Any ideas?

[gatorsmom]

We have a FP open-top swing and 2 take along swings. Greenbean doesn't like the take along swings but does like occasionally the opentop. I've never tried a cradle swing and am desperate this week to get him to either sleep or not cry at night while I hold SiSi and calm her down. I can't walk with 2 screaming babies at night by myself! If both of the twins insist on crying at the same time, one of them is going to have to be left alone to cry until I can get the other one to calm down. I thought I could buy another swing or some device to calm a baby because this just breaks my heart. Anyone have any ideas?

And no, I don't have anyone to help me this week. DH is out of town for 7 days. It was unavoidable.

ET clarify.

[hellokitty]

Do you have any baby slings? I found mine to be a lifesaver, esp for my youngest son who was a very needy baby. Basically, he wanted to be held all day. Also, do you have a bouncy chair with the vibration? Some babies prefer that over the swing. My oldest son loved his swing, didn't care for the bouncy, my youngest was the complete opposite. We had the FP aquarium swing and my oldest only like the side to side motion, not front to back.

[lizajane]

i swear i will help you take up a collection if you need it to buy two cradle swings. my friend with a colic + reflux baby said the arrival of the cradle swing in their home marked the first time she and her husband sat down to eat dinner in weeks. i swear she would loan hers to you if she could. dylan was super duper easy, but he did also love the cradle swing. IMHO, it is DEFINITELY worth trying.

[gatorsmom]

Do you have any baby slings? Yup, I love my Moby Wrap. I use it everyday. But the twins are too big to both fit in there now and it's hard to wear one baby and carry the other. Unless you know of a sling that holds 2 babies?

[ThreeofUs]

I had a friend with twins, and she used two maya wraps, one on each side. Don't know if it would work for you, but I would also try a swing. Have you tried the Ambi bed by Dr. Sears? This also worked for some folks I know with babies who cried as much as DS did....

All by yourself with twins? Oh, you poor thing! Do anything to keep yourself sane - even while making your babies as happy as possible.

[cmo]

If by cradle swing, you mean the kind that go from side-to-side instead of front-to-back, then I'd HIGHLY recommend one! We had a Fisher Price one that went both ways, and none of my three kids ever liked front-to-back. They all, however, logged in hours upon hours side-to-side. It was one of the best pieces of baby equipment we ever got, and we were sad each time our baby grew out of it! If you lived near me, I'd bring you mine in a split second. :-)

I hope you can find something that works! Deep breaths, hang in there.

[sidmand]

I would third a cradle swing. DS hated the Take Along swing (he couldn't figure out for the longest time why the little fish on the sides were moving every time he hit them!), but loved the cradle swing. I didn't buy it right away because someone had leant us the little one and I didn't want to invest in the big one if that wasn't going to work either, but it did...

[spanannie]

We loved our cradle swing. That, and the Amby bed, was a lifesaver! I'd highly recommend the Amby bed. It's the only thing that would get my daughter to sleep. They are expensive, but you can easily recoup most of the cost when you re-sell.

[daniele_ut]

DS also hated the Take Along swing we had when he was a baby. We got rid of it pretty quickly. We have a Papasan Cradle swing waiting for this baby and I have hopes that she'll like it! I think that the Take Along swings are just far too upright for a little baby.

[Pennylane]

I had a friend that had an Amby (she has 15 mo old twin boys). One of her boys was very small when he was born and had awful reflux and colic. She said that this was the only thing that got her through the first 3-4 months with him.

http://www.ambybaby.com/

She ended up reselling it for almost what she paid for it on Ebay.

Good luck and I hope it gets better soon!

Ann

[elephantmeg]

I am totally getting a cradle swing this time. I donated our upright only goes one direction swing to work (I'm a peds nurse) and will be buying it myself if I don't get it from someone! I like that the rainforest one has a plug so it doesn't eat batteries! Go buy a swing!

[oneplustwo]

Get another swing!

In the meantime, do you have one of those big birthing/exercise balls? Try holding or wearing the babies while you sit on the ball and gently bounce. This would calm my twins during the witching hours when NOTHING else would. For a time I had the ball parked in front of the TV and would watch it on mute with captions while bouncing my babes in the dark; they couldn't see the TV but I was comfortably hypnotized myself.

Anne

[StantonHyde]

DD slept in the bouncy seat with the vibrator going for 2 mos, then she went to the cradle swing where she was until 6 mos! Then, when the motor was wearing down, I put her in the crib. She cried one night for 2 hours and then slept fine from there on out. Turns out she is a tummy sleeper and she just needed to be able to turn her head and snuggle into the side of the swing. That thing was worth its weight in gold! They do resell alot though. I bought mine for $100 and sold it for $50 at a yard sale. Get thee on Craig's list! And if you have to fork over $200 for 2 swings--just tell your DH that's what he gets for leaving for a week!! (DH was gone for 5 days when DD was a baby. By the time he got back I had a double jog stroller to keep my sanity!! I told him it was cheap compared with a psychiatric hospital stay!)

[casey0729]

I used a ball with DS and it works for DD as well. I have bounced both at the same time. 7 days? 4 kids? My DH is only gone for 3 this week. Of course, it's 4 next week and 2 the week after that but I don't have 4 kids. Do you still have your help during the day?

I always thought if I was going to buy a swing it would be the cradle one. Both my kiddos don't care for swinging so we never bought, only borrowed.

Hope you all get some sleep soon!

[gatorsmom]

Yes, I still have help during the day and I just went out and bought a swing. I bought it without doing any research about it. i think I'll do a separate thread about it to see if anyone else has bought it. So far, I think I'm in love with it.