the green parent baby wearing twins

8/4/2019 The Green Parent Baby Wearing Twins

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Ihadnt planned to wear my

children. Id bought a sling when

I was pregnant, but only because

it was next on the unfeasibly long

list of equipment I simply had

to have as a new parent. I spent hours

deliberating over pushchairs, deciding Id

almost certainly need a second stroller

too at some stage, and maybe even some

sort of o-road buggy. Josh was born at

28 weeks and spent nearly four months in

hospital. A fortnight after he came home,

I realised I hadnt used the pushchair at

all. He had bad reux and respiratory

problems, regularly turning blue as he

forgot to take a breath. Carrying him in a

sling meant I could not only see his face

but actually feel him breathing I was

much more relaxed and he was far happier

sitting upright. From that moment on

the pushchair was rarely used; instead I

fell in love with a Coorie pouch sling and

used a Kari-Me wrap for longer walks.

When I fell pregnant again later that

year, I resolved to wear my baby from theoutset and forget pushchairs completely.

But my plans were thrown into disarray

when an early scan revealed I was

expecting twins. I was so disappointed

that my intentions to babywear had

been thwarted; there was no way Id

be able to carry two babies and even

if I could, what would I do with Josh,

who would be just 15 months when

they arrived? I resigned myself to using

pushchairs again and ordered a monstrous

triple buggy from New Zealand.

When the babies arrived, life was

chaotic to say the least. It took so longto move them from Moses baskets to car

seats, from car seats to the buggy, and

from the buggy to play groups. I felt as

though our whole day was taken up with

logistics. In desperation I pulled out my

Coorie sling and slotted both twins into

it, where they snuggled up together as

I imagined they had done in the womb.

Sitting Josh on one hip instantly felt >

Emily Carlisle discovers that carrying twins is often

more convenient and easier than using a pushchair

Twin Bonding

Zina carrying

babies, Bo and

Luke froggied in

a stretchy wrap at

six weeks old. See

babywearingtwins.

com for more

inspiration.

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> comfortable and thats how we made

short trips, where previously the buggy

had been essential. I felt immediately

liberated and started to explore other

options for babywearing my twins when

they got too big to t into one pouch sling.

Carrying three children simply wasnt

practical for more than the shortest of

walks and as Josh got steadier on his feethe got used to walking longer distances.

By 20 months he would happily walk the

half mile into town while I carried his twin

sisters in two pouch slings positioned

crossways across my body. Initially the girls

lay in the deep part of each pouch but the

method worked well as they got bigger,

eventually enabling me to wear them in

a hip carry, one on each side. The buggy

was still a part of family logistics, but

babywearing gave us so much exibility

and a closeness to my daughters I couldnt

get when they were in the pushchair.

Im far from the only twin-mum refusing

to give up on ideals of babywearing.

Jenny Kyles, 41, is from North Carolina.

She stumbled upon the concept of

babywearing with her older children,

Chandler, now 21, and Forrest, 19, but

found early carriers uncomfortable and

had no place to go for support. When she

fell pregnant with twins Arthur and Roland,

now 14 weeks, she was determined to try

babywearing again. This time around I had

the Internet to help me and I discovered

a whole new world of babywearing. Iknew that I denitely wanted to nd a

way to wear these babies. Jenny uses a

Maya wrap, a Sleeping Baby Productions

conversion ring sling and a Du & Jag Mei

Tai, although shes still experimenting

with the best combination. I had my rst

true double carry success using the ring

sling and the Mei Tai. I put one of the boys

on my back in the Mei Tai then wrangled

the sling over my shoulder for a hip carry

with the other. Its a bit of a circus, but Im

not afraid to be the centre of attention!

She admits that its far from easy, and not

always practical, but the advantages ofbabywearing mean its worth persevering.

Jennys already wondering how long it will

be before the combined weight of the boys

makes it dicult for her to wear them,

but it could be longer than she thinks.

Joy Mottram, 27, lives in Croydon with

her sons Seth, 6, and Malachi, 4, and three

year old twin girls Maya and Anya. Joy

soon abandoned using a pram with her

oldest child, quickly realising that putting

Seth in a wrap calmed him and lifted

the depression she was experiencing

following a rough start to motherhood. She

found thebabywearer.com and ordered a

Didymos wrap from eBay, complete with

instructions in German. When she found

out she was expecting twins, she had no

hesitation about continuing to babywear.

Id worn Seth and Malachi together fairly

frequently so I knew Id be able to tandem

carry the twins. I wondered how Id get

both up and down safely while out and

about, but I did a babywearing consultancycourse with Die Trageschule towards the

end of my pregnancy, which really boosted

my condence. Joy found it easier to use

two separate wraps to carry the babies

in the early days, so she could leave a

sleeping twin undisturbed if the other

needed feeding or changing. I used a

Wrapsody stretch wrap tied on my front,

and a shorter woven wrap on my back.

Joy is very positive about babywearing

with twins, and encourages other parents

not to over think it. Wearing any child is

an evolving journey, and wearing two even

more so. Be prepared to switch the carriesyou're using often, as your needs change.

She suggests identifying a local sling meet

to nd other mums who have tandem

carried to share tips and oer moral

support, and doesnt feel that babywearing

twins should be restricted to the early

days. I can still wear them now together

at three years; the biggest problem is

being able to see past their heads!

M

any twin mums are

worried about the

physical strain of

wearing two babiesand its important to

listen to your own body. Amanda Rutter

MSCP is a Chartered Physiotherapist from

Towy Physiotherapy in Carmarthenshire,

Wales. She explains that although slings

place strain on the spine and pelvis,

when used correctly there is no reason

for them to cause back pain, or even

to exacerbate an existing problem.

When tting slings and positioning

the babies, dont bend from the hips to

pick them up, she advises, and avoid

twisting and bending at the same time.

Kneel or squat to make positioning less

strenuous. When twins are signicantly

dierent weights Amanda suggests

alternating the position of each baby to

equalise the muscle usage in each area.

Having twins is an incredibly rewarding

experience. Theres no denying that the

practicalities can sometimes be daunting,

but in my experience theres little that

cant be overcome. Babywearing supports

the bonding process and gives babies

a feeling of security and contentment;

for mothers of twins, nothing could

be more valuable than that.

Emily Carlisle is a freelance writer and columnist living in the Cotswolds with her husband, four year old

son Joshua and three year old twins Evie and Georgie. Emily writes at morethanjustamother.com

slings and carriersMost parents of twins use a

combination of standard slings,

wraps and carriers to wear their

babies. The following carriers are

specically designed for twins;

Twin Trexx Twin baby carrier

Weego Twin baby carrier

useful resourcesslingmeet.co.uk

babywearingtwins.comthebabywearer.com

naturalmamas.co.uk

facebook.com/babywearingsafety

babywearinginternational.org

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