When did you feel like you had it "under control"?

KayJayDee

And don't tell me never.  

I'm thinking back to the first days, weeks, and months with DS and remembering the fog that comes with having a newborn.  And that was just one.  I felt like I was living outside my body for the first few weeks... it was so surreal.  Between sleep deprivation and a rough start to breastfeeding, it wasn't until around the 6-8 week mark that I felt like I started to get a handle on a routine and like I was even close to feeling human again.  I'd say by about 3-4 months we hit our stride.  

In some ways, I feel like I'm better equipped to handle twins this time around, having gotten the first time mom issues out of the way, but in other ways, I feel like I'm going to get my a$$ handed to me by two screaming babies.   

LALASEPT05

For me probably somewhere between 7 and 8 months...when they truly started sleeping through the night.

hayleydeee

It's been 5 months and it's starting to get better. There are actually times when I do feel like I have things under control. It's not often, but it's not "never" either. 

I did get one baby who screams, and screams, and screams. He is super sensitive. It has made things so much harder, but now sometimes I see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

mamabirdof4

Pretty much from the start....but twins have been pretty easy for us!

kafunder

Around 3-4 months, we were doing awesome. Great schedule, decent sleeping, happy little babies. Months 4-6.5, it all fell apart during the 4-month wakeful and other things that disrupted their sleep. I didn't feel like we had pulled it together again until about 7-8 months, and since then, life has been much easier.

Jen0204

Right around 10-12 weeks things started to get easier. Now it's really not bad. We're very lucky and we have pretty good sleepers and calm, happy babies. DD2 had a few weeks where she got fussy a lot in the late afternoon, but that's gone now too. They sleep for about 9 hours straight and just get up once at night. Now that we're both back at work we have a good routine and I'm happy with how everything is going. Even from the beginning the only issue we had was just sheer exhaustion.

ougrad1

You know when some of us say it doesn't get better, it just gets different?  When one thing gets easier, another gets more difficult.  It's a trade off.

At four months, the babies started STTN which was HUGE.  After that and before they became mobile, is a fun stage.

Just now, at almost 21 months, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  They can now sit and play with each other for about 30 minutes which is nice but, they can't express their feelings with words so, there are a lot of tantrums.

You will find your groove.  Getting to the STTN stage is huge.  Biggest piece of advice that I would ever give a new MoM is, "one up, both up."  Even if you have to wake one after you feed the first.   It is invaluable!

Also, we put Emerson in her big girl bed but, delayed potty training.   She did great with the bed and PTing came really easy when we did at three years.

Keep asking questions....this is a great source of information and support! 

Fancy3Face

Tough call.  Honestly, and I'm sorry for this, but probably never.  Or not yet.  I think each stage comes with its challenges and when I figure one out, they move to the next.  I have super easy babies (great sleepers, great personalities, no colic, etc), but having two babies is just hard. 

Since you've been down this road before I'm sure it will be easier for you.  You know what to expect from the first year.

Kelli&Jed

Around 9months when they started STTN.  As soon as I was able to get more than 3hrs of sleep at a time I felt more like my pre-baby self.  Plus that's about when we started our regular nap schedule.  Sleep made all the difference for me.

JosiePosy

Once they started STTN and could entertain themselves a bit, that's pretty much when I started breathing again.

besu-chan

Like everyone else said- sleep has been key. For me 3 months was a big turning point- they are generally happy and interactive, and are sortof in a napping and sleeping routine (the word sortof being important to note- it's taken me 10 minutes to write this post so far because DD2 is having so much trouble getting back to sleep in the middle of her nap for some unknown reason). It's definitely a huge change from the overwhelming feeling I had the first few months that there was absolutely NO WAY I was going to survive the next hour of my life!

lmydogally

My H travels 6 days a week, so it's all me all the time with no help.  9 weeks was when I saw the light at the end of the tunnel and now at 3 months, I can say I got this and can handle it just fine.  I'm exhausted by the end of day but we have a great schedule and my girls are happy and I actually remember to feed the dogs now.  

ardilla

By about 3 weeks old I felt like I had a decent handle on things but it got better as they started to sleep a longer stretch overnight. From then on it has just always been something different, not necessarily easier...even now at age 3!

JenIrv

mamabirdof4:

Pretty much from the start....but twins have been pretty easy for us!

