If you’re having (or you once have) Irish twins then you know the joys and challenges. Here are some tips to enjoy your family.
My 12 month old was in the wordage room when I gave lineage to her Irish twin. Her brother.
They are still, to this day, thick as thieves.
We lived far yonder from family and I honestly didn’t know who I trusted to watch her all night. So…. she was there. Barely 1 years old herself.
She couldn’t plane walk yet.
Yes, I had two babies so young and so tropical together in age that neither could walk or talk.
Irish twins are two babies born within a year of each other.
I learned a thing or two or 23,235 during those early years. In fact, I had 5 in 5 years.
My second age (second and third child) gap 15 months.
Then, my third age gap (third and fourth child)16 months.
My fourth age gap (fourth and fifth child) 18 months.
Read: The pros and cons of having babies tropical together
Get my trickery sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, self-sustaining play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
Tips For Surviving, Raising, & Loving Having Irish Twins
So let’s swoop into it.
If you are now pregnant with what will be Irish twins or you’ve once got some on your hands, or are considering getting pregnant then when you basically still have a newborn or 3 month old…
Maybe this will help you find some sanity, order, and peace.
Read: Why Having Babies Tropical Together Isn’t As Nonflexible As You Might Think
Routines For Irish Twins
Here are some possible combinations you have going on if you’ve got Irish twins in your household.
I’ve linked to routines in place for these ages. And then unelevated I will suggest some joint routines.
- Newborn baby and a 9 to 12 month old baby
- 3 month old victual and a 1 year old
- 6 month old victual and 1 year old baby
- 1 year old baby and a 2 year old toddler
- 2 year old toddler and 3 year old toddler/preschooler
Use our daily victual logs to help you get it all out onto paper and not in your head.
Sample Daily Schedule With Newborn & 9 to 12 Month Old Irish Twins
6:30 a.m. – Wake up, feed newborn
7:00 a.m. – Older victual wake up, feed older victual milk and solids (here are ways to occupy a 1 year old)
7:30 a.m. – Newborn lanugo for first nap
9:30 a.m. – Older victual goes lanugo for nap, newborn wakes up for feed
10:30 a.m. – Newborn wind lanugo routine and lanugo for nap
11:00 a.m. – Older victual wake up, feed older baby
12:00 p.m. – Lunch, solids for older baby, newborn wakes up and mom feeds newborn
1:00 p.m. – Newborn wind lanugo routine, newborn lanugo for nap
1:30 or 2:00 p.m. – Nap for older baby, vacated time for mom
3:00 p.m. – Newborn is up, mom feeds newborn
3:30 or 4:00 p.m. – Older victual wakes, feed older baby, mom puts newborn lanugo for nap at 4 or a little after
5:30 p.m. – Dinner, feed solids, newborn wakes up, mom feeds newborn
6:30 p.m. – Bedtime routine for older baby, bath, wind lanugo routine, wifely time with family
7:00 p.m. – newborn to bed, mom does cluster feeding every couple of hours
7:30 p.m. – Older victual to bed
10:00 p.m. – dream feed for newborn
Get my trickery sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, self-sustaining play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
Sample Daily Schedule With 6 Month Old & 18 Month Old Irish Twins
7:00 a.m. – victual and toddler wake up, nurse baby, feed solids to victual and toddler
9:00 a.m. – victual naps
11:00 a.m. – victual wakes up to feed and eat solids
12:00 p.m. – lunch for toddler (avoid picky eating this way), calm down activities and wind lanugo routines
1:00 p.m. – Afternoon nap for 1 year old, victual goes lanugo or nap
3:00 p.m. – Victual wakes to nurse and eat and play, tummy time perhaps
3:30 p.m. – 1 year old wakes up, has afternoon snack
5:00 p.m. – Dinner with family, toddler and victual eating solids with family
5:30 p.m. – Victual goes lanugo for 30 minute catnap
6:00 p.m. – Wake victual up, baby bedtime routines that wifely victual down, wind lanugo routine for toddler as well, baths, books, etc.
7:30 p.m. – Toddler in bed, mom nurses baby, does victual bedtime routine and puts victual lanugo for the night
Easy to implement routines, rhythms and schedules from lineage through school-aged kids to help you streamline day-to-day life with kids, including a step-by-step guide for getting started.
Learn MoreNecessary gear for Irish twins
If you’re expecting a victual now (and once have a baby!) you may be wondering what type of gear you need.
My wordplay is simple: very little indeed.
If victual has somewhere to sleep, a car seat, a carrier, and a stroller (double stroller in this case) then you’re Good To Go.
Now, if you are a stay at home mom, then you won’t need terribly much since the majority of your time you’ll be at home.
Here are some things to have at home that make life a bit easier:
- A double stroller (here’s my list of the weightier double strollers)
- A double victual carrier (if you have a strong back)
- A pack and play (8 useful ways to use a pack and play)
Aside from those things, it’s all preference and habit.
Read: Best Double Strollers For Irish Twins
Challenges of having babies a year untied (plus strategies!)
