New baby or twins – the full guide How to prepare for the birth of twins or the birth of one baby
We have prepared for you, the parents to be, an abbreviated guide to expanding the family whether you are expecting one or two babies.
Here is a short guide that can help you get organized correctly for the first time after a couple of babies join the family in the easy way of the prevalence of the phenomenon (and even triplet) but it is also valid for one baby.
If you’re lucky and you’re looking forward for twins, first of all, you’re blessed.
Even if everyone around you tends to frighten you, know that it is not easy at first, but the sequel carries a happy double joy.
I got an amazing twin girls and they are the second best thing in my life, after my son. It’s been hard at the first years, but now, they are almost 6 years old, and wer’e having a lot of fun together.
The first tip for the mom- Let it go.
Release expectations – from yourself, from the environment, from birth, from breastfeeding, from the family – from your partner.
Life with twins already during pregnancy, are often unpredictable.
Take a deep breath when things do not get along the way you wanted.
This happens a lot during parenting.
Release expectations from your body.
You should thank him for raising a wonderful life inside him.
Even if it looks a bit bloated and full after birth.
Remember that it took your belly nine months to fill up, to stretch and grow and it would take her some time to get back to her original size.
And yes, sometimes there is a chance that this will never happen and your body will be shaped differently, more feminine and rounded.
Accept it with love.
Look at the stretch marks and if you have a cesarean section on the scar.
Even if they look shocking at the moment, the scar will diminish over time and the signs will become clear and transparent over the years.
It is recommended to start applying oil for stretch marks if you do not use anything specific.
FREI OL’s natural treatment oil is excellent for improving and toning stretch marks.
Honor your body.
You will learn to love him anew as he is, and to love yourself for it.
It is not at all obvious to have a single pregnancy or twins and finish with full hands with healthy babies.
Instead, release expectations from the environment and at the same time instead ask and allow yourself to get help.
Be sure to filter out tips from the environment and respond courteously. or not.
Growing twins is not really like raising one child, everything is double, harder, more challenging and more tiring.
A mother who raised one baby at a time will never know what a mother is going through with two babies at the same time during the first adjustment period.
It takes some time to get out of the shock, but their mom and their know what is best for them.
Be assertive and take care of a supportive environment.
If you have a mother or a mother-in-law who puts you into stress just by being in the neighborhood, make sure to get some space from her or You should learn talking and keeping the communication right.
Ask them to respect you, your feelings and your opinions.
If the presence only tires you, ask them to leave.
If you are assertive – before the birth – feel comfortable asking relatives and friends not to come to visit the hospital.
After birth we are swollen, hormonal and painful and all that interests us is to spend quality time of bonding with our baby.
Sometimes after problematic or Caesarean birth, the last thing you want is to see people settling in for hours and interrupting your rest or caring for your baby in private.
Check with your partner that if you feel the need, he will take care of the people and allow you time for yourself.
Tell your guests to visit the house; you will need help and people to help you to release your hands for a few minutes or an hour so that you can shower, eat or rest.
Visitors to the home after birth – especially in the case of twins or preterm infants, certainly before any visit with visitors, ask whether they are sick, cooled, coughed or have been ill recently.
Especially during the winter – do not feel uncomfortable.
If, heaven forbid, people come to your home with a virus or bacteria, your baby or babies will probably get sick too , because their immune system is still very weak, especially without breastfeeding, and they react more severely to any virus or disease.
Save yourself from dealing with sick babies.
Even if the people were insulted and it happened to me quite a few times with close family members, I simply said assertively that they would wait until they felt good.
Especially when there are twins, usually when one is ill, there is a high chance that the other will stick, and so will all the members of the household.
To do list
After the birth of one baby and certainly after twins you have almost no free time, not for home and certainly not for yourself.
Put a checklist on the refrigerator so that when people come to visit and ask for help, refer them to the list.
That will include – prepare portions of dishes, wash bottles, put laundry into the machine, hang, fold, organize the kitchen, do shopping, cook, etc. You’ll learn to get help. Even if you’ve managed alone all your life.
You’ll need these forces later on.
Dealing with your partner after birth
Your partner – Try to maintain pleasant communication and talk about things, the difficulty, the feelings.
Although it is the mother who gave birth, the partner is also part of it and especially after the birth of the first child, he usually finding it hard to find his place in the home and family cell.
Ask him to take part and be involved, talk to him about your needs. Emotional as well as physical and emotional.
Be united.
Now it’s you versus one or two babies.
Both father and mother.
As you remember this point, it will be easier for you to skip quickly over later periods and especially with twins – they will come.
For the partner – If you go back to work, try to talk to your wife two or three times a day, to ask for her health, to see if she has any difficulty in dealing with the baby and she will have that. Try to be caring.
