Potty Training for Multiples, Part 2: Ready to Take the Plunge

So you think you’re ready to take the plunge into potty training? If one (or both) of your twinnies are genuinely showing an interest and you have all that you’ll need to get started; prepare yourself for one wild journey and hold on tight!

Beginning the potty training process will require lots of patience and persistence from us as parents. And more often than not, will seem downright frustrating at times. However, just as the old saying goes, “Nothing worthwhile happens overnight.” With a few simple tips and frequent trips to the potty, your twinnies will be flushing all your worries away in no time!

Step2 partners with Twiniversity for the Holidays

Twiniversity is proud to announce that Step2 has stepped up as our “24 days of Twinnies ’til the Holidays”* partner. Last year our online holiday celebration was a huge success, with thousands of folks checking in daily to see who we were featuring. In total, 24 Twiniversity families where honored as we posted pictures and some fun facts about them. As a thank you, each family received a small token gift certificate to help with their holiday shopping.

This year will be no different. We will still feature a daily Twiniversity member’s multiples, the member will still receive a small token gift certificate, but this year we will also feature a multiple friendly Step2 product. Each item was hand picked by Natalie Diaz, founder of Twiniversity, as a top pick for any family of multiples. Picking the top 24 Step2 products was actually really easy. Step2 is one of the most multiple friendly companies out there. Many of their items can easily accommodate twins, triplets or more, since they feature multiple sides and offer multiple play scenarios at the same time.  Many Step2 products keep families, like ours (multiples), in mind. An example of this is their Choo Choo Wagon. I cannot even count how many times this product has come up in our “Twiniversity Forums.”

We launched our Radio Show! Listen to our first episode now

This is a year of firsts for us. We announced the launch of our magazine and now we launched our new radio show!

Today’s topic was all about “Breastfeeding Your Multiples” Listen in now!

Q & A with an expert Baby Proofer!

Today’s question comes from a Twiniversity mom in Pennsylvania who has a future super hero on her hands, or an escape artist…depends on how you look at it!

Q: Help! I have a 3y/o & 17 mo b/b twins. When you reach the point where one baby can climb gates but not go down steps without help, do you remove the gate? I’m at the point where occasionally the safety feature is becoming a hazard. Input please!

A: I can appreciate the dilemma that the mother who wrote this letter is having in her home. I come across this unique situation on a regular basis.

It’s amazing that a child that has the dexterity to get over a gate but can’t yet navigate the stairs. I think you have a super baby on your hands!  All jokes aside this is difficult issue but fixable. Perhaps the gate is installed too low. Top of stair gates should consist of rows of vertical slats and be installed with approximately 2 3/8″ of room between the bottom of the gate and the floor and as well as between the vertical slats. These vertical slats create an impossible opportunity to use the gate itself as a climbing threat. That said, and assuming the gate is installed correctly, you should change the gate out to an oversized gate. The standard sized safety gate usually is 30″ in height.  These oversized gates tend to offer the extended peace of mind that is needed while teaching your children how to navigate the stairs. You could also consider putting an oversized pressure gate on the older boys room and use that as your “safe zone” when you need to. The oversized gates offer protection up to 42″. That is a significant increase. I would recommend that that while you are all in the house, and you haven’t done the safe zone gate that you have a rule of never leaving the older one alone near the stairs until she can navigate the stairs which should be very soon.  It is important to to make sure that the the “safe zone” is free of any chairs or steps that the child can use as a stepping stone to freedom and potential disaster.

What Baby-Safe America would do with this scenario is evaluate the entire home and then pinpoint the weak links. We would make our recommendation and then implement the installation process so the house would be beyond safe without having that over the top feel.

Today’s Expert is James Hirtenstein of Baby Safe America has garnered the highest respect of most in the child care community of New York City. Baby-Safe provides baby-proofing, pool-fencing background checks and nanny surveillance and is the only full service child safety company serving the New York tri-state area.  As a pioneer in the child safety business, James is a founding member of the International Association for Child Safety (IACS), an industry trade group representing well over 200 child safety experts internationally.  James has mastered the field of child-safety risk management and has appeared as an expert on shows such as The CBS Morning show, Dateline NBC, Good Day New York and many others.  When not actually baby-proofing, James can usually be found giving safety seminars at  various pediatrician’s offices, hospitals, community centers and new mommy groups. For more information about Baby Safe America visit their website or to find a Baby Proofer near you visit the IACS.