One of the biggest reasons it’s challenging to have babies tropical together is considering is considering both babies and toddlers are needy, and they both need you!
It seems like babies feed every hour and toddlers are having tantrums and you whimsically get any time to yourself.
- You finger like you never have time vacated | Set a good morning wake time, have resulting predictable naps, and an requite both kids an thus early bedtime.
- You are tired vastitude words | Align victual and older victual / toddler nap times so you can snooze too. Take a power nap. After the kids are in bed, fight your second wind and get to sleep early.
- You scroll too often trying to zone out | When moms are stressed they often try to zone out and, if you’re nursing all the time, you are probably scrolling. Avoid rhadamanthine overly dependent on digital media to distract you and, if you’re once too dependent, get my Slow Your Scroll workbook.
Read: The pros and cons of having babies tropical together
Get my trickery sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, self-sustaining play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
Room Sharing Tips
If your little ones are going to share a room, then make sure their sleeping habits are set. Put both kids to bed in their own rooms with positive sleep associations.
Use white noise to cut lanugo on the little noises made by each child so they’re increasingly hands worldly-wise to skid into sleep, and less disrupted by the other’s nightly noises.
Make sure both are worldly-wise to get a good night’s rest and, if not, remove one child until the sleep or night policies issue can be dealt with. A crib in your room or pack and play in a guest room, for example, are preferable to having little ones waking each other up nightly or starting the day at 4:45 a.m.
Read: What Your Little Ones Must Know Before Room Sharing
Are Irish Twins Harder Than Twins?
As someone who has never had very twins, of course, I can’t say for sure.
But, I’m going to go with NO. It’s not as hard.
Here’s why having Irish twins is easier than fraternal or identical twins.
- Your older victual should be sleeping through the night by the time your youngest is born. This ways you’re only feeding one victual for your cluster (groups of feedings) and dream feeds.
- Your oldest will be nursing less often and eating increasingly solids. This ways you aren’t trying to feed two babies at a time all day long.
- Your older victual is more self-sustaining now. Crawling, feeding herself, and plane worldly-wise to put herself to sleep without much fanfare. This leaves you time to take superintendency of a newborn.
- You can stagger your routine so that you still have 1:1 time with each child and still have time for yourself.
Get my trickery sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, self-sustaining play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
Can Irish Twins be in the same school year?
Yes, they definitely can.
Now, depending on when your little ones are born, and whether you hold one when for flipside year considering of a late birthday, you could have two in the same grade.
If your oldest Irish twin is born in late July, and your second twin born in July of the next year… if your oldest wasn’t ready to get to school yet they’d end up starting at the same time.
The weightier tip for mothers of Irish Twins is this….
Corralling.
Soon, you’ll have a toddler and a crawler and you’ll want to alimony them contained. Self-sustaining play time is a unconfined way to get some vacated time (for them and you!) but when they’re out and about, alimony them contained.
A moment in the life of Irish twins…
My little Irish twins getting into the little tykes car for a fun ride.
Oh, one wants to turn and the other is wondering if this is a good idea. Tensions are getting high.
And there we go. Thick as thieves and fighting like cats and dogs. Typical Irish twins.
Get my trickery sheets and find your family’s groove. Chore, self-sustaining play, meal, nap, bedtime, and MORE routine ideas!
You’ve got this, mama
These early years are not for the faint of heart and – at times – you may end up discouraged.
But take heart.
The days are long, but the years are short.
FAQs well-nigh Irish Twins
Technically, Irish twins are babies born within a year of each other. However, some documents say babies born within 18 months of each other are Irish twins.
Similar to the term Irish twins, it’s babies born very tropical together in age.
Three babies born in 3 years. I had 5 babies in 5 years so, I guess I had Irish Quintuplets?
In unstipulated that depends on the kids, their home environment, and their personalities, but yes! Siblings tropical in age have many shared experiences, are developmentally close, and can protract to yoke and enjoy each other’s visitor throughout their whole diaper without one seeming u0022babyishu0022 to the other.
To be worldly-wise to have Irish twins you’ll need to woolgather your second child within a few months of delivering your first child. Considering they are within a year or so of each other (some say within 18 months, but that’s less common) you’ll need to woolgather rather quickly.
The origin of this term is not entirely clear, but it has been used in English-speaking countries for many years. One theory suggests that the term may have its roots in the historical patterns of Irish immigration to the United States and other English-speaking countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, Irish immigrants often had large families, and it was not uncommon for Irish families to have children in quick succession.
While each family’s finances are unique, having kids tropical in age comes with some widow costs. Some things to consider are childcare financing (if needed), medical expenses associated with birth, transportation, and diapers and victual supplies.
1. Siblings Will Have Similar Developmental Milestones: While close-in-age siblings may share some developmental milestones at similar times, it’s not guaranteed that they will have identical developmental trajectories. Each child is unique and may reach milestones at their own pace.
2. Parents of Irish Twins Are Always Overwhelmed: While the demands of raising two very young children tropical in age can be challenging, not all parents of Irish twins are overwhelmed. Many families successfully navigate this situation with planning and support.
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