Twins in the Early Years

Where to start

• Reduce everything else; you can’t fix this by optimising the schedule alone.
• It also helps to recognise that looking after twins wears you out in ways no friend with one child can fully appreciate. The UK charity for families with multiples runs a helpline staffed by volunteers who have twins themselves. It’s the right line to ring when your own friends can’t yet quite understand what you’re dealing with. Twins Trust, 0800 138 0509. Mon-Thu 10am-1pm and 7pm-10pm, excluding bank holidays. Outside those hours the line is closed. Samaritans answer at any hour on 116 123, and Shout answer if you text the word SHOUT to 85258. Help is free.

The rest of the tip, with more to try and why it works, is in the library.

It goes with

• The Hour Before Bed. For parents whose child’s bedtime has turned into an hour of worries, questions and meltdowns.
• Siblings and the Fights That Aren’t Fair. For parents whose children keep finding new ways to fall out with each other.

The first chapter you open here is free to read in full.

Free on this subject

• Family stress. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.
• Parent wellbeing. What to do first, what helps, and who else can help. Free to read and to print.