Festive twinsShe's been there and done that i.e. had twins and survived. So Suzannah Peel is in a great position to offer a few tips to make travelling with twins this Christmas a little less of an ordeal and to allow you to show off your little bundles of festive joy
The season of goodwill to all men and mums of twinsChristmas. The season of goodwill to all men and mums of twins. When supermarkets suddenly pull out of storage all those twin trolleys they've been keeping especially for the festive season. When high street shops widen their aisles so twin pushchairs may be navigated around with ease. And when everyone on a bus stands up in unison for a mum laden with two babies and ninety five shopping bags. Sounds familiar. No, thought not. And one of the most difficult things about the whole Christmas thing can be actually getting to it. Granny at one end of the country wants to coo over the twins just as much as Granny at the other end. And there are numerous other friends and relatives you've been promising to visit since the twins were born. And you would have done, of course, were it not for the fact that you haven't actually left the house in six months. For a long time after my premature twins 'woke up' at around their due date I refused to travel more than a few minutes down the road through fear of being cooped up with the crying. Having since taken three 24-hour flights, and endured one 52-hour marathon of delayed flights and camping at airports with our twins and younger daughter I am now a firm believer that in most circumstances children will rise to the occasion. In other words, don't let the fear of travelling with twins put you off. Getting out and about probably won't be anywhere near as bad as you're expecting and you and the children can get a great deal out of it. Find out here how to make the experience go more smoothly. Think carefully about who goes where in the carWhen traveling with baby twins but without your partner, inevitably one is in the back and out of your sight. Always try to make this the one least likely to wake and demand attention. I made the mistake of going on a long trip with my twins when they were several months old, and putting Ellie - wakeful, outgoing, boisterous and with the boredom threshold of a gnat - in the back. It was pouring with rain and too difficult to stop and change the twins over - plus I was terrified of waking Sam too by stopping the car for a nano-second. I handed Ellie every single thing I could lay my hands on out of the front of the car in order to keep her quiet and entertained for just another hour or so - tapes, cds, cell phone (who cares if she drowned it in slobber as long as it kept her quiet). As I handed each new item back it went 'gurgle, suck suck, slobber slobber, toss over the edge of the car seat, howl, -pass something else back, and so on. I finally reached my destination just at the point I was about to wrench off the steering wheel and pass that back to the inquisitive little pair of hands in the back. I vowed never again to travel with twins without a) the quieter one in the back, b) a little stock of 'new and interesting things that babies have never seen before and will find extremely amusing and which will mean they leave me to drive in peace' (In fact now I have had to revise the placement in the car rule and have Sam in the front and Ellie in the back with her sister because Ellie is too distracting to have next to me while driving!) Always keep an emergency kit in the car. Nappies, cream, bags, wipes, change of clothes, blanket, formula and boiled water, preferably something like a gel sleeve to heat it up with, food, spoon, fever medicine. This is one of those tips that should apply to any parent with a baby or toddler - but you have twice the chance of being caught out by a sick, hungry or dirty baby in a traffic jam and twice the crying when it all goes horribly wrong. Trains planes and hotel roomsAt airports, trains and bus stations, if you need help, ask. It is a little known fact that the next Olympic sport to be introduced is that of pushing a piled luggage trolley with one hand and a twin stroller with the other. For long flights, train or bus trips take two small diaper, feed and toy bags instead of one. If you have to be separated from your partner this will prevent you having to make frequent trips up and down the aisle climbing over several other passengers en route. Remember, on airlines, while your twins are under two years old your partner and you will not be able to sit with them on your laps in the same row of seats. This is because each row of seats has only one extra oxygen mask. Make sure that you pre-book seats across the aisle from each other. Book well ahead to secure these and airline cribs close together. These are usually only available in bulkhead seats. Make sure you pre-order children's, or specialist, meals. Air travel time can be doubled or trebled (or so it will seem) if you don't make the effort to pre-order the correct meals for your twins. When booking hotel rooms bear in mind fire regulations only permit five people in a regular room, less in other countries. If you need to book two rooms try to get rooms with an interconnecting door. (Then when you get there put the key in your pocket, not in the room with all the kids in. Yes, been there!). Be sure to pre-book extra cribs, highchairs etc. Most hotels, cabins etc advertise that they provide them but will almost certainly only provide one. When travelling in the US for instance, check out Baby's Away (http://babysaway.com/) which rents and delivers essential baby equipment to more than 30 locations across the US, saving you from traveling with 2 cribs, 2 highchairs, 2 bouncers, etc. Alternatively, ask friends or relatives you're visiting to try to arrange borrowing or renting equipment locally. This will save you a considerable amount of muscle strain at the airport! The armrests in First Class don't lift up. So you really are better travelling economy! Merry Christmas. About the authorSuzannah Peel is a mother of twins and one younger child, a former Fleet Street journalist and the author of Twins:The Survival Guide. Please see her website and book, available in ebook format or paperback at www.twinssurvivalguide.com
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