Twinkle Mummy Dispelling Breastfeeding Myths
The featured blogger this week is Twinkle Mummy! Twinkle Mummy is the proud MoM of 18 month old twins, Spud and Sprout. The ever lovely Twinkle Mummy is also one of our many bloggers from the UK!
What made you decide to start a blog?
I won a competition run by Dispelling Breastfeeding Myths (http://www.mythnomore.blogspot.co.uk/ ) .The prize a free nursing bra and home fitting. Karen from Boobiemilk (https://www.boobiemilk.co.uk/) came to my house to do the fitting. Karen was in the process of setting up the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt and she asked if I would like to write something. Fear crept in at the mere thought but I’m a breastfeeding mother of twins so I’m used to a challenge. Whilst I was struggling to nurse Spud to sleep and he was in fits of giggles because he was trying to stick his finger up my right nostril, I thought what the hell I’ll give blogging a go.
Were you surprised to discover you were pregnant with twins?
Due to some early complications, our first scan took place when I was six weeks pregnant. We drove to the hospital praying for a baby but unsure if there would be one. What a shock it was when not one heart was seen on the ultrasound monitor but two little hearts pumping away. Hysterics ensued. We sat in the waiting room, waiting for our notes to be typed up. Another couple overheard our excited talk about our Twinkles and the women leaned over and whispered in the man’s ear “God I hope we don’t have twins”. The magnitude of our situation had not hit home.
You mentioned to me that you are passionate about breastfeeding, what are some tips you can offer Moms of newborn multiples in regards to breastfeeding?
Get support; visit your local breastfeeding support group and local twins club.
Have lots of skin to skin contact with your babies.
Sometimes you just have to say no to visitors.
One thing you can do to make life a little easier is to get a basket and fill it with snacks, a bottle of water, breast pads, muslins, phone, tv remote and anything else you may need so you have everything within reach whilst you are breastfeeding.
Just take one day at a time. Milk production all works on supply and demand so just feed, feed, and feed.
What has been your greatest accomplishment in your first year as a mother of twins?
Breastfeeding Spud and Sprout has to be my greatest accomplishment. I never dreamt it to be possible. At times, it has been incredibly difficult and at other times it has been the most beautiful experience. We have just taken one day at a time. When we have struggled, we just took one feed at a time. It was so emotionally and physically demanding in the first few months. At the time, of course, it seemed never ending but in reality it was such a short amount of time in the big scheme of things. Once we settled in to a routine and the twinkles became efficient feeders, breastfeeding became easier and it seemed crazy to stop just as it was becoming enjoyable, especially after what we had been through.
Spud and Sprout are now 18 months old. Breastfeeding is our time together. I am the only one that can offer them such comfort and nourishment and I have no plans to take this away from them anytime soon.
What would you do with an additional hour in your day (without kids, of course)?
I’d curl up on the sofa with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.
What question(s) do you have for the other families in the community?
As I have mentioned Spud and Sprout are 18 months old. When they kick a football, they shout ‘GOAL’ which is accompanied by hands being thrust into the air. Spud says ‘Out’ and they both say’ Hello’ and ‘D’ which can stand for Dad, Duck and Dog depending on the situation. I read that by 18 months they should be able to say 10 words and understand the link between the word and the subject. I understand that twin language development can be delayed.
So my questions for the other families in the community would be
At what age did your twins start talking? And what were there first words?
Be sure to leave your answer to Twinkle Mummy’s question in the comment section and then head over to Twinkle Mummy to leave some bloggy love!
My twins are 20 months and really only started talking a few months ago. Baby A definitely talks more than Baby B, but B seems to understand and comprehend questions better. It’s also not very easy to understand B because she’s just not interested in forming complete sounds and tends to say the end of a word instead of the beginning. As much as I would love for them to speak more clearly and more often, I have to continually remind myself that “normal” speech has a wide range and they’re fine.
Thank you for your comment. I think the twinkles are beginning to make more sounds rather than words. They will say “Oof Oof” for Dog and ‘Mmmmmm” for cow. I’m pleased they are making the connections and they seemed to understand a lot of what is being said so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.
I can’t recall which month they started, I know that my son was more delayed in communication than my daughter. They started signing around 10 months. Watching the Signing Times video helped my son figure out the purpose of communication and learn words and phrases. I think they were chatty by 21/2 and now at 4 are crazy talkative.
Thanks for leaving a comment.
I haven’t thought of signing before. Is that Makaton or is there different signing for babies?
Our girls said their first word, aside from “mama” and “dada” at about 15 months. I remember our pediatrician asked if our girls knew 5-10 words at their 18-month checkup. I was confident in Baby B, but A was a real stretch at that time.
By the time the girls were 21 months, though, they were saying all sorts of words. And they were saying plenty of short sentences by 2 years. I think by that time, the average range is 50-200 words, and I thought our girls were easily on the upper end of that spectrum.
I say all that to say, the range of “normal” is huge…and development – for us – has seemed to come in big spurts at times. I might be ever-so-slightly concerned one week, and laugh at myself by the time the next week rolled around.
It sounds like your boys are definitely heading in the right direction. But…trust your gut. If you ever have questions or concerns, it never hurts to address them with your pediatrician. Best of luck!
Since being the Featured Blogger last week I’ve really been noticing the twinkles language and I think they are trying to say more words than I gave them credit for. Just today Sprout has said Fish which sounded more like “Dishhhhhh” and Boob which sounded more like “Bo”.
My boys are 16 months. They can say about 5 words (or 5 meaningful sounds, like “O” for their big brother’s name) and they know sign language for “more” when asking for food. At their 15 month check-up (then they had about 1-3 words), the doc said that it doesn’t matter how many words they can say at this point. It matters that they understand words that you say, even if they can’t say them yet. As long as the language comprehension is there, the verbal abilities will come. I’m sure your twinnies are fine! 🙂
Yes, The Twinkles seem to understand a lot. We’re starting to have to watch what we are saying. If we mention the car or shoes they are at the front door like a shot. Yesterday I asked The Beard what he would like for dinner and Spud and Sprout made for the dining table. They seem to pick one word out of a sentence so instead of saying ” Don’t run” I’m trying to say “Walk” just in case they pick out the word Run.