getting out of the house with 18 month old twins

deams

Tue, Mar 13 2012, 12:37 pm

take the double stroller or drive and go to a park that is gated. see how that goes and then try something more adventures. maybe go for a 5 min. walk and see how they lissen to you then you can brave doing it for longer. sit on a park bench and have a snack as they people watch. I have 2 kids and I thank hashem that I have 2 hands. I know its different with twins. maybe if they realy don't want to hold your hand you can buy one of those things that attack to you and them and gives the kids room to walk on there own.
good luck and don't be scared to try new things. take it slow and see what there and your limit is.

ntm1

Tue, Mar 13 2012, 1:30 pm

thanx for the response. I tried going to the park myself the other day and it was a disaster- so they loved the swings but you cant be on them too long so I tried letting them climb and run around and they were each going in oppsite directions I didnt know who to run after first so we ended up just going home. every one I know works during the day or has their own kids to care for. o well.

Has anyone seen / used a "leash" for their kids?

busydev

Tue, Mar 13 2012, 1:35 pm

ntm1 wrote:

http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin....._ba_2

obagys

Tue, Mar 13 2012, 1:49 pm

I don't have twins but I did have a 2yr old, 1 yr old and infant all at the same time, and I currently have a 22 mo old and 9 month old, so I do understand your predicament. And it is for that exact reasons that I only went to gated parks or enclosed, indoor play areas. It is also the reason why I bought a bunch of outdoor play equipment and a swingset for my yard, but I don't know if that is an option for you or not.

HappyMom5

Tue, Mar 13 2012, 7:17 pm

When my twins were at that stage (and I had a boy 15 months older than them) I felt that my best option was to use my carriage. If it was just for a short time out I would keep them in the carriage and be equipped with some healthy snacks to keep them happy. Depending on the nature of your twins, I found it too risky to try to run after them. They won't always run in the same direction and they are too young to FULLY grasp the concept of not going in the street. Once you are in a gated area you can take them out of the carriage and let them run around.

bodybalance

Wed, Mar 14 2012, 5:16 am

This is the story of my life!! The two times I have tried taking them to the park alone have been a total disaster. My daughter zeros in on all the cigarette butts and when I am trying to wrench them free, my son takes advantage of the situation and runs away at top speed.

I have no porch or backyard and all our parks are open spaces with no gates.
In additon, I am always alone (no help). I know my kids really need open spaces to run/crawl around.
So I understand your predicament.
I fantasize about leashes too... I just can't succumb to it.

G-d help us Smile

ewa-jo

Wed, Mar 14 2012, 8:06 am

I don't have twins, but when my baby was born, my older ones were 15months and 2years7months... we went everywhere with the double stroller (the baby was in a sling carrier). My local park is enclosed, but there are two exits onto the sidewalk (and the road is 3 feet away). This is what I did...

1. Let the kids play by themselves... you sit and watch and let them explore, climb..etc. You cant follow around two kids at once... let them learn to entertain themselves. Running around aimlessly is fine, just as long as they stay inside the park

2. Bring snacks. When they art to get restless, sit them down on a bench and give them a snack they can eat by themselves (I always took rice cakes or crackers)

3. If someone tries to run out of the park, grab them and plop them in the stroller (strapped in) for a few minutes. If they persist in running out of bounds, then go home.

You can't stay at home all day, so it may take a few outings for your kids to get used to things, but my two older ones play nicely at the park (sometimes they play together, sometimes not) and I can sit down on a bench with the baby and relax a little.

ntm1

Wed, Mar 14 2012, 9:12 pm

Thanx again for all your replies but it seems like I'm going to be sticking to my porch or maybe I'll get one of those wagons that you push around on my block. I went to the park today again with my dh and we barely were able to keep up- but thats fine- were 2 people. My kids have no concept of how to go down the stairs so we need to follow them around or they fall straight down.

