New Mom Here & Help Needed!

Hi Everyone!
After 12 years of trying to get pregnant my husband & I were blessed with 2 little gifts!
I am a new mom with 4 month old Boy/Girl twins that were born @ 30 weeks on August 4th 2007.
They spent a month in the NICU and now are doing great! We just went for our 4 month shots Friday and Lacy weighed 11lbs 3 ozs & Logan weighed 11 lbs 11 ozs.
I'm just wanting some suggestions on a couple topics:
1.)Development when should my babies be rolling over, setting up without help? They are holding their heads up great and starting to push up on their hands when it's tummy time.
2.)Stay @ Home Moms & Dads how do you keep Sain at times? (Sometimes I just want to scream is that normal?)
3.)What can I do to hold their attention without having to hold them? I have tried the swing,boppy,bouncers,etc. day after day and nothing seems to work except holding them.


Thanks so Much!
I need all the help I can GET!!

Nadana

 

Congratulations and welcome! That is wonderful, especially after 12 long years.

I can't remember the norm for your first question but I'm sure someone else will post the answer.

2) Make sure you get out of the house either by yourself, with friends or on dates with your DH. The more time I spend in the house the less sane I am. No matter how much you love your babies, twins are overwhelming and it is completely normal to feel like you're losing it....so be good to yourself!

3) Around 4 months I got a Fisher Price jumperoo which they loved...and they started noticing/liking TV (bad mom, I know, but everything in moderation) which helped a lot.

Again, welcome!

 

:sign0016: to Twinstuff!!

Someone once posted a great website about developmental milestones. Remember it's a rough guide, you have to factor in the adjusted age of course.

Click here to see the developmental timeline.

Here is another one.

As far as trying to stay sane, I just leaned on anyone I could for support. There were MANY times I did scream and cried quite a bit. It's a hard job you are doing. Just know that it gets SO much easier as time goes by. My girls were born 9/1 and I think around January/February I started to feel much better.

I had my girls "play" on the floor a lot. I would lie down with them and shake toys, show them musical toys, sing to them, play with them, etc. We spent a LARGE part of the day on the floor or in the bouncy seats.

 

Congratulations! What a dream come true.

1.)Development when should my babies be rolling over, setting up without help? They are holding their heads up great and starting to push up on their hands when it's tummy time.
James started rolling over at 6 months, Evan started around 7 months but he still only rolls from back to front and always to the right. He's just not much of a roller. Whatever you do, count from their due date not their birth date. You don't want to feel as though they're behind when they're not.

2.)Stay @ Home Moms & Dads how do you keep Sain at times? (Sometimes I just want to scream is that normal?)
I've almost lost it many times, but so long as I stick to my routine and remember that nothing is forever (i.e. bad days, fussy babies), I'm okay. I have learned to laugh in the face of dispair.

3.)What can I do to hold their attention without having to hold them? I have tried the swing,boppy,bouncers,etc. day after day and nothing seems to work except holding them.

Do you have an activity mat? I used mine a lot at that age. Also, I read to them in their bouncies, took them out on a lot of walks, sang to them, set them up in their bouncies in the kitchen while I cooked and baked and told them what I was doing in my most fascinating voice.

 

I am a SAHM... I dont keep sain.. I just try to get out of the house 2 or 3 times a week.. Sometimes just to a friends house or to my Moms!
I put the babies on the floor with a blanket, sit and talk to them or give them toys to play with.. I also have a 4 year old to "help" out with the entertainment...

 

Our boys are also 30-weekers. As some pp said, always be sure to look at adjusted age when you're expecting developmental milestones. In other words, if you're looking for them to sit up unassisted by six months, for your babies that is six months from their due date rather than from their birth date. We found for ours that they generally hit milestones after expected based on their birth date, but earlier than expected based on their due date. For example, I think you generally look at 6 months as a guideline for sitting up unassisted. Our little guys sat up unassisted at about 7.5 months (which was about 5 months adjusted). We've actually found the date they came home from the NICU to be a pretty good guideline for a lot of things, which makes sense since that is the day they were really ready to be out in the world. So when we're tracking milestones (or when to start certain foods, naps, etc.) we often calculate as though the day they came home from the NICU was their birth date.

As far as what to do with them, definitely a play gym/activity mat. Our boys could not get enough of the Baby Einstein one with the star that lit up and played music. We did tummy time with it, but we also put them on it on their backs with their feet aimed at one of the cross bars, so when they kicked the star would light up and play music. As they developed, the play mat could be adjusted. When they were kicking, we put them so they could kick the cross bar. When they were grabbing at toys, we put them directly underneath hanging toys and the star went off when they grabbled. When they were sitting in bumbos, we put them in their bumbos facing the hanging toys so they could grab them. When they were sitting unassisted, same thing. When they were learning to crawl we put them down on their tummies with the hanging toys just out of reach so they could reach for them. It was by far the single best item we owned. Even now that they won't stay put, we've eliminted the mat, but they still play with the toys that came with it.

Wow, this post got long....congratulations and good luck!!

 

1.)Development when should my babies be rolling over, setting up without help? They are holding their heads up great and starting to push up on their hands when it's tummy time. Well, my boys were chunks...I think they rolled over about 5 months but I know they started to sit up unassisted right as they turned 8 months because I remember being worried and I also have it on tape.

2.)Stay @ Home Moms & Dads how do you keep Sain at times? (Sometimes I just want to scream is that normal?) Yes, very normal the first year was the hardest the main thing is sleep it can make you crazy. It will get easier as they get older, much easier to predict things you can read them better, etc.


3.)What can I do to hold their attention without having to hold them? I have tried the swing,boppy,bouncers,etc. day after day and nothing seems to work except holding them. Well I had the same problem, everyday I went from the bouncers, to the PNP, to the floor, to the swing and everything was short lived someone usually was always wanting to be held. I did get out alot for walks around the mall, my mom's house in the winter but really nothing lasted long enough like I said. How about an Activity/Play Gym? mine like to lay under theirs and look around for a bit and like someone said a Jumperoo but mine really didn't start to get into that until about 6 months...GL!

 

Hi Nadana! Welcome to TS! Congratulations on your babies!!

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1.)Development when should my babies be rolling over, setting up without help? They are holding their heads up great and starting to push up on their hands when it's tummy time.

Development varies so much, and even more so when you factor in adjusted ages! My babies were born at 37 weeks, and were rolling by about 5-6 months.
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2.)Stay @ Home Moms & Dads how do you keep Sain at times? (Sometimes I just want to scream is that normal?)

Sometimes I do scream!! When it gets crazy, I like to get out of the house. A change of scenery does wonders for both moms and babies!
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3.)What can I do to hold their attention without having to hold them? I have tried the swing,boppy,bouncers,etc. day after day and nothing seems to work except holding them.

I started using the exersaucers around 3.5 months. So yours might be ready for that shortly. I did prop them up with blankets so that they didn't wobble, but they did have good head control when I started using those.