Ask your employer for consideration on the next month, most employers will understand and consider.
When you are on your way home, check her condition, what things to do, how well, did she eat? Had a shower? Did she found the time for Resting?
Try to transcend yourself, come home and take charge even if you are very tired and if you had a busy day at work, your partner was harder.
Trust me.
Send her to a good shower and a short rest. Whether you have one baby, two or three.
Allow her to rest and her own time.
Remember that you sat at work, drank your cup of coffee quietly, ate a hot lunch with pleasure, while she at best case, managed to snack on a sandwich or something light while trying to figure out with herself what to do first and despite the fact of one or two infants who have their needs to fill.
These little things will contribute greatly to the stability of your relationship later on.
If you have other children at home, ask your grandfather, grandmother or friends, to take them for a bit of fun.
However, try to find time to spend time with them one by one, whether it’s taking them with you to the supermarket, talking to them, giving them a place.
Go out with them to the mall for an hour and remember that they too have needs.
If possible, ask parents or family members to help for at least the first two weeks, especially if the mother is required to stay alone with the babies.
Men – do not rush back to work.
A woman after birth and a pregnancy twins need time to adjust to the new routine, whether it is first birth or other children at home.
Try to stay at least two weeks at home if not more.
A woman on maternity leave does not have freedom.
There is work around the clock in caring for a baby or two helpless babies whose needs need an immediate response. And it’s exhausting.
Get out of the pajamas – so what if you’re nursing, feeding, cutting and sleeping all day?
When you wake up in the morning, after they finish eating, wash your face, straighten your hair, dress up, get a little makeup and give yourself back your energies.
It will be more pleasant for you to come back and feel like a person and less like a nanny. It will give you the desire to get out of the house and get some air.
Get out of the house
even if you feel that everything is complicated and crowded and you are tired, take advantage of the days of the sun in the winter or summer and go out with the babies for a ride in a cart outside.
If you have any recent girlfriends or girlfriends, meet them even if it’s coffee at the mall.
Look for classes or meetings of mothers and babies in your area.
Join one of these so you can meet more mothers in the same situation and get some proportion and regain your social skills.
Getting out of the house will do you good and bring you back to yourself.
Going out with your new baby alone
The first time with the baby or babies alone outside the house may seem scary and stressful, but I promise you that you will get used to it and even very quickly.
Arrange the departures from the house for 20 minutes after feeding at least so that they will not be ejected in a car or while in a stroller.
This is precisely the time when they will be tired and want to sleep.
And even if they wake up, stop on the side, take care and soothe. It’s just crying. Don’t panic!
Remember to eat. Especially if you are breastfeeding.
Yes, I know it’s hard, and you’re tired and exhausted. Make sure to prepare food that can be heated in a few minutes in the oven and eat.
If you have friends or family members, who can cook for you and bring you food, use them.
Food such as quiches, meatballs, schnitzels etc. can be frozen and warmed when hungry.
Especially if you breastfeed Douggie to eat as nutritiously as possible. Make sure there are vegetables and fruits in the house,
You can cut them into slices and place in a box in the refrigerator from which you can bite while you are nursing or feeding the little ones.
Feeding twins
Keep a clean record and a table that says about each twin when sleeping, eat, do poop or pee.
If someone else is taking care, make sure they identify who the baby is.
Identical twins – If you have identical twins at an indistinguishable level – do not worry, you will quickly learn to distinguish them even if they are exactly the same, you will find that each child is different. Gestures, behavior, gaze.
But if there is doubt or concern about supplying, you can paint one of the fingernails of one of them , or put socks of a certain color to one of them.
Take care of bottles of boiled water, portions of prepared dishes if you feed formula, or you can pump for the feeding time, give your partner a bottle to feed one of them while breastfeeding the other baby.
Bottle warmer can make life easier especially at night.
Usually, twins are born small and weigh up to 3 kilos should be woken every 3 hours for feeding.
If you see that there is not too much interest or desire to eat, let the baby keep sleeping.
If you got twins, It is recommended to synchronize the babies Regarding hours of feeding and sleep.
When one wakes up and eats, treat him and then awaken the other one, take care of him too, then calm him down, and this will allow you time to rest, or time for yourself.
After they grow up slightly if one of the parents is alone with the babies, try feeding them together at the same time -You can place them on a nursing pillow and hold a bottle in each hand and feed them both.
Joint breastfeeding for twins
If you breastfeed, after breastfeeding is established in each of them, you can try to breastfeed the two babies together.
The best way to do this is to sit on a large bed or armchair, put on your lap a nursing pad or a large thick pillow and just pin them down with your legs by your sides and half on your side.
After you have connected one, connect the other.
It sounds complicated, but with a little practice after a few times, you can do it alone easily.