SivanMom

Thu, Mar 15 2012, 10:55 pm

My twins are 16 months old and so far so good. The playground is fine, they both climb up and go down the slides a thousand times in a row. I can actually sit on a bench and watch them for the most part. When I play in front of my house (pretty close to the street, but not a busy one), I put riding toys closer to the house and I stay on the side of the street. I've had to do some chasing, but I try to anticipate which way they will run before they do it. I have found that if they start wandering, as long as it's not in the street, I don't follow them and they usually come back - I just make sure I can reach them quicker than they can get into the street. I'm not sure what I'll do in 1/2 a year when they are faster than I am.
When I am exhausted from chasing them I put them in their wagon with a snack. My daughter hates the stroller so that's not an option.

Jacoby

Thu, Mar 15 2012, 11:11 pm

May I ask where you live?
My twin boys are just about the same age so I recognize your story Smile

This is what I do- Take them in stroller to the park. If they are both in the same area, fine. If one starts wandering off, then I just hold one and follow/watch the other until they start playing in the same area again. When it gets hard and exhausting, we go in the swings. I stretch that time by pointing out the birds, balls and children around us. Then is snack in the stroller Smile

. If I still have more time to kill I'll let them run around a bit more.
I also feel like I'm the only one actually home with my kiddies... What other things do you do with them at home? I need more ideas for playing at home!
Good luck! I know it's fun, it's hard, but try to enoy!

eishes

Thu, Mar 15 2012, 11:50 pm

I have twins a bit older, but I remember that what worked best for us was:

A) go with someone else, so you each watch one kid the whole time

B) go to an enclosed space where the kids can run around and you don't have to worry every second where they are and what they are doing (I don't know where you live, but by me a lot of the malls have nice clean playground areas which are enclosed and you don't have to worry about stairs or them picking up trash Smile

)

C) take them in the stroller, and one at a time, let them get out and walk holding onto the stroller or your hand - tell them they are taking turns.

I know it's a hard age with two - hatzlacha!

AlwaysGrateful

Fri, Mar 16 2012, 10:18 am

At eighteen months old, if they're having that much of a problem with stairs, I would say they need more practice. Spend a couple of days on a small stairway (even an outdoor one, if that's all you can find that has only a couple of steps). Teach them how to turn around and go down backwards. If you don't teach them, they may not figure out on their own...and once they've learned, they can go around the park themselves. When my second was 18 months old, he'd be running around the playground with my older one. Sure, I still like to keep him in sight, but as long as it's a small playground, it shouldn't be too hard to keep both of them in sight. You don't have to follow them everywhere, unless you see something dangerous happening. The poor kids will see that you don't trust them unless you're right next to them.

I would also teach them about sidewalk safety sooner rather than later. Maybe go to a side street where there usually aren't cars, even an alley. Teach them how to walk up until the end of the sidewalk and then wait for Mommy to come and hold their hands. If it's a dead end street, you won't be as nervous if they run in for a second, and you can react accordingly.

I think rather than constantly protecting kids at this age, we need to give them the tools they need to protect themselves. Mostly for them, but a good side effect is that it will make life much easier for you too!

ntm1

Fri, Mar 16 2012, 12:53 pm

Jacoby wrote:

May I ask where you live?
My twin boys are just about the same age so I recognize your story Smile

I live in flatbush and im actually having a really hard time now keeping them busy at home- they're not realy interested these days in playing with their toys so I tried playing with blocks with them and letting them color but they sort of have no interest. So I'm sort of looking for some ideas also. We go out every single day ( to let time pass)for a walk to anywhere- grocery, target, neighborhood but they want to come out of the stroller.

like some1 mentioned taking 1 out at a time from the stroller and letting them hold on wont work. THEY DO EVERYTHING TOGETHER- and it will never happen- theyre also very active and wnvr I walk with my dh and the kids they run so fast and try going into the gutter- its really scary.

We have steps in our hallway and were constantly showing them how do go down but they literally have no concept- if I wasnt behind them all the time they'd b in bad shape- they got a lot of learning to do.
It's also very hard to teach 2 kids at once how to climb down the stairs- none of them want to stay alone while I'm helping the other one down-so I end up just carrying them down the stairs together- I figured all kids learn eventually.

I'm usually on my own with no1 to help me out since my dh is in school fulltime.