Thank You James!

-Your friends at Twiniversity

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Twiniversity Tip: Telling Babies (and things) apart!

If you were blessed with same sex twinnies, every parent worries about telling them apart after birth.

There are many options that parents have, and some are super simple. The most commom? Nailpolish! It’s one of the oldest twin parenting tricks in the book. Nowadays you can find, organic or all natural nail polishes in your local drug store or whole foods store. Some great options are Piggy Paint and Priti. These non toxic polishes will give you a solid piece of mind, if you need to give your newborns a mani/pedi.

Keeping their hospital bracelets on is another surefire way of making sure you don’t mix up A & B! These might get a bit mucked up after a few baths, but it might give you enough time to learn their cries and sounds and differentiating characteristics.

If you have older multiples you may have asked yourself more than once, “Who’s boots are those?” or broken up a fight over who’s Transformer is who’s.

Animal teaches us some lessons…

In Disney’s THE MUPPETS, (in theatres everywhere this Thanksgiving!), Animal is enrolled in an anger management class. But with help from the Muppets, he has achieved personal & artistic balance. Now, Animal helps you find your inner Animal with ANIMAL’S FIVE RULES OF COOL: A guide to life from Drummer, Rock Icon, Force of Nature and Anger Management Graduate!

Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2: Lightning Fast Action & Fun for the Whole Family

So you thought that Disney/ Pixar’s Cars 2 moved faster than lightning through the movie theaters this summer? Now’s your chance to grab a copy for your twinnies, (in store or online at Amazon or Target), before they go flying off the shelves.

Making a pit stop for this feature film will be well worth the ride, because this time around Lightning McQueen & Mater have a special message to bestow upon the world. “Don’t be a lemon; a clunker; or a jalopy.” And no matter what happens, stand by your friends.

Kiddieland Recalls Disney-branded Fairies Plastic Trikes Due to Laceration Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Disney Fairies Plastic Racing Trikes

Units: About 12,000 (9,000 Disney Princess Trikes were recalled in April 2011*)

Manufacturer: Kiddieland Toys Limited, of Scituate, Mass. (Note: Disney licensed their brand name to Kiddieland.)

Hazard: The plastic fairy figures protrude from the top of the handle bar posing a laceration hazard if a child falls on them.

Incidents/Injuries: CPSC and Kiddieland have received one report of a 3-year-old girl from Ohio who suffered a facial laceration near her right eye.

Description: This recall involves the Disney-branded Fairies Plastic Racing Trike. The trike is green and purple with a white seat and yellow wheels. On top of the handlebar, there is a Tinkerbell figure and three other rotating fairy figures. “Disney Fairies” is printed on the label in front of the trike just below the handlebar.

Sold exclusively at: Target stores nationwide from July 2009 through December 2009 for about $50.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the trikes away from children and contact Kiddieland for a free replacement handlebar with an enclosed rotating display.

For additional information, contact Kiddieland at (800) 430-5307 anytime, or visit the firm’s website at www.kiddieland.com.hk

Calling all cuties!

Multiplicity Magazine is looking for cover twinnies or trippies for its inaugural issue in January. Think you’ve got some of the cutest twinnies around? Send a seasonal (think winter, since the issue will span January – March), professional, high resolution .jpeg image to talitha@multiplicitymag.com by Friday, December 2nd (extended).

If your photo is selected, we will be happy to provide a photo credit for your photographer (along with link to their blog or website), and will also include a short bio on your twins on the Table of Contents Page. If your photo is not selected, we will consider using throughout the magazine with articles and as creative features. We don’t look forward to making the tough decision of choosing only one cover photo, but we will look forward to see all of your cuties!

Ready for the Holidays?

After all the excitement of yesterday’s Halloween Celebration some kids (and parents) are left feeling a bit sad that it’s over. But rest assured there are some other big holidays right around the corner. With Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas; the countdown begins…NOW!

What are we counting down towards?

Celebrate the Season… Treat your kiddos… and get a chance to win a prize for any size! As Twiniversity Decks it’s Walls for the month of December!