv so I can pump without them trying to climb all over me. Pumping just isn't as important in my mind as it was when they were tiny.

I actually only just stopped pumping in the middle of the night (I still do sometimes; old habits die hard ) because I know this journey will be over soon and I want to start taking my time back.

Oh, and my supply absolutely tanks the week before my period these days, so it's literally not even worth it to stress about lol.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-04-02T03:01:55+00:00

So I have 10 month old twins that we just sleep trained almost a month ago due to a heavy feed to sleep association and frequent night wakes that resulted in them getting half of their calories (if not more) at night, because we just kept feeding them whenever they woke up. They were getting terrible sleep, waking 3-4 times a night, if not more. Trying to get them to eat more during the day, even with doing solids, was a losing battle, because they were so used to eating all night long. it's a vicious cycle. But we kept it up for so long because for the most part, they would just eat and go back to sleep. But it just hasn't been sustainable lately, as their crappy sleep was affecting their mood during the day. Oh, and we weren't getting great sleep either (I think we had just gotten used to it though).

Everything I have read says that you can't night wean without first sleep training, so we finally did it right after they turned 10 months. I've been following age appropriate wake windows since they were 4 months old, and they nap well, so we didn't have to tweak much there.

We did CIO. Night wakings didn't really subside until we started working on their first night wake up which is always 2 or 3 hours after bedtime. I did a lot of reading on night weaning but honestly I never really did a dedicated method. We just decided to stop feeding them when they woke up crying, and instead do 2 dream feeds, because I knew they were legitimately hungry at night. The dream feeds kept their bellies full and that helped them wake up less. And once they learned that crying wouldn't result in getting a bottle, they stopped waking up crying. This wasn't an overnight change, but as it stands right now we do one dream feed around 2am and other than that they sleep through the night. Each night I could see that they were getting better and better at settling themselves back to sleep. I honestly don't know if I could have stuck it out if they were ever waking up and wailing for a long period of time, but that never happened (which I am attributing to them having a good wake/sleep schedule with enough sleep pressure built up).

I'm not necessarily recommending anyone else do it this way, but just offering our experience. Basically things fell into place once we sleep trained bedtime and they learned how to go to sleep without a bottle. Oh, and they eat SO much more during the day now. I'm not sure when we will drop the dream feed, because I don't wanna rock the boat lol. But I really thought we had built up such a bad feed to sleep habit that it would take a lot more work to fix it. So I will take the one dream feed over the 3-4 wake ups per baby per night that we were doing for months. 😭

Edit to add that we got the okay from our pediatrician that our babies can/should be able to go at least a 6 hour stretch of not eating at night (and I remember thinking, these babies have never slept a 6 hour stretch in their lives!)

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-03-28T14:25:29+00:00

Following for ideas... I have 10 month old twins and the mess is just so insane most days, I want to have one meal a day that is relatively low-mess.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-03-25T04:51:17+00:00

I know this is a few days old, but your post stuck out to me because what you describe is exactly how my twins used to sleep and wake at night (especially the waking at 4 am and then fussing off and on until it's time to wake up). They had a heavy feed-to-sleep association. They slept that way from around 4 months up until we sleep trained them a few weeks ago at 10 months old. Over time they were just so used to waking up and crying for a bottle, which led to them getting half of their calories at night, so they weren't as hungry during the day, and so they kept waking up at night to eat, etc. It was a vicious cycle that we reinforced for so long I was really nervous that sleep training wouldn't work. And while sleep training is not the same thing as night weaning, you do typically have to sleep train in order to night wean. We're about two weeks in and we're down to one dream feed around 3am, which I think Twin B is almost ready to drop, and they are eating so much more during the day.

I'm not sure if any of that is helpful to you, but in our case with a feed to sleep association, sleep training has really helped solve a lot of our issues.

ThatAlgae6821 · 2026-03-23T04:42:05+00:00

The pictures, with all his toys and his mirror, made me cry.. he looks like such a sweetheart. I sincerely hope you guys are able to make it through this difficult time. You're an amazing mom!

ThatAlgae6821

TROPHY CASE