did anyone take any classes prior to birth that were helpful for twins?

if so, what and where?
tia

did anyone take any classes prior to birth that were helpful for twins?

Since they were our first baby...We took a baby care class and an CPR class. It was at motherhood maternity near winthrop. You sign up through winthrop and then the class was at motherhood maternity.

I was on bedrest from 24 weeks on so I had a ton of time to spend reading. The baby care class covered practical things and did have some good tips (for first time partents) but for the most part it was common sense information that you can find in most baby care books and articles. It did make me feel more confident in being able to care for a baby. I don' think anything can prepare you from going from no babies to two of them.

I think EVERYONE should take an infant CPR class, it covers both not breathing and choking. You get a DVD and a CPR doll to take home. I was so freaked out about SIDS, especially when one of my girls kept flipping over at 4 months and sleeping completely face down. SIDS risk is highest from 4-6 months and of course she picked 4 months to start sleeping with her face buried completely face down in the mattress. :O( I swear I barely got any sleep those first weeks. I would even sleep with her on her back in my arms in a chair I was so terrified.

I felt like having that training was just a little bit more peace of mind. Now that I am typing this, I really need to go back and take the next class (for over a year olds)

I choose not to take a breastfeeding class because I knew the hospital offered coaches for free. I did read a book on it though. The coach was helpful and kinda pushy which I needed and appreciated in hindsight :O) I breast fed my girls until 10 months when they self weaned.

I am a major researcher so I am compelled to learn all I can about something. I think the classes give you about as much info as you can get without being actually hands on. My girls were in the NICU for the first week so I did get some "supervised" time to get hands on experience in the basics.

Message edited 10/21/2012 11:06:24 AM.

Re: did anyone take any classes prior to birth that were helpful for twins?

did anyone take any classes prior to birth that were helpful for twins?

infant cpr

i also took a baby care class. i didnt get much out of it to be honest. when you bring them home its nuts and you will find your OWN way of doing it. You will develop a system that works for you..
i found that reading books and doing to much research beforehand can be dangerous- and can create ideas in your mind that may not work for you..or create unnecessary stresses just because the book said it was the way to do it.

all i can say is ask a lot of questions to the nurses at the hospital or nicu, they will tell you all you need to know. then, you will go home nad find your own method.

Re: did anyone take any classes prior to birth that were helpful for twins?

DH and I took a "twins class" through Parents R' Talking and we were the only ones in the class so it was informal and really nice to just be able to chat and ask every random question that popped into our heads. The married couple that ran it have their own twins (and the husband is a twin himself). It helped us kind of wrap our heads around some logistics and gave us at least some rope to hold on to and guide us through For example we refered back to the lists of what we should register for and how much of various items, we used print outs for the feed/sleep schedule and then even just got random tips (i.e. zipper pjs are infinitely faster to change than snaps and to layer crib sheets).

While it wasn't necessary at all, it was nice to have some point of reference for how twins would be different from a singleton and a bit of what we could expect.