This will save you the time of feeding and will give you more time for yourself.
After they finish sucking you simply lift them together to the grapples and place one on each shoulder.
If you are using pumped breast mil or baby formula, let your partner take part in feeding, it will contribute to his bonding with the babies.
Try to give your twins one-on-one time with you; they need it.
Medications – check in advance what medications you will need and make sure they are at home:
Ointment for nipples (if you are breastfeeding)
Pain reliever and heat-reducing for little babies
Baby formula – Even if you decide that you are breastfeeding, check for a milk substitute beforehand and make sure you have a box in your closet, in case you are suddenly sick or missing for a few hours, so that you will be home.
You do not want to find yourself in the middle of the night or day with two babies when one of them is ill and start running around in pharmacies and taking what you have and not what you want.
Gases for babies
One of the most common symptoms in newborn babies is gastrointestinal gases.
Because the baby’s digestive system undergoes a process of development and ripening and becomes accustomed to food after it contains only the amniotic fluid during pregnancy, it takes time for the body to get used to it.
Usually, the gases start about two weeks after birth and last up to 3-4 months.
During a gas attack, babies usually with, bend, cry, and their stomachs become very difficult.
Usually, a position where they rest on your hand with your hand under their stomach can relieve the symptoms, as well as a walk in the cart when they lie on your stomach or use a baby carrier and go for a short walk, this will give them relief.
Some babies experience gas more and less severely.
If your baby experiences hard gas, try to change formula and give it a trial period of two weeks to see if there’s any relief, sometimes replacing a compound can do wonders.
If you are breastfeeding, try to change diet – to reduce lactose or things that may cause it to gases such as spicy or too oily food for the body of the baby difficult to digest.
Multiple Emissions – Reflux
If your baby ejects all the food, he has eaten or is not very relaxed and cries after each meal, first try to replace it with formula If the exhaustion or restlessness persists, see your doctor and ask for reflux.
This is a relatively common phenomenon that causes heartburn and food rise, and babies emit whatever they are Eat.
After every meal, try to keep the baby upright for at least 15-20 minutes and not to lie down immediately after eating.
Accommodation – twins
It is recommended to accustom the twins from as young as possible, to fall asleep in their bed and not on their hands.
There are some signs by which one can notice that the baby is getting tired and wants to sleep, at first it is especially after food, this is the moment to put the baby in bed and let him fall asleep alone.
The baby whisperer method worked fine and helped me with my three children.
Babies can fall asleep alone. Remember that.
Even if the grandmother really wants to put the baby to sleep with her hands, ask her not to destroy the baby’s habits, it will pay off later on.
Try to make a regular night’s sleep at a fixed hour – bath, bottle, sleep.
Baby bath
Especially during the winter, keep the room warm to about 28 degrees, so that the baby will be comfortable without clothes.
If you have an oven in the bathroom use it, and if you can not insert a radiator or put the bathroom in a room that can be heated with an air conditioner or oven.
In the evening, after a bath, most babies get tired.
Talk to your baby while you are in the bath, look at him, gently pat him, make sure the temperature of the water is pleasant and not too hot before you Put him or her in the water. Just use a thermometer.
Use bath pillow, which is excellent and comfortable, and baby safe.
Always place one hand on the baby’s body and do not leave it alone for even a second in the water!
After bath time, it is recommended to massage the baby with a hypoallergenic body lotion. This will calm him, connect you and allow his body to relax and fall asleep more easily.
Bath with two babies – If you are alone at home and both are awake, assume that you are more relaxed in the trampoline next to you, or in a cart or crib, so you have eye contact with him.
It is advisable to do the showers in the case of twins when there is another person with you at home, especially in the first two months.
In the cold winter days, if you are alone at home, you can occasionally skip a shower in the evening so as not to challenge yourself with a complex shower.
In the case that one of the babies sleeps and the other is awake, this opportunity can be used to shower it.
When the baby goes to bed, you’re going to eat something and rest.
The house will wait. Everything will remain.
First of all, your sanity is the most important thing!
Especially if you are after surgery or a difficult birth, the body is still recovering from the trauma and needs time to do so.
If you have the possibility of putting cribs into the bedroom, it will be most convenient, especially since they wake up at night often.
If not possible, you can put them to sleep in a separate room.
It is recommended to take care of the intercom if your bedroom is far from their own.
If the mother after Caesarean and nursing, the first two weeks after birth more painful and trying to get up at night because of pain from surgery, so it is recommended that the partner will help and bring the baby to the mother to facilitate it.
It is recommended to use Baby Sense; the device alerts you if there are a short breath and pant with a full intensity that excites both the baby and you.
It is recommended to ventilate the room and not to overheat it – open a small window, for air to enter.
