Born In January &/or February '05

[double dip]

Hi, I just wanted to start a new thread for all of us who have twins around 3-4 months. What are your twins up to? The latest for mine seem to be they have developed salivary glands so they have a little bit of spit they don't quite know what to do with! Mine hate tummy time - so no rolling over yet Well gotta go, it's midnight & I expect my second girl to wake at any moment for her night feeding. They both still wake 2-4 times per night for a feeding

[JustAnna]

Hi!
My twins were born on the 31st of January and are now almost 4 months old!
It is unbelievable how fast time is going by!
Both Sebastian and Julia Belle are doing great and have been sleeping through the night since they were 6 weeks old.
I am soooooo glad since I have 3 older children, and I am running around like a headless chicken most of time!
I would LOVE to hear how other mothers are doing!!

[Mommy to Five]

Hi!
I have February babies, but they are still getting up once during the night. They go to bed around 9:30 pm and can sleep anywhere from 5-8 hours, depending on how much they have napped during the day. Their nap schedules are not synchronized, but amazingly, they eat around the same time and they go to bed at the same time. I breastfed for the first two months, but I recently weaned. They are still sharing a crib, but they outgrew their miracle blankets (they always get their arms loose now).

Anna, I know what you mean about running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I have three other children so I don't sit all day (one of the reasons I had to stop breastfeeding) - especially since the 2 and 4 year olds want to play outside all day. At least the weather warmed up here so I can put the babies in their stroller and let them watch their sisters play outside.

My girls were born Feb 8th, they are only 7.5 weeks corrected. They are just now really able to hold their heads up consistently and can push up on their arms sometimes when on their tummies, They have been rolling off their tummies since around their due date.

Breastfed exclusively, they are still eating every 3 hours at night, about half the time they skip a feed, but not always on the same night. They are pretty sychronized most of the time.

Right now sleep is, of course, our number one battle. They sleep in infant rockers during the day, unless they nurse off to sleep, which happend rarely and require a great deal of soothing and assisstance to get soundly asleep. They sleep with us at night. I want to get them in the crib so when they get to 4 months corrected I can let them CIO...I am actually looking forward to it b/c I often spend at least 8 hours a day trying to soothe them off to sleep and it is exhausting. The whole house is way overtired.

[lianne]

Mine have recently found their hands too and the drooling is ridiculous! Between that and the spitting up these kids are constantly in bibs. Otherwise we are doing well. Had a terrible first few months fighting different formula issues, reflux and gas. Now it seems like we've finally turned a corner on those eating issues. And once they hit 13lbs they started sleeping 8hrs a night which was great. I'm hoping this new trend of eating and sleeping better continues.
Looking forward to hearing about others are experiencing in this age group too!

[MamaPea]

Thanks for starting this thread, Double Dip! It's fun to read about what everyone else's babies are doing at this stage. Addie and Greta are about 3 1/2 months old, and have just recently started sleeping through the night. Hooray! They're still breastfed exclusively, and that has been a challenge. Greta is a very fussy eater, so it's a battle at every feeding. She's our tiny one - now weighing only about 9 lbs, while her sister is about 12 1/2 lbs and eating great. Greta is very healthy, but it's frustrating because I want so much for her to catch up to her sister in size, and I can't see how she ever will with these fussy feedings! Otherwise, they are both doing great. They are smiling like crazy now, and both had their first laughs this month. What a heavenly sound. We still never know when we're going to get a giggle out of them; they've each only done it a handful of times. Can't wait until their laughter becomes a more common sound around the house!

[fitz]

Our guys were born on February 7th, and like everyone else's babies, are constantly changing...

They can both roll over, and have been able to do so for the last month, but don't do it often. Luka has just begun pushing himself up into little backbends (but only when he's naked during diaper changes, for some reason )

They're now typically sleeping 11-hour stretches at night and wake up in the morning all smiles. Daytime is less predictable; today Leo wanted to do nothing but snooze, whereas his brother was into everything we were doing.

They seem to be great mimics; each has had consistent -- but I'm sure completely accidental -- first words that they've repeated in the correct context. That is, Leo seems fond of saying "hi" to people, and does it beautifully (usually followed by some friendly spitting up...). Luka seems entranced with the sound of "okay" and if you end any sentence with a questioning "okay?" he'll respond with a tiny "okay..." My chin was on the floor when he did it twice in an hour...

