twins

Good news for a family in India: their 13-month-old twins, Aradhana and Stuti, who were born conjoined at the chest, will finally get to go home. The twins were successfully separated during a 12-hour operation involving 23 doctors and 11 nurses. 

The baby girls were left at the Missionary Hospital in Padhar after their birth in May 2011 because their parents could not afford to pay for their special care. The surgery was funded by Indian TV viewers, who made thousands of small donations after learning about their plight. The state government of Madhya Pradesh matched the public's donations with a $35,000 fund.

The surgery's silver lining is that the parents now plan to take their daughters home when they are fully recovered.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail.

Image Source: dailymail.co.uk

Rachel, a mom of newborn twins, wonders if she should keep her babies together when they sleep or give them separate spaces. As it turns out, this is a common question among parents of newborn twins, and even among parents whose children are close in age. Will they feel safer sleeping together? Or will they disrupt one another's sleep?

Here, culled from discussions on Circle of Moms, is a look at what to consider when figuring out the optimal sleeping arrangement for your newborn twins.

Sleep Habits

Moms of twins say the biggest consideration should be your babies' dispositions and sleep habits. Although many moms start out with their twins in the same crib, this seems to work well only for babies who "really like to sleep," as a Circle of Moms member named Laura points out. More often, twins are quite different in their sleep patterns and rhythms, so one baby's sleep is disrupted by the other.

India, who refers to her twins in this context as "Fussybutt A" and "Fussybutt B" shares that at varying times during their first year, both of her twins had difficulty napping. Just as one would get cozy the other would wake him up. Keeping them together proved to be a logistical nightmare. Once they were separated, they both slept better — as did mom!

Gender

For many, twins' genders also figure into this equation. Most Circle of Moms members who have weighed in on this issue plan to eventually separate opposite-gender twins. And, as Jessi G. shares, if you're going to separate them, you should do so early so that it's not a big adjustment for them later. But several moms, including Mallorie M. and Laura, are fine with their boy/girl twins sleeping together.

For Mallorie, the end point to this is when her twins reach school-age. For Laura, the end point is up to her kids. At the moment, her boy-girl twins wake when she separates them. She originally intended to put them in their own rooms, worrying that keeping them in one crib would cause them to rouse or even injure one another, but as it turns out, they love sleeping together and protest when they can't. She plans to let them sleep together for as long as it makes sense.

Space

Often, as a member named Patricia points out, there simply isn't enough space in your home to separate twins. Her boy-girl twins have four teenage siblings, so keeping them together is her only option at the moment. Karen's in the same boat, and unlike Laura, her twins tend to wake one another up. She just lets them do their own thing and tries not to control the action. They sleep and cry at different times, but she reports that everyone eventually got used to this pattern and no one seemed worse for wear.

Lindsay C. is another mom who doesn't have enough space to give her twins separate rooms, and furthermore, her babies insisted on sleeping together, protesting loudly when they were separated. The problem is that they also kept each other awake half the night. This mom's solution? She put two small beds in the same room next to each other, and her babies were able to see each other, but not touch. This did the trick. They were reassured by one another's presence, but not pulling each others' hair out! Her story shows that it is possible to keep twins with different sleep patterns in the same room.

The moral of the story? Experiment. You may have an idea about what you prefer and why, but the real test is whether or not it works.

Image Source: Courtesy of Jeremy Miles via Flickr/Creative Commons

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

Twins.

The mere definition of twins implies togetherness, unity, closeness.  And society loves to love Twins — Double Your Fun, Two Peas In A Pod, Two for the Price of One.

Consider this:  If you are with someone from the moment of conception, it's hard to imagine not being with that person.  My boy-girl twins will always be together, I thought as I patted my belly during my pregnancy.  They will always have each other — an instant best friend, buddy, advocate and of course, class-mate.  Times Two.

Or so I thought...

When my twins were tiny and far, far away from school age, I clipped an article from The New York Times about separating twins in school. To be honest, I turned my nose down at the article. Those twins might be separated, but not my J and M.  I had proof to back this up:  the moms in my Twins Group kept their children in the classroom and they did activities as a pair. These children were happy and well-adjusted and they seemed to feel safer in new situations. I was proud of this twin perk and felt like it was a real gift.

When my twins started struggling in their same pre-K class, I never even thought about splitting them up until their wise, incredible teacher Miss Peggy set up a meeting with me to talk about Kindergarten. I resisted, and I relied on the twin moms who felt the same way I did to back up my case.