I have a 9 year old, who was a tough baby, and I expected the same thing with the twins. But they have been sooooo easy. I almost feel bad when people say how rough their twin expereince has been. I know mine is far from normal and that we have been blessed.

janjag

LALASEPT05:

For me probably somewhere between 7 and 8 months...when they truly started sleeping through the night.

Exactly this, at 7mos.

LALASEPT05

ougrad1:

You know when some of us say it doesn't get better, it just gets different?  When one thing gets easier, another gets more difficult.  It's a trade off.

At four months, the babies started STTN which was HUGE.  After that and before they became mobile, is a fun stage.

Just now, at almost 21 months, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  They can now sit and play with each other for about 30 minutes which is nice but, they can't express their feelings with words so, there are a lot of tantrums.

You will find your groove.  Getting to the STTN stage is huge.  Biggest piece of advice that I would ever give a new MoM is, "one up, both up."  Even if you have to wake one after you feed the first.   It is invaluable!

Also, we put Emerson in her big girl bed but, delayed potty training.   She did great with the bed and PTing came really easy when we did at three years.

Keep asking questions....this is a great source of information and support! 

 

I have to say I agree with this 100%. We're now in the 'terrible two's' and that involves just consant redirecting of two children. They are almost always getting into something - trying to climb on tables, trying to play with lamp cords, pushing the trash cans and high chairs all over the house, separation anxiety, showing their independence, refusing food...the list goes on and on. Some things get easier, but some things get harder. I feel like I'm always saying 'no'. It is exhausting, but with a break over night I feel I can handle those things better.

MuseumMaven

I'd say around 4-5 months I felt like we hit our stride.  At that point I was able to get them to nap at the same time, which was huge.  They were also able to play in their bouncer and exersaucer, which meant they were both happy without being held, which gave me 15-20 minutes to do something else.

6 months was also huge for us - the boys starting sitting up and playing with toys.  Mine would happily sit for an hour and play by themselves.

jenn_darrin1515

I felt like I started to get things under control around 7 weeks (when they were regularly sleeping 5-6 hours at nite)...and things got even better at 3 months when they started sttn...since then I have had periods where I feel like I've totally got this and periods when I don't at all...but to me, nothing was as bad as the first 7 weeks...GL!

mamabirdof4

JDe'Nae:

mamabirdof4:

Pretty much from the start....but twins have been pretty easy for us!

I have a 9 year old, who was a tough baby, and I expected the same thing with the twins. But they have been sooooo easy. I almost feel bad when people say how rough their twin expereince has been. I know mine is far from normal and that we have been blessed.

Ya I sometimes feel bad...because I just don't understand since it was so easy for us. 

TeacherTiff

The first month was the worst and I feel like within the last month it's gotten considerably easier. That said, we have "easy" babies. 

MrsLnt

We had a pretty strict routine from the day we got home from the hospital so I felt like that was under control from the getgo. When they dropped the 3am feed, I thought life was great. That was around 3 months. Then at 6 months, I felt like life was awesome because they could sit up and play with toys and would watch Baby Einstein for a few minutes while I ate lunch or took a breather. Sleep was crappy months 6-9 because of milestones and, when they started consistently STTN around 9 months, things got downright FUN. Every month from 9 forward, it's gotten better and better. 

My friends who have had singletons first all say their twins are easier and they're glad they had that experience and perspective on the newborn stage. I really thought my kids would  be eating every 3, 3.5 hours for the rest of my life. At almost 18 months (OMG how did that happen?!) they are awesome, fun people. Also? Best diet I have ever been on. They eat half the food off my plate and keep me moving. Thanks, LOs.

rmcrae

ougrad1:

You know when some of us say it doesn't get better, it just gets different?  When one thing gets easier, another gets more difficult.  It's a trade off.

At four months, the babies started STTN which was HUGE.  After that and before they became mobile, is a fun stage.

Just now, at almost 21 months, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  They can now sit and play with each other for about 30 minutes which is nice but, they can't express their feelings with words so, there are a lot of tantrums.

You will find your groove.  Getting to the STTN stage is huge.  Biggest piece of advice that I would ever give a new MoM is, "one up, both up."  Even if you have to wake one after you feed the first.   It is invaluable!

Also, we put Emerson in her big girl bed but, delayed potty training.   She did great with the bed and PTing came really easy when we did at three years.

Keep asking questions....this is a great source of information and support! 

 

I love everything you just said and agree.