M.O.T. Bits

I have a friend with 9 month old twin girls. She has been breastfeeding most of the time and bottle feeds pumped best milk about 2 bottles a day (she was fortifying her milk because of low birth weight). One of her babies all the sudden refuses to breastfeed. She says for the last few days the baby will not latch on at all and gets really upset when Mom tries to make her. She is ending up having to pump and feed every feeding. It seems a little early for the baby to be weaning herself and my friend plans to breastfeed until 1 year.

Has this happened to any of you? Do you have any suggestions of what she could do? Please leave a comment to help her and any others who may experience the same thing out.

Thanks!

This Video uplifted and strengthened me today. I thought I would share it. As a mother of twins, I have my good days and bad days. I do believe there is help from a loving Heavenly Father if we humble ourselves and ask for it. I was reminded of this today by a lady with 11 kids (no multiples). She is a great example to me of patience and humility. If she can do it with 11, I can do it with 2!

PLEASE ENJOY!

First I must say that I didn’t go to public places with the babies for about 6 weeks as advised by the doctor, but I was told to help prevent or minimize postpartum depression, it was very important to get out of the house. I didn’t struggle with postpartum, but in addition to hormones, going from working full-time, to being at home full-time and having 2 babies constantly dependent on me was hard enough to need to get out of the house. It was nice weather when my babies were born, so I took short walks outside to get fresh air with the babies in the stroller.

Luckily we lived with my mom for the first 4 months so between her and DOT, I had babysitters when I needed to get out in the evening. Even a quick trip to the store by myself was a good and much needed break.

Our first trip in public was to the mall with car seats in the double stroller, with my mom there to help. The rest of this post will talk about ideas of how to go out without any help.

Grocery Store: One car seat on top* of the seat portion of the cart and one in the body of the cart. I wasn’t able to do large shopping trips this way because there wasn’t enough room, so I found my self going to the store often. It’s hard to get out, but nice to get out and sometimes a trip to the store was the only thing I had energy to do.

Since my kids were in this stage, I’ve heard of a few other ways that would have been easier. (That’s why I have this blog for you, so you can learn before and not after )

In addition to putting a car seat on the top of the seat part of the cart, I have seen people put a car seat side ways in the body of the cart and it kind of hangs on the sides of the cart. I’m not sure how safe this is, (see my note below) but this would have given me a lot more space in the cart to put things below the baby, especially when everything was bagged.

My friend with twins takes her Double Snap N’ Go to the store.  She says it has a large basket below so she can put her stuff in there. If she has big shopping trips she can push the stroller and pull a cart behind (or carry a basket).

Another good idea is to have one baby in their car seat on the cart and the other in a baby sling or baby carrier. I had a sling and 2 baby carriers and rarely used them, but I think I could made things easier by using them.

Dr. Offices and other places: As I have mentioned, my double stroller didn’t fit in my old car, so I rarely took it anywhere. Plus there was also places where I didn’t feel comfortable bringing a Limo stroller into. I was often found carrying 2 car seats (one on each arm). I made lots of scenes running into people, walls and trying to open doors, but I did my best. Ah, I’m so grateful for my new car. Again, I think the Double Snap n’ Go stroller is a great idea! What was I thinking when I took mine back? Also, why didn’t I use those carriers more?

I laugh at myself looking back. But I felt like a super mom. May your life going out with Newborn and Infant Twins be a lot easier then mine.

What has worked for you? Please leave a comment below.

*I thought it was normal and safe to put a car seat on the top of the cart. My car seats had the notches under the seat that fit fairly nice on the cart. As I searched on the internet for a picture of a car seat on a shopping cart, I learned that this dangerous and has the American Academy of Pediatrics now warns against using car seats and shopping carts together. Oops! I’m glad that nothing happened to us and I guess I’ll rethink this next time I have an infant.

What is the craziest thing someone has ever said to you about your multiples and how did you respond?

Q:Which one if your favorite? (LOL! I’m going to give people the benefit of the doubt here an assume they are kidding when they ask this.)

A: It changes every day!-The one that didn’t wake me up at 5 am, the one that didn’t throw their breakfast all over the floor, the one that didn’t have a fit when I put them in the car seat, the one that didn’t whine while we were shopping. They seem to take turns doing all this- usually- thank goodness. Of course, I love them both the same, in different ways all the time! They are my babies, and bring me so much joy every day!

Q: “Do you like having twins?” OR “Is it hard?”