So, you can imagine their collective surprise when one month before the summer, I switched sides. Of course, I met with tons of resistance, a few snide remarks, and disbelief from a few family members. I dug deep though and found a calm place and then explained to everyone who asked, Why would you ever split up twins?, that though I had felt the same way, in the end our decision as parents was to do the very best thing for our two children. 

Eventually, the flurry of questions and comments subsided and I've never looked back. Placing our two very different twins in their own classrooms has yielded so much. I still feel surprised by this decision, but I know now that sometime the toughest decisions are the best ones. And, that all those articles I clip and save will come in handy one day!

Image Source: Laura Rossi www.mysocalledsensorylife.com

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

If you told me nine years ago that I would be one of "those mothers" when it comes to children's birthday parties, I would have laughed loudly. Never say never!

As soon as I could, I started planning our boy-girl twins' first birthday party. To my utter surprise, I found that I had to have matching girl-boy cakes, color coordinated everything, made-from-scratch food, games, music, unique goodie bags, thematic decorations throughout the house and of course, matching outfits for my twins, J and M.

That party marked the beginning of my birthday event planning career. I have not looked back. My goal every year is the same: fun, memorable gatherings — but I always want new themes and original ideas for both children. It's important that J and M experience individual birthdays and that they each view the day as their own. Though they are uniquely connected as twins, I try to encourage their independence by giving them each their own birthday parties.

The twins are now nine years old and my passion for parties is still going strong! In fact, now that J and M want separate parties with their own friends, I find the challenge of planning two back-to-back parties exhilarating. Bring it on! (Full disclosure:  I'm certain my public relations background feeds my need for having "the" party that everyone talks about and that the kiddos love.)

Several factors forced me to hone my pint-size planning skills right from the start and I hope they help you, too:

1.  Plan in Advance: My twins have a January birthday. This means, in order to get a venue booked and invitations out four weeks in advance, I start planning before Christmas. Adding birthday party planning to my holiday agenda makes it even more hectic, but I make lists and I multitask as much as possible. I keep a strict budget and am very resourceful when it comes to ideas and activities. I also start brainstorming in the fall — it's never too early!

2.  Double Up:  Until age 5, the twins wanted a joint party. We merged guest lists and were able to plan some terrific events. A joint party can work for twins but it also can help busy families plan a single party for sibling birthdays. However once they hit first grade, the gender stereotypes kicked in and J wanted a girl party while M wanted a boy-themed party.  It was great hosting one party while it lasted!

3.  Plan for the Unexpected:  Since our son has special needs (including sensory processing disorder and social skills challenges), in addition to planning a party, I also have to prepare him for a crowd (using social stories and other therapies). The need to anticipate M's needs has made me consider all the "what if's" that can happen at a children's birthday party. This has been a real gift because  I'm prepared for it all: I always have a change of clothes, snacks, headphones, and more at the ready!

4.  Involve Your Kids:  The twins are always involved in the party planning. They help with the gift bags and the lists and menus. In addition, now that they want their own parties I enlist their help with picking the dates, setting the invitation lists and dividing up mutual friends among other tasks.

Finally, a birthday three weeks after Christmas — and in the middle of cold January — needs to engage the children and not conflict with weekend activities. I love having a focus like this in the middle of the winter.

My Best Birthday Parties

All entertaining gurus have their Top Ten List.  In that spirit, here is my Best Birthdays list.  I hope my double-duty party planning gives you some ideas to helps to make your children's birthday party a hit.

• Rock it Out — Music Together Class (or Kindermusik) — When the twins were 4 years old, we hired our Music Together teacher to lead a special class for family and friends.  We sang, danced, and had cupcakes at the music studio.  I burned a CD of music and included it in our party favor bag.  Music has and always be a passion in our family.

• Get Moving — Gymboree (or Little Gym) Bash — A winter gymnastics party is a great way to get the energy out and the movement in. 

• Show and Tell — Aquarium To Go Party — We live within driving distance of a terrific aquarium.  The aquarium offers a traveling educational exhibit complete with touch tanks and party favors.  Well within my budget, this party was SO loved that we did it two years in a row (ages 5 and then 6).  I used an "Under The Sea" theme and played music, decorated with shells and other treasures and had a lot of hand sanitizer ready!

