For MOMs by MOMs- Answering Questions

Last week Megan, Heather, Jennifer and myself asked you to leave your questions or topic ideas for us. I am excited to answer and begin talking about the questions that you guys have. I just want to mention that I am in no way a parenting expert. I am just sharing my thoughts and experiences. Please take it for what it is worth. When you are done reading answer these questions on your own blog and then link up!  We would love to hear what you think too!  I hope you enjoy and I look forward to our future link ups and some exciting news in the MOM world!

1.Mary askes, "My twins are almost one year old and into everything. My main problem right now is biting! Any Advice on how to get babes this young not to bite."

We are having this same problem right now with Levi. Because he is still so young I know he doesn't fully understand the concept of no and I also know that he is not biting out of maliciousness. He is just exploring his new teeth. So what I do is tell him no firmly and redirect him away from whatever he is biting. Since we have been doing that it has gotten a lot better. My advice would be to stay consitent and try not to laugh when they do it! (because sometimes I have to hide my giggle)  good luck, stay consistent and let me know how it is going!

2.Brittany asks, "I'm 31 weeks with my twin boys.Did you have any ideas on the personalities of your twins, and if so were you correct? Mine seem so different already."

Yes!! Mine were completely different while in the womb and are comepletely different now. Levi is more headstrong but also the strong silent type. He can be quite shy and takes a while to warm up to people. While in my tummy he hardly moved, was always head down in the same spot!  Emma on the other hand is such a spitfire. When in my tummy she was always in a different position. She hated having her heartbeat checked and was always kicking. Now she is just as sassy.  Does what she wants and does not like to be told no. She is very smiley and doesn't mind new people!  I can't wait to hear how yours turn out!

3.Days of Serenity asks, " Did you sleep train? If so, when did you start?"

It depends on what you mean by sleep train! NO I did not let mine CIO. I am not a fan!  It is a personal decision and it just wasnt for me. But I do work on sleeping but keeping the same routine every day. When they were younger and were consistently waking up every night around 5 we slowly cut out that bottle giving them less and less at that feed!  I try to make their sleep enviroment very conducive to sleep. Their room is very dark with a LOUD sound machine and a fan. Every night we take a bath, read two books, have a bottle, and then go to bed.  Are mine perfect sleepers, no! But I'm content with where we are at this time.  Sorry if I didn't answer this question very well! Good luck and keep me posted!

4. Marianna asks," I'm having twins come November. I've been crazy researching strollers. Which ones do you guys have and what are so me of the pros and cons?"

Congrats on your twins! You are in for a fun adventure! I too researched strollers forever and what I found out was that you want to make it easy on yourself!  When my twins were young and still in infant carriers I had a double snap and go.  I liked it. It was not the easiest to maneouver but it was relatively light and did the job. As they got older and were able to sit up better on their own we decided to get a more everyday stroller. After much research we decided to get a baby jogger city mini double. I love it! I can't say it enough! It is really light and easy to fold!  I love that you can lay one baby down and don't have to lay both down.  The only con is that the basket is not very big or easily accesible. But overall we love this stroller!  Let me know which stroller you pick!

5. Holli asks, "Any tips on potty training? Were you able to train both twins at the same time?  My boys are 18 months and we hope to start around 2ish."

I wish I had some advice!  We are no where near potty training yet. But what I have heard is is it much easier if you wait until they are absolutley ready. Because mine are boy/girl I don't know that we will potty train at the same time! We will try our best but I know that they are different people who have different needs. Good luck and let me know how it goes!


6. Kathryn asks, "I have 6 month old twin girls and they are horrible nappers... any tips on getting them to take better/longer naps."

Mine too are not the best nappers. My advice is to try to have a routine everyday.  They should nap about two hourse after they wake up in the morning and again in the afternoon about three hourse after they wake up from their morning nap.  Be consistent!  Make their room as dark as possible and turn on a loud sound machine. I also about twenty mintues before their nap try to get them to do something quietly! Like read books or play puzzles so that they get calm before their nap.  I think it is also helpful to have them nap around the same time each day. That way their internal clock tells them that it is nap time! Good luck and I hope this helped! Let me know how it goes!


7. The Crunchy Twin Mom, asks "How do you balance treating your twins fairly with treating them as individuals with individual needs?"

Love this question. I have been thinking about this a lot lately!  It can be hard not to think of them as a pair but what you have to realize that fraternal twins are no more alike than regular siblings.  Just because they were born on the same day does not mean they are carbon copies of each other. This has come into play lately for us! Emma is ready to give up her morning nap! Levi is no where near ready. Even though it pains me to not have them napping at the same time I realize that they are different people with their own needs! 

I think as they get older we will defintley make it a priority to get one on one time with each baby.  I think it is also important to let them choose their own stuff! How do you balance this?


8. Blogfriend asks, "how did you name your twins and what were the runner ups?"

When we found out we were having twins we immediately picked out four names;. Two boy names and two girl names complete with middle names!  Our two girl names were Emma Gentry and Callie Jane.  Our two boy names were Levi William and Peyton Dale. We ultimately just felt like we were supposed to name them Levi and Emma. Its funny now because neither of our runner up names are names we would use in the future now! So funny how things can change!  Both of their first names are just names we like but both middle names are family names! I love family names as middle names!


*Ok friends! I can't wait to hear all of your answers to the 8 questions. Go write your blog post and link up!  Next week we will be talking about getting out and about with your twins!

*Please remember if you are linking up your post should be about the same topic as ours! Thank you!