A: “Of course it is hard! BUT, of course I absolutely love it! I wouldn’t change it for the world! I was meant to be a  mother of twins, even though I’m still learning how to do it and am not the best sometimes.” Plus, if I said I didn’t like it, I’d be saying I didn’t like my kids.

The next questions were the most common responses by other mothers of multiples to this question of the week. I’ve gotten all of these! I’m posting this because if you aren’t a MOT and have not really thought about these questions, I’ll save you the embarrassment of asking them.

Q: About boy/girl twins “Are they identical?”

A: I usually say “I’m going to wait a minute to respond and let you think about that question. One is a boy with boy parts and one is a girl with girl parts. Do you think that they could be identical? Identical means that all parts are identical.”  I get told a lot, “Wow, they really look identical.” Well, they are bother and sister, from the same parents.

Q: “Are there twins on either side of your family?” People just really want to know how and why you have twins. If  twins run in the family, they think that tells them why we had twins.

A: Quick answer: “Not really.”
Long Answer: “Well, there is a little on my side, but that’s not why we had twins and it doesn’t matter if there are twins on my husband’s side, because an egg splitting in 2, or two eggs dropping has nothing to do with the dad. It’s all the mom.”

Q: “Are they natural?”

A: I want to say:”What do you mean like, organic? Nope, they were chemically treated.” LOL, first of all it’s none of your business. If I feel like giving personal information, I just say “We had a little help.” Still think they are natural.

My Breastfeeding Twins post is posted on one of my favorite blogs, Multiples and More! Go HERE to check it out!

For those of you who have stuck around and been patient with me and my lack of writing, I’m committing to you that I will write more! Motbits is something I am passionate about, it just hasn’t been a priority. As you know being a mother of twins takes up a lot of time!  I’m reorganizing my life and scheduling time to post more on here. I also want to have guest writers, so if you are interested, let me know!!!

Upcoming posts:

Going Places with Newborn Twins
Going Places with Older Infant Twins
Going Places with Toddlers

If you have any input on these topics, send it to me!!! (candice[at]motbits[dot]com)

Please stay tuned!!

I kind of had mixed feelings about getting leashes (I’d rather call harnesses) for my children. Before I got them, I read some opinions online about them. People were saying that parents are lazy or not good parents if they have to resort to leashes. They just said to teach your child to stay by you. Sounds easy, right??  I agree 100% that you need to teach your child to stay by you, so before I went out and bought them, I tried. Does anyone have an 18 month old that understands and let alone obeys when you tell them to stay by you?? What about TWO 18 month olds?  When my twins were 18 months old, they didn’t grasp that concept, and still don’t really at 22 months.

I have come up with many strategies to keep my kids safe from running out into the street while getting them BOTH of them out of the car, safe from strangers snatching them while in crowded public places while I take my eye off them for 1/2 a second to attend to the other etc. I use the double stroller a lot more now (that I got a car it will fit in).

HOWEVER, I did buy these back-pack harnesses to use on the occasion when I feel appropriate.

I’ve only had to use them a handful of times and didn’t pay too much for them, so I don’t feel like they are a waste. My girl doesn’t like it at all. She loves to run around and is not scared of much. When I use them, I still try to have my kids hold my hands when possible, to teach them to stay by me. I DO NOT feel like I am treating them like puppies!!! I just feel like I am doing my very best as a mother of twins to keep them safe with the 2 hands I have.

I am not lazy and my kids are not crazy rambunctious children, they are just toddlers, who are learning that staying by mommy is the safest thing to do. SO PLEASE DON’T judge when you see mothers using leashes!!

Another MOT, Danielle, (who is much more experienced than me because she has 4 children) discovered that harnesses weren’t really necessary until her twins came a long. Check out her post HERE.

NOTE: The ones I bought only have a small pouch to put a treat, binky, or small toy in. I don’t consider it really a backpack. It is good for keeping the leash in when not using it. I found some other cool on Amazon that are actually backpacks. I like the dual purposes. It always helps to have your kids carry some of their stuff, plus if they are wearing a backpack, it might be less noticeable they are harnessed. Here is links to those:

Eddie Bauer Artist Backpack Harness
Dora the Explorer Tether Buddy
SafeFit Girl Backpack with Harness

Without judging us that use them, WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? How do you teach your twins to stay by you? What do you do?

I’ve joined in the Party! It’s so fun to meet new blogging friends, especially other MOTs. Blog parties are a great way to do that. If you want to get to know other bloggers and find other MOTs, join us here.

