DO keep the telephone number of everyone who responded to your twin pregnancy by saying, “How lovely! They'll comfort each other.” And phone them every hour through the night as your newborn twins compete loudly for attention.
DON'T feel obliged to listen to unhelpful advice dispensed by health visitors. Simply ask, “So you've got twins have you?”
DO prepare yourself for complete strangers approaching you to ask, “Are they twins?” and, “Are they identical?”
DON'T listen to people who look at your twins and say things like, “Twins. Double trouble!” Nobody would look at your singleton baby and announce that it'll be trouble. It's just plain rude!
DO try to breastfeed if you want to. It IS possible to breastfeed twins.
DON'T feel pressured into tandem feeding your twins if breastfeeding. Most midwives encourage this practice but it's not always practical to have both hands tied to feeding babies - who's going to remove the pan from your toddler's head?
DO write down which baby was fed when; and which nappy was changed when. It's easy enough to get confused at the best of times let alone when you haven't slept in days!
DON'T expect your twins to do everything in sync. They are two complete individuals who won't always want to feed at the same time - or sleep at the same time.
DO remember that babies habits are constantly changing. Things never stay the same for long so although things aren't guaranteed to change for the better straight away, they will change.
DON'T listen to people like me! Just go with what feel rights for you - in this case mum really DOES know best.
