As my boy-girl twin toddlers’ 3rd birthday approaches, the quote “the days are long, but the years are short” really hits home for me.
It seems like yesterday we brought them home from the hospital, and we were completely sleep deprived and focused only on surviving each day.
Now they are talking, sassy, active almost 3-year-olds with opinions galore.
So I want to share with you the tidbits I’ve learned so far.
These are the things that have kept us sane and allowed us to enjoy the craziness that is having boy-girl twins:
Infants
I’ll be honest, this stage was all about survival. My boy-girl twins were my first children, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
If you’d like my tips on Surviving the First 10 Weeks with Twin Infants, you can find them here.
We did our best to keep them on the same schedule and dress them in whatever was clean. We didn’t fuss over style or color because we didn’t have the mental capacity to do so.
- Girl Infant – The one big thing that comes to mind is my daughter got diaper rash WAY easier than my son. We always put diaper rash cream on her, no matter what.
- Boy Infant – Point “IT” down. My son was waking up from every nap, sleep, etc., with a wet belly. Why was this happening? Why did no one tell me? Point “IT” down when you do diaper changes, and it is all hunky dory.
We were also very fortunate to have been gifted hours with a night nurse from our family.
I had no idea how amazing this would be.
It gave my husband and me something to look forward to when it came to sleep.
We knew we could get eight straight hours of sleep when she was over, no questions asked.
It was an invaluable gift that I will forever be grateful for.
My last piece of advice for this stage is that it will pass. Take it day by day. You’ve got this!
Babies
When our boy-girl twins made the transition from infants to babies, we started to be able to embrace some of their more unique qualities because we all started getting more sleep, and they were beginning to show some of their personalities.
They no longer only slept, ate, and pooped.
They began to interact with us, and that was exciting.
Also, now is the time to make sure you have all the right “gear.”
Here is my twin gear checklist, full of everything we actually used.
- Girl Baby – My daughter was the active one. She would wiggle, wiggle, wiggle all over the place, and she was always busy doing something.
- Boy Baby – My son was the “talker.” He would make noises, blow bubbles, and laugh to his heart’s content. He loved to chill and cuddle with us too.
Soak this stage in. They are cute, hitting milestones, and can still be contained to a playpen if necessary.
I love looking back and watching videos of my boy-girl twins in the baby stage. There are so many first, and it makes my heart happy.
Toddlers
Ready or not, this stage is wonderful and a whole new exhausting at the same time.
You really start to see the little people they are growing into. Their personalities begin to shine, and they learn to whine all at once.
- Girl Toddler – She is a doer and also very content at the same time. She is finding her independence and testing boundaries at the same time. Her language has started to blossom, which is wonderful. I love hearing her little voice, even if it is telling me, “no, I not do that.” She is shy at first, but once she warms up, she turns into this thoughtful, active, silly little girl.
- Boy Toddler – He is still my chatty one. He can charm a room with his manners and long eyelashes. He is a “mama’s boy” through and through. He is curious and doesn’t fear much. He is interested in his independence as long as he knows we aren’t far behind him.
The whining is real at this stage. We’ve currently been using the “Mommy and Daddy cannot hear whining, use your big kid voice” line, which works sometimes.
I wish you the best of luck. Whining is an extremely effective tool in the toddler’s arsenal to wear you down and get whatever they want.
Together my toddlers are a force. Only recently have they truly interacted much with each other beyond sharing toys.
They now ask about each other, play together, have conversations and even fight.
Nothing is more precious than watching them love and fiercely care about one another. It makes all the exhaustion and sleep deprivation worth it.
Overall, caring for boy-girl twins has not produced many differences, and the real differences have shown through their personalities.
So, Boy-Girl Twins: What I’ve Learned So Far? I’ll leave you with this
“Being a mother of twins is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.”
– Anonymous
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