• The Real World — John Deere Tractor Party at a Farm — A relative owns an organic farm and I crafted an entire party around tractor rides using a John Deere theme.  I warned the boys attending (well their parents actually) to dress warmly and had hot chocolate and blankets on hand to keep us all toasty.

• Sleeping Beauty — Girls First Sleepover — Hosting J's first sleepover party at our house was a milestone for her and maybe more so for Mom. An intimate group of sweet, innocent girls celebrating their friendship and embarking on the journey to being big girls was a night I'll never forget. Hearing J with her gal pals giggling, dancing, playing and doing girl stuff was a rite of passage.

• Surprise! — Disney The Magic Kingdom — Imagine receiving the news on the eve of your 7th birthday that you are going to The Magic Kingdom the very next day to celebrate your birthday in Disney.  One of our most precious memories as a family is the first time we went to Disney. We were surprised by the joy and the memories and delighted to have a year off from party planning. Note: In our opinion, age 7 was the perfect age to experience all the magic.

As I write this post, I'm poised for this weekend and another round of back to back birthday parties. 

Of course, we have grand plans: J is hosting another "Girls Night" complete with a pizza party, makeovers, and Disney Channel Shows featuring Selena Gomez and Debby Ryan. The girl gang planned a Midnight Snack and of course, a sleepover. And M planned Angry Birds Bowling with a small circle of friends.  Best of all... he invited his twin sister to attend.

Happy Birthday Party Planning, Circle of Moms!

Image Source: Laura Rossi

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

You don't have to have 19 kids like Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar to understand the challenges of raising children who are close in age. After all, not many of us balance the demands of 19 kids between the ages of 18 months and 23 years, as the family in TLC's 19 Kids and Counting does. But as many Circle of Moms members say, there is an art to successfully juggling babies who are born back-to-back. It can be chaotic, but it can be done, they agree.

"Yikes, they are a handful," says Shauna about her son, 2, and daughter, 3. She recently asked other moms in the Stay-at-Home Moms community whether anyone else with closely spaced siblings felt "like pulling their hair out."

The consensus: the first years are the hardest, but it gets easier once the kids hit kindergarten age. Here, Circle of Mom members share tips for making it through the early years with kids who are close in age:

1. Get a little mommy time, recommends Rae C., whose two boys and a girl are 4, 2 and 1. Make it a priority to find some time for you even if it is simply a stolen moment here and there, she says. When they feel like a handful, just "breathe real slowly."
2. You've got to have friends. When friends or relatives ask what they can do, suggest they take your older child or children out while you stay home with the younger baby. This helps create "special" time for all the children, says Stacey W., a mother of two kids under two with a third baby on the way.
3. Ask for help. Stacey W. also recommends relying "on those around you who are willing to help." When friends or family members offer to bring over dinner, do laundry or come over to babysit, take them up on the offer instead of saying "no thanks."
4. Stick to a routine, says Chantel M., a mom of four kids under age seven. Create dinner time, nap-times and non-negotiable bed times, she says. Creating structure takes away some of the stress, she says.
5. Create special time for each child, says Crystal S. who is pregnant and has three children who are all 4 and under. "I make sure that each of my kids gets their own time with me, and honestly, I found it pretty easy to have them so close together." Another benefit of spacing children closely is that "I stayed in baby mode and so having two in diapers was a lot easier than I thought it would be."

Ultimately, these moms say the intense work of the early years is worthwhile.

"I love it now that they are all getting a bit older," says Marti D. a single mom to a 5 year-old boy, a 4 year-old girl, and a 3 year-old boy. "When they were all babies, it was really tough. Now at least they are a little more independent."

Crystal B., whose kids are now 11 and 10, agrees."The first couple years were a blur," she says, adding that "now it is fun, fun, fun."

Finally, just remember that the chaos is only temporary, says Amber R. You can let the house get a little messy, and not be "perfect," as life will eventually be less hectic.

"After seeing that everything did work out just fine and how much fun they have together I can definitely see the benefit of them being so close in age to their siblings," she says about her 2 and 3 year-olds. A third baby is on the way, and "they will have more in common and always have playmates in the house. It is hectic but we all realize that it can be done. "

Image Source: yourdon via Flickr/Creative Commons

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, POPSUGAR.

There are millions of baby videos on YouTube but here is one that is quite unlike the others! This week, those two adorable twin baby boys have become the latest YouTube sensation, making millions around the world laugh to tears. So what do you think these two cuties are talking about?

Image Source: YouTube