Luka's better at holding up his noggin than Leo, and also enjoys his tummy time more. Leo's the bigger of the two, just by a bit, but always begins whining sooner about being on his tummy.

They actually laughed before really smiling--the laughing started at about one month, and the smiling really became consistent at about 8 weeks.

Their eating had become difficult, taking forever, but thanks to the advice of someone on the board, we switched to fast-flow nipples and they've been a lifesaver! Now a 6-oz. bottle takes just about 20 minutes and there's plenty of room for awake time AND naps.

bump.....

don't want this thread to dissapear.....

where are you mamas?

what's going on?

[double dip]

For the first time, we all went out to eat in a restaurant.

First I nursed them at home. We left, all the good shopping is about an hour away. We stopped at Babies R Us to exchange a gift item for a different size... they were so good. Then it had already been 2 hours so we nursed again in the car. Then we all went out to eat at OCharleys! They were great...about half way through we had to take them out of their carriers and hold them on our lap as we ate. Our babies never nap when were out, they're always alert, so we were nervous if they'd be cranky. All went well, just thought I'd share.

Gabriella is still sucking on her bottom lip, it's really quite cute. Savannah gets so excited when you talk to her. She oohs & ahhs back like she's trying to tell you something important :p Both girls constantly suck their hands and have now started chewing their bibs. (They have to wear bibs all the time - they spit up a lot.)

Still working on getting them more tummy time so they can develop more muscles to roll over. We put together their exersaucer and each day they get 5 minutes in it. It helps them hold their head up & the novelty of it is nice for them & for me!

_______________________________
Kristin mom to Gabriella & Savannah born 1-24-05
now a happy, but exhausted SAHM (used to be a middle school Spanish teacher & help manage our ice cream store)

[fitz]

Double dip, wow! I never thought of using the exersaucer this early to help them with holding their heads up. Luka does a great job but Leo's more wobbly, and tummy time is hard on him because he's still a really big spitter. Anyway, we'll have to pick one of those up for ourselves...

Ours have begun chewing their bibs, too, and while they've been rejecting pacifiers really strenuously for the last month or so, now they seem interesting in using them and holding them in with their hands. (They don't quite seem to have figured out how to get their fingers into their mouths, yet.)

It is really fascinating to me that my girls seem to be doing exactly what all these other babies are doing, and in some cases more. They were 5.5 weeks early and their corrected are is noly 8 weeks.......maybe I don't really need to correct it. I will have to talk to the doctor about this when we go on wednesday.

We are going for our vaccinations! The doctor put us on a partially delayed schedule b/c the girls were early.

[MamaPea]

Double dip, congatulations on your successful trip to a restaurant! Was it a sit-down, order from a menu kind of place?? DH and have yet to brave that one. We have taken the girls a couple of times to fast-food restaurants, and a wings place down the street where you order at the counter, then sit wherever you want and they bring the food to you. Basically, our criteria has been, the restaurant has to be loud enough to muffle any fussing, and we have to be able to get up and leave easily if necessary. I've been too nervous to go to an actual sit-down restaurant. Our babies are like yours, and rarely sleep when we're out. Maybe we'll just have to be brave and give it a try sometime soon! My other question is, were you able to enjoy a meal to yourselves, or were people constantly staring and asking you about your twins? :p

Eden/averymum, let us know how the vaccinations went. I'm curious to hear, as we are also on a delayed schedule and haven't had any shots yet. How did your girls do, and are they showing any side-effects?

[MomtoA&S]

I'm so glad this thread was started! My boys are 4 months old. And I've been dying to find out if what they are doing at this point is similar compared to other babies. They are sucking on their hands and drooling constantly. AT first I thought this was the start of teeth but I think it's too early???? Anyway, they are eating pretty well. I started giving them rice cereal from a spoon twice a day after their 9am and 5pm bottles because they seemed hungry. They were screaming all day so the doctor recommended I do this and it has helped 100% thank GOD!

They are babbling pretty good, responding to me saying "gooooo" and smiling a lot. Every once in a while I get a small giggle.

They've been sleeping through the night for about a month now. We give them an 8 ounce bottle around 9pm and they usually drink about 7 oz. They sleep until about 5-6am, which is great.

Not so much into the tummy time. Anybody have suggestions on how to get them to enjoy it? They aren't rolling over yet but are getting onto one side and laying there for a while.

