u/Independent_Plan5006

Okay guys, how are we putting twins to sleep during the day by ourselves? Almost 6 months (4.5 adjusted).

It's fine when my husband and I are teaming up on weekends, but our nanny and the grandparents are struggling to get both to nap when they're watching the girls alone. Basically they require some rocking and shushing to go to sleep, but the other twin is being ignored and cries a lot during this process. When they feed to sleep on the twin z it's great, but often they don't anymore. Stroller also works but sometimes it's just too hot in the middle of the day. They hate their bouncers now, don't like the swings, and only like independent play for a short while. Give me all of your tips, tricks, methods, I don't care how unhinged! Either for keeping one entertained while the other gets rocked or ways you managed to soothe both to sleep simultaneously.

Note: no sleep training recommendations please, it's just not a route we will be taking!

Okay, I need some advice from people who have been able to figure out what foods trigger your breastfed babies gas. I have 5 month old twins who have had a few spells of intense gas pain and I can't seem to figure out what to avoid!

What happens: it's worse at night, they'll wake up from asleep and scream so loud, arching backs and stiffening their legs, usually an able to get a lot of gas out and sometimes I can calm them back to sleep or we end up having to feed them. This continues every hour or so all night and for several days at a time. They prefer being upright when this goes on. During the day they alternate between happy and playful and then doing the same screaming with belly pain episodes. No rashes, no blood/mucus in stool, decent amount of spitting up though.

Things I already don't consume: dairy, eggs, meat. I tried cutting out soy and they got better but I have eaten so much of it for months now it would be strange to only have them react to it now? But then with soy still cut out, it happened again, unless I had an accidental exposure. Things I ate around the time of the latest episode: coffee, coconut, sesame seeds, broccoli, cabbage, onion, potatoes, lentils, spicy foods, idk so much stuff that's all part of my regular diet!!! I always drink cold brew but I had espresso this weekend, I know that's more acidic?

Also: they are on Pepcid, going to try omeprazole though

Has anyone had babies with these symptoms and been able to figure out a trigger food I can try eliminating? Any possible irritants I didn't mention? Thank you!

Could really use some advice from people with twins, especially older ones! We are super torn between staying in our current home or buying a new house, and I'd love some perspective from people with older twins on which things are truly helpful or what they recommend prioritizing! Ultimately a lot of this is personal preference but I'll take whatever anecdotal experience you may have to offer :)

Currently living situation: we live in a small 3br home in a cute neighborhood in a major city, within the city proper. One bedroom is ours, one is a home office for WFH husband, one room is baby room (5 month g/g twins). Not enough room for full sized cribs, so they have midi-sized cribs, they're rolling so there's some hitting of the bars going on. No room to play in the nursery either. Living room is currently where we feed/play/exist, also where my 2 old dogs hang out (one is blind and need supervision to not step on babies, one can bite and needs supervision from babies- definitely worried about what this looks like once they crawl/walk/grab at things), ALSO where my husband sleeps with the blind dog because he likes to try to walk off the bed in the middle of the night 🫠. So yeah, cramped. We do have a finished basement but it's full of storage and boxes and I don't love the idea of making kids play in a dark basement without natural light. Small yard, but a yard nonetheless. We love taking the babies on walks in the stroller, our streets are not through streets so low traffic, and in walking distance are coffee shops, parks, playgrounds, the library, shops, etc. We also bike a lot of places from our house and would get bike seats for the babies when they're older. Lots of kids on the block, we are friendly with all our neighbors, and generally like where we are. Other perks: close to my sister, only about 15 minutes from downtown, close to lots of areas with community events, art, museums, etc.

House we are looking to buy alternatively is in our home town, about 35 minutes outside of the city and much more rural. It has a ton of space, a home gym, big carpeted family room for play, huge tranquil yard and privacy, storage space galore, and can have separation between kids and dogs. But no neighbors closeby, and it's on a more main road so it's not walkable at all (no sidewalks around). Also, a lot more home to maintain and with twins I'm sure we will be stretched thin on chore time for a while still. Of course there's parks and amenities in the area too but not walkable, driveable. However, it's about 1 minute down the street from my mom, about 5 minutes from his mom, and about 5 minutes from his sister, who will likely have kids soon- cousins for the girls. Good school system also whereas where we live now is not. We also have more friends in this area with kids to do playdates with. I imagine it will be way easier to have a family member pop over when we need someone to watch the girls on a whim vs now we have to plan things well in advance. We would also have space to live our lives at night when the girls go to bed whereas now we have to tip toe around because the house is so small and noise carries.

TLDR: I guess this is just a long winded way of asking what twin parents find is of most value? Urban activity, walkability, more exposure to public spaces and parks? Or home play space, nature to explore, and proximity to family/baby sitters. Have you made it work in a tiny house and had no regrets? Do you love having family super close or does it not help you as much as I think? Help me 🙃