News: Coping with Multiples
By Marion Smith
This is something every mom who is expecting multiples wonders about. How will she cope?
SAMBA conducted a survey with it members in July 2009 and these are some of the interesting responses.
The top three items that moms said they required to cope with multiples where a twin pram / stroller, a dummy and an excellent helper. Husbands where a very close 4th on the list.
The majority of families make use of paid help in the form of a childminder and a night nurse.
When it came down to entertaining the babies or toddlers the favourite toys are rattles, books, play gyms, balls, push bikes and soft toys. The moms said that they never leave home without a nappy bag, extra dummies, wet wipes, a pram and snacks.
For time away from their children most moms go and watch a good movie with a friend, read a book or catch up on lost sleep. These moms advised new moms to take the birth of their multiples one day at a time and accept that people are curious and ask seemingly ridiculous questions. Ensure that you find good helpers especially for night time. They also suggested keeping a log book of everything the babies do and lastly read as much as possible about multiples.
New parents are advised to equip themselves with a first aid course, invest in a decent pram, never turn away family assistance and have a sense of humor. They also noted that you do not need 2 of everything to cope.
As modern moms 99% used disposable nappies and 1% made use of toweling nappies. The toweling nappies save a lot of money, are healthier for the environment but the moms did not enjoy the cleaning aspect.
More than half of the moms prepare their daily bottles and keep them in the fridge as formula can store for up to 24 hours. One mom did note that she was advised by a pediatrician that this is better as freshly made bottles still have bubbles in them and this causes gas in the babies. It was recommended that one should have around 6 bottles per child.
Lastly we asked what things moms had purchased and where a waste of time for multiples. They said that the baby slings where not worth it because you can only carry one child and when the baby falls asleep one cannot put it down without waking it up. They also said that the baby baths where not worth it but the Kango bath seats where great. A few moms mentioned the “cute “shoes as the babies out grow them so quickly.