Their nap schedule is pretty good. Their big nap is usually 2-5pm every day. However it is always in their swing and I'm wondering if I should try to transition them to their cribs for their nap. I'm just afraid they won't sleep as long and I really enjoy having 2-3 hours to myself. Can anyone relate?

[MamaPea]

Mom2A&S - how did it go introducing rice cereal to your babies? I have been thinking about asking the doctor about starting one of my girls on cereal soon. My twins will be 4 mos. old in a couple of weeks - a little on the early side to start on cereal, but I'm concerned that she's not getting enough to eat, as she's a fussy nurser. Did you have a hard time getting your boys to take the cereal? How long did it take before they seemed to get used to/like it?

Also, with regards to tummy time... my girls also hate it. But on Babycenter.com tonight, I read a few good suggestions on how to get your babies to do it. I'm planning on trying these out over the next few days:

1. Prop the baby up on a boppy pillow so her arms hang over. (This way her face isn't in the floor.) Put some toys in front of her.
2. Do "Daddy chest time". Daddy's chest is much preferable to the floor, and my girls will endure being on their tummy much longer when they get to play w/ Dad!
3. Do "Super Baby". Support baby's belly and chest with your hands and lift her over your head like superman. This way they're still working those neck muscles to keep their heads up, but they're not flat on their stomachs.

[fitz]

Good tummy time suggestions, MamaPea!

By the way, we started our guys on rice cereal today at 14 weeks. I called our ped's office to complain that both babies were now devouring 6-ounce bottles and then waking not much more than an hour later, absolutely starving. It totally destroyed their nap schedule...

He gave us the go-ahead to give them up to two teaspoons of rice cereal each per day, and they had their first bottles of it tonight. Just a couple weeks ago we'd switched to faster nipples, so everything went just fine, and both babies are sound asleep now. My mother's urging me not to let them get dependent on eating it from the bottle, so we're going to try them using a spoon tomorrow and see how it goes... They've already taken their Gripe Water from a spoon and liked it, so I'm hoping for a good result. However they take it, though, I'm just hoping it'll keep them satisfied for longer than the formula was, since that just wasn't working any more!

Donna

[double dip]

Hey y'all!

First to respond to other posters:
the restaurant we went to was O Charleys... it's kind of like a family friendly version of Applebee's. And we were able to enjoy our meal. Two people stopped to ask us about the girls, we responded it was our first time out to eat with them so we'll keep our fingers crossed & that was that, they didn't keep us with any stories or anything!

Thanks for some more tummy time suggestions!

I asked Dr. Rachel about giving rice cereal to space out their day schedule & nap schedule & she responded o.k. I have my 4 month dr. visit next week so I'll talk it over with their ped. & maybe start it next weekend.

My husband & I had a busy weekend... we went to Atlanta with the girls (about a 3 hr drive) and back on Saturday...my husband had business to do there so we decided rather than stay home alone all day we'd go. Also we'll be driving to Wisconsin soon & we wnated to see what we might expect from the girls. The drive to Wisconsin is 14-16 hours depending on traffic. It went ok... that night they slept their first 8 hour stretch!!!

Sunday, we sold our other car & drove to Memphis to meet the buyer (who was from Arkanas) and finalize the sale. It was a 5 hour drive there & back. In Mephis we actually rented a hotel room for 2 hours to get the girls out of the car & play.. we had brought their leapfrog bouncy seat & their floor jungle gym. It went ok...that night they slept their 2nd 8 hour stretch!!!!

Yesterday we stayed home... they only slept a 7 hour stretch (7:30-2:30) & then woke again at 5 am and then at 6:30 am.

Hope all is going well with everyone. Today the girls have their first "playgroup" with other twins from our local twins club. I'm excited to see how they respond & I'm excited to get out of the house!!!

[MomtoA&S]

MamaPea,

The pedi had told me a couple of spoonfuls a day. This was a couple of weeks ago so they were about 14 weeks when I started it. What I did was at their mid-morning bottle and late afternoon bottle, poured an ounce of formula into a bowl and mixed some rice in. Now I do a tablespoon but to begin with I wasn't doing that much because I made it really thin. It didn't take as long as I thought for them to get used to it. I would probably say within a week they were opening their mouths to take the spoon. Now they do great. In fact, yesterday at their late afternoon bottle, they were both biting on the nipples (I give them a 4-5 oz bottle before the cereal) indicating to me that they only wanted the cereal. They each drank about 2 ounces and as soon as I put them in their car seats(that's how I feed them the cereal while I'm sitting in between them) they were looking for the spoon and ended up doing great. It truly has made a huge difference in their demeanors during the day.

