Twins and triplets are becoming more common as more couples are having babies later in life.Fertility treatments also increase the chance of people having multiples.
For parents managing twins or triplets, the joys and the responsibilities that come along with it are higher two-three fold!
Caring for your newborn multiples
A lot of changes happen during this stage. When it comes to your surroundings, you would need extra help from family, neighbors, or hired help. Ideally, it is best to consider this earlier during your pregnancy.
Multiples usually do require a little extra care as they are usually born prematurely. They are prone to developing a flu like illness called respiratory syncytial virus that can cause serious health problems. Keeping your surroundings and yourself clean by having a good hand hygiene practice for yourself and others in the household is one way to start.
Some things to consider when feeding is that it would take a large chunk of your day. Mothers can either breast feed or bottle feed as what suits them best. It is possible to nurse two babies simultaneously with some advice from lactation consultants who can show you positions to help nurse multiple and single babies.
Many choose a combination of breast feeding and bottle feeding.
You can consider waking and feeding all the babies when one wakes up at night. Try to sleep when your babies do.
Managing stress
Don’t forget that you need to be taken care of, too. Feeling stressed and overwhelmed is completely normal. Be sure to find time for sleep, to be alone, and to pursue your own interests.
Mothers of multiples are more likely than other mothers to suffer from “baby blues” and postpartum depression. Baby blues may leave you feeling weepy, easily upset, or excessively worried. These feelings may last for a couple of days, but for some new mothers can go on for several weeks.
In postpartum depression, these symptoms are more severe and longer lasting. Get the help of an expert if your symptoms persist.
Managing relationships
The demands placed on parents of multiples strain the best of relationships. With all your energy directed toward your children, there’s often little left over for each other — yet this is just when you need each other most. Try to give each other breaks when you can and to ask what your partner needs each day. It can be very helpful to have an outlet for expressing your feelings.
It’s important that you do what you can to keep some couple time. Because it’s often hard to leave multiples with one sitter, you might need to get creative.
Learning and behavior
Social skills can come earlier for multiples, simply because they’ve always been with siblings, but they may do less well in other groups. Parents may encounter problems separating multiples, so it’s a good idea to occasionally separate them even at an early age. Also try to introduce other people into the mix, including other kids and adults. Still, multiples are built-in playmates for one another, and from early on it’s apparent that their relationship is special.
Dr. Ramanathan
Medical Director and Consultant in Pediatrics and Neonatology
Aster Hospital, Mankhool.