Lack of circulation and too much room temperature are common causes of crib death.
It is recommended to take care of a temperature of 25 degrees. Even in the winter.
Up to 2 months of age, babies usually sleep on demand, and if they are awake at night and sleep a day, it is recommended to consult a sleeping counselor.
If they wake up at night many times and parents find it difficult to find the possibility of a continuous sleep of more than two hours three for a few days, consider asking a grandmother, family member or friend to stay with you for the night to let you sleep and fill batteries especially during the first period and especially if you have a caesarean section.
There are also professional night care people that will allow you to sleep from night to day.
One of the major causes of postpartum depression is lack of sleep.
If the mother is with the babies for many hours without help and without the ability to leave the house or a little time for herself and good sleep quality to regulate the hormonal system in the body,
it may develop postpartum depression and if possible then avoid it in advance with some external help and if necessary pay for it.
And if you’ve already helped, then find for help at home
Especially when there are other children.
Try to make a switch in your mind and take care first of all for the welfare of the mother and father and then for the house.
Nothing happens if the house is messy.
Remember that your other children also need attention.
If possible, bring a maid once a week.
This will make it much easier. Let her wash and fold the clothes of the household.
If you do not have a dryer and have twins on the way, make sure you have one.
It makes life a lot easier.
Hygiene with babies
Make sure you got hygienic gel around the baby so that everyone who wants to touch him will sterilize his hands first.
Ask anyone who wants to hold your baby or babies to disinfect their hands.
You have no idea where their hands were or what they touched, and you do not want these things to feel your gentle baby.
Always place on the people who take your baby a flannel or tetra diaper.
Smoking people
make sure to ask them to smoke outside the house, probably not with babies, and then give them a flannel diaper to put on themselves before they hold the baby because nicotine is absorbed in clothes.
You do not want your baby to breathe it.
Do not feel uncomfortable.
Dust in your house
If there are carpets in the house, be sure to pump them thoroughly at least once a week or get rid of them for the first few months and even when the baby crawls at home.
Carpets are naturally dust aggregates and respiratory tracts of very tender and tender babies.
Clothing and accessories for twins
Be attentive to operations.
Join the mailing list of clothing stores, baby products stores, and Pharm stores to get updates on baby products.
You can buy as needed when you have specials and then buy stocks in products like pacifiers, diapers, formula. Etc.
Check out all the cheaper diaper brands when you start diaper.
Today, most companies are on the same standard, and sometimes savings of another 3-5$ can be saved for a diaper package, which is translated into thousands of dollars during the first two years.
Disposable diapers or Reusable cloth diapers
you may consider using cloth diapers. At first, it’s a bit cumbersome, but when you practice, it’s convenient, and you can save thousands of shekels here every year.
Second-hand baby equipment
Since when it comes to one baby requires a significant amount of clothing, when there are two, everything should be double.
Ask friends or even advertise on Facebook that you are about to give birth and be happy to receive clothes, trampolines, baskets and whatever equipment you can get or borrow for the babies on the way.
Of course, this applies to one child as well.
Think that your babies will use most of the first-year clothes for a period of two to three months, so if you can save the purchase of dozens of items of clothing, at least underwear, why not?
Baby stroller for twins – Twins stroller
A second-hand twins stroller is not a dirty word. You can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Many parents purchase twins stroller that does not necessarily fit their actual uses, or they pass
The needed stroller is more comfortable and more straightforward to use, and after a few months, most parents prefer to sell the luxurious, large, heavy and expensive wagon and buy some light twin stroller which is more comfortable to use.
There are plenty of twin prams in excellent condition on eBay or Amazon; you may want to consider this option to save.
Do not worry, with twins you will have quite a few expenses in the early years. Save wherever possible.
Purchase of child seat from second hand – If you decide to purchase it from someone check that it has less than three years in use, that it has not been hit or damaged in an accident, God forbid.
You can find many double products in the lucrative group of twinning parents. Most of them will be happy to sell them at the end of use because it takes up space at home.
Most parents use the light baby car seat until 6-12 month, so you can find a whole new situation and save a few hundred more dollars that can help you with home help or help with baby care.
In conclusion
The first six months of raising a baby or twins is quite challenging. After they get used to and relax with time, you can develop a routine for them and a routine that will allow you more breathing space.
Around six months of age, it becomes easier when the baby wants to spend time on the floor and begins to explore his environment.
Around the age of 4, there is already a significant relief, and it is important to remember to enjoy the road and how you have been privileged parents and that many people do not get it.
Whether you have one or two children, remind yourself of the difficult moments how long you have been waiting to meet them,
How much you yearn for this pregnancy and how much it is not obvious that you have a healthy child in your hands and remember that everything passes.