Thanks for the suggestions on the tummy time. A couple of weeks ago I did try the boppy trick but they weren't really into it. So I'll make another go at it!

4 Month Check up tomorrow - we're all excited to see how much they weigh!!!

Jen,
We are going to the doctor tomorrow too, I am guessing my girls have passed 10lbs for sure. I am going to get my dh to scan some photos into the computer so I can post them for you guys, they have such lovoly fat faces, it is nice b/c they were such skinny little weenies when I brought them home.

No rice cereal for us for a while yet, we aren't even 2 months corrected. Jen, you boys were born at the same gestation as my girls, do you do everything on a regular schedule?

I can't believe everybody's babies are sleeping so much better than mine. I'm so frustrated, we are still so sporadic. Both girls were up at 730a.m., Eden slept 30 min. in the stroller while we took ds to school then they both went for a nap at 10, Eden was up at 1045 and back down at 1230 (after 45 minutes of rocking etc.) But Avery is still asleep from 1000, now it is 1pm.

Everything is all over the place, we are still nursing and sleeping on demand. Thank goodness night sleep is organized, we finally get to sleep between 930-1100pm and stay asleep (waking to nurse of course) until 7-8am, they usually do a 5-6 hour stretch.

I guess it's just time...but when we get around 14 weeks corrected or so....I'm going to do CIO for sure. Actually dh is going away for 4 days around June 18, They will be 3 months corrected, I might do it then when he isn't here to interfere.

I'll update you after the MD appointment.

[MomtoA&S]

Kristen,

I pretty much am doing everything on a normal schedule. My boys have seemed to catch up to their corrected age pretty quickly. I mean, I still think there are some things that a "normal" baby would do at this age that they aren't but nothing significant. Plus, I feel like they are just telling me what they want and need and it seems to coincide with their age. Isn't it weird how babies tell you what they want???!!! I felt I was trying the cereal way to early but they responded really well to it.

Their sleeping habits are great which helps 100%! I'm starting to try to give them their final bottle at night a little earlier every night (maybe 15 minutes here and there) to see if they will adapt to it and still sleep as long. Of course, last night they were up from 12:30-2 and we just had to let them cry themselves to sleep. It was awful but they eventually did. I just knew they weren't hungry, they did 6 and 7 ounces at 8:45pm.

Good luck at the doctors, I'll let you all know what they say for my boys. Hopefully, come tomorrow, we'll be trying a little fruit with the cereal!!

[MamaPea]

Ugh. Kristen, the way you feel when you read about other babies' good sleep schedules is the way I feel when I read about other babies' good eating habits! :o I'm getting so discouraged about my little Greta. She was 4lb. 11oz. at birth, and her sister Addie was 6lb. 9oz. Early on, Greta did a great job nursing and gained weight like crazy - each appt. at the ped. confirmed that both girls were gaining over 1oz. per day. For many weeks now, however, Greta has been having a terrible time eating. She fusses and cries (ok, screams) and comes off te breast often during feeding. I think it's reflux, and she's been on Zantac to treat it. Since she's been taking her medicine, the extent of the crying /screaming seems to have improved, but she still stops eating after only a few swallows and has to be relatched again and again. When we give her a bottle (which we do when out in public or when my mom babysits), she drinks 3oz. at the most. Yikes, is that all she's taking in when she nurses, too?? I'm guessing she weighs only 9lbs. So much smaller than her 12lb. sister, who eats like a champ every time.

Our 4 mo. checkup isn't for another 2 1/2 weeks, so I'm thinking about taking Greta in for a weight check today or tomorrow. That way I can avoid the copay (our ped. lets us drop in for a free wt. check whenever), and see how she's doing. If the ped. is concerned about her weight, we can discuss options. Like adding cereal, changing her reflux medicine, or ???? Sigh... I just can't believe it when I hear that some of your babies are drinking 7oz. bottles! Okay, now that I vented that, I need to qualify it by saying that it is dangerous for us to compare too much. :p This board is meant to be a place for us to be encouraged by other moms' adventures, not feel bad about how our own babies are doing. I'm trying to get a grip....