Click here for more info about me! If you aren’t in to the blog party thing, I’d still love to get to know you! Become a Fan of Motbits on facebook, go to the discussions and introduce yourself.

There are awesome prizes to win at the Blog Party. I’d love:
A $100 gift eCertificate to Restaurant.com, immediately redeemable online at over 13,000 restaurants nationwide.

USC 3 – A $50.00 Target Gift Card.
USC 8 – $55 E-Gift Card for Amazon.com
Prize package of preschool toys!
US72 US 112, 104 73, 74 83, 95

A while back Multiples and More asked the question: How closely do you follow a schedule for your kids? I thought that following a schedule would be very important for all of us! I have tried to follow a rigid schedule from day one. The aspects of our schedule I was the most strict on were sleeping and eating. Of course as the kids have gotten older, I am a lot less strict on the eating and a tad bit less strict on the sleeping, but not much. I will post about the eating schedule soon.

Those aren’t my babies, but isn’t that cute?

Here are my answers to the questions from Multiples and More:

• Do you think that your schedule is conducive to healthy sleep patterns in your kids? As I mentioned in my “Top 5 things every mother of twins needs:#3″ post, when my kids were almost 4 months old, I read the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. It was my sleep bible. (There is now a book for twins!)  I’m so grateful I read this book and I swear by it and know several other mothers that do too. My kids are great sleepers. Since 4 months old they have been sleeping about 12 hours at night minus teething stages, sick nights and an occasional wake up.  Up until almost 18 months old, they also took 2 naps a day. One usually about an 1 1/2 and the other about an hour.One of the keys to obtaining healthy sleep habits, according to Dr. Weissbluth is catching your children before they are overtired. So I have had to be strict about their sleeping schedule. When we were too late on bedtime, it was definitely harder to get them to bed and took a lot longer.
• Do people give you a lot of flack for being a strict scheduler? How do you respond?
  My niece and nephews have quite different sleep habits then my kids. So when we have to leave early from a family dinner to get the kids to bed, I used to get comments from some members of my family. I just responded with “For my sanity and for my kids sanity, sleep is very important to us. Well rested kids are happy kids and happy kids equals happy mom!”

Even Dr. Weisbluth talks about special occasions. There are times when we are unable to keep the kid’s bed time or nap time and I am learning to be okay with that. For the most part, we try not to stray from their bedtime by more than a 1/2 hour.  Their bedtime, in case you were wondering is 7:30.

• Has your routine become more relaxed as your kids have gotten older?
  I think the most crucial time for a strict sleeping schedule is from about 4 months – 7 months. By 4 months (adjusted age) Dr. Weisbluth says babies start developing their sleep-wake schedules.  Since we did develop a healthy strict schedule during that time, my kids are used to about 14 hours of sleep during a 24 hour period.  They are now 21 months old and I’ve been able to be a little more relaxed with our schedule and it happens naturally now.

• How do you kids react when they are completely off their schedules- and how do you get them back on track?
  I’d love to say that my kids are the perfect children who are happy all the time, but although they are great kids, just like their mom, they don’t do well when they are tired.  I hate to be off schedule! I’m usually grumpy when I’m not able to keep the kid’s schedule. That’s something I have to work on. I’m really trying to be more flexible. (That’s a whole new topic for another post).

I wish more than anything that if my kids miss their bed time that would just mean they would sleep in longer. (I’m not a morning person and would love an extra hour of sleep every once in a while.) BUT that is not the case! There are like clocks! They wake up pretty much the same time every morning (between 7 and 7:30) regardless of when they went to bed.  I find the key to making up for a late night, is trying to start the nap a little earlier. Naps usually last a little longer on those days. Then we usually are right back on schedule.

What’s the sleep schedule like for your twins? Have you been successful at getting your twins on the same sleep schedule? What has helped you?

I’ve been asked quiet a few times about how I had the twins sleep: in separate cribs, or just one, if I had them in our bedroom, did we use bassinets etc.? I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while, so forgive me if you’ve been waiting.

The things we did because of our living situation at the time, what felt right, and of course what helped optimize the sleep we all were getting (or not getting ).

Most of the people I knew kept their singleton newborns in their rooms in bassinets for the first few months. I didn’t want to do this. My main reason for not doing this was, when I was sleeping I wanted to get good sleep! I’m a light sleeper and having 2 babies in the room is too noisy! My husband and I took shifts (more info coming) and we thought it was fair for the one that was sleeping to have uninterrupted sleep if possible. So my twins slept in their nursery from day one.

We had them in the same crib for the first 5 months. We didn’t even set up the second crib during that time, so we could have room for a twin bed in the nursery. I slept in the nursery for the first few nights because of the new mommy paranoia I had  (wanting to make sure they were still breathing every few minutes). Later, I used the bed to sit on while I nursed them at the same time.

Having them in the same crib worked well for us. They were in the same womb for 9 months, and I think it brought them comfort to be together. It was important to me to get them on the same eating and sleeping schedules (click here for more on that), so when one was ready to eat, I didn’t mind if the other woke up too! I didn’t feel like them waking each other up at other times was a problem. In fact, I think it has helped them get used to sleeping through the other crying now.

They slept like this until the first month or so (not usually this close, but isn’t that cute?) and then I changed them to sleep horizontally feet to feet .

At about 5 months, I noticed a lot of rolling around during sleep and decided that was the time to separate them into their own cribs.  I thought they might have a problem with this at first, but they didn’t. I think they liked having the room. They were still in the same bedroom and could see and hear each other.

I love having them in the same room, although  it does have it’s drawbacks, and there are times when one won’t go to sleep and I want to let them cry it out, but can’t in fear of waking the other. For the most part, it’s been great. In the morning, or after a nap, instead of waking up lonely and crying, they usually wake up and talk and play back and forth. They love each other’s company.

I know some people have had to separate into different rooms. What has worked for you and why?

I haven’t posted for a long time! We had a busy month of December with the holidays and family things. I wanted to do a quick post, hoping to help you that have to buy double the diapers save and make a little cash.

I’ve learned through the internet that there are several ways to save money buying diapers. Some things I participate in and some I don’t. I thought I’d share a few with you and you can decide what will work for you.

1. Try several brands, even the store brands to find out which ones work  best for your babies. I found that it is not worth it to pay for the most expensive brand. Some, but not all, cheaper brands work just as well. I personally don’t like Walmart (Parent’s Choice) Brand, but know that some parents like it. Target’s  up & up brand gets great reviews. They are so much cheaper then Huggies or Pampers, so if you can find one you like, you’ll save a lot of money.
   My favorite brand is Luvs because it’s usually several dollars cheaper and they work great. I like them better then Huggies because I like the side panels.I think they are the exact same diaper as Pampers (without the fragrance), but cheaper. However, I found that my son was waking up wet in every regular brand we tried (he drinks a lot before bed), so I do buy overnight diapers.
   
2. Use coupons! Coupon.com has coupons for diapers usually once a month. This is where I find Huggies Overnight coupons. They have several good ones up right now!
   If you sign up to “Take a Stand” at Luvsdiapers.com they will send you a coupon. I’ve received a $5 and a $2 coupon a few months ago. You can get diapers for next to nothing when you use coupons paired with store deals. I usually browse through my weekly mail ads for deals on diapers, or there are websites that post them: I follow Babygoodbuys. I do buy Huggies Diapers and Wipes at Costco when the coupon comes out to save on both. (I love the Cucumber Wipes, but usually just buy Kirkland wipes).
   If you  have a hard time getting to the store with  your Twins, Diapers.com has competitive prices and you can use manufacture coupons online.
3. If you like Huggies or Pampers, sign up for their rewards programs. You are buying diapers anyway, might as well be rewarded! With Huggies Enjoy the Ride Rewards you earn points to use in sweepstake drawings and instant win games. Pampers has the Gifts to Grow program to earn points to redeem directly for rewards. Freebies4Mom posts free codes for both of these programs.
4. I’ve been participating in Diaper Studies. It’s been great and this is my favorite way to get FREE diapers and EARN money!!! I’ve been going through a company called Arquest. They are continually looking for moms with babies/toddlers in any size of diapers or training pants. You get about 20 – 140 disposable diapers (or training pants) sent to you FREE in the mail, and then they send you a check for $10 after you complete a quick phone survey.All you have to do is call them, and leave a message with your name, your phone number, your child’s gender and diaper size.

• GIRLS: 1-888-342-7372 ext. 646
• BOYS: 1-888-342-7372 ext. 634
  They will call you when they have an opening. (Be patient, it can take 4 – 8 weeks to be called the first time! But sometimes they will call you right back, the same day!)
  They don’t let you do a study for both babies at one time, but you can do one at a time and have them keep calling you when another study starts.

How do you save money buying diapers? What’s your favorite brand? Please share any tips!