Raising Artificial/Irish Twins

Well, mine were older then yours but I had 4 that were within 10 months of each other. 2 are twins, and the two 10 months older have one week between their ages. I didn't have too much trouble. The school enrolled the two who were a week apart as the same person(similar names as well). They pretty much picked their own order of things. The 4 also tended to run with the same friends and were highly protective of each other. They didn't date each other's girl friends. Except for people asking them if they were twins, it wasn't really an issue.

I am interested in this also as my 3 are really close also... Son 3 Born in SeptemberSon 2 Born in JulyDaughter 2 Born in November... So any ideas??? they compete over everything!!!!

My three are all within 17 months of each other. So this is certainly a subject I'm interested in as well. No good advice though - mine are all still little. Mostly I like having mine really close in age. They are very tight-knit and have some really great times together. It's easy to find things for them to do. They can be incredibly sweet and caring towards one another. Of course they also fight at times. Not as much as I thought they would but it's still frustrating. And there have been tricky logistical problems at times - like figuring out how best to go grocery shopping! Although it's tiring having two 2 year olds, I don't necessarily think my parenting challenges have been greater strictly due to the narrow age gap (if that makes sense). Although I do worry about competitiveness between my boys in particular as they get older.

Well I can give some advice based on my own experiences with the older 3 boys (3 within 2.6 years). They are very close ... and fight and play well. The positives: When they were little, they were each others best friends. I never had to invite alot of kids over, they always had each other. They are very close and all very close developmentally. We introduced new chores, new skills, etc at the same time. My mother in law had 3 the same age apart ... as she said to me - and it is true, after the first 18 months or so you really do parent in BULK. "Group" decisions, "Group" discipline etc The Harder Stuff: As they age we have really had to work hard on allowing each to shine in a different area. All 3 play the same sport, all 3 are at the same age level this year. Having the boys play different positions (its hockey, youngest is a goalie, next is a defenceman, next is a forward) has helped. We are splitting them up in schools too - I know this is controversial, but our middle of the older 3 has some special needs and it is very hard on his brothers to be with him all day at school and all night at home. WE have tried the same school for all 3 and it just didnt work well. Particularly with middle and younger. I did a fair amount of alone time with each. Allow them to pursue their own interests as much as we can in a larger (and broke ;) ) family. To me its so strange though to have two that are going to be SOOOO close (10 months) in age and size (our 10 month old is already weighing more than her big sister) yet not twins.

My younger son is also bigger than his "big" brother. They were about the same size when they were 8months and 4months respectively. Now as two year olds my younger son is very articulate whereas my older son took his sweet time to start talking and his speech still sounds pretty garbled. My younger son can entertain himself for quite a while with a puzzle or book. My older son is very easily distracted and has trouble sitting still. With all of that I'm sure most people assume my younger son is older. I've got an interesting dilemma with school. My sons technically "should" be in different grades. But it seems strange to separate them a whole year in school when they are less than 4 months apart. And when they are roughly the same level in terms of maturity. They will be the "same" age during essentially the entire school year. My older son tends to lag developmentally in most areas and is a little small for his age. My younger son seems to grasp academic concepts easily and is quite large for his age. So I fear putting one son in a position where he'll have to work MUCH harder than the other to keep up. At this point we're thinking of starting our older son a year "later" than he would ordinarily go to school. We've decided to at least wait on starting him in preschool although he could go this fall. Of course I think it also might be pretty challenging having the boys in the same grade. We'll just have to see how the next year or so goes. Group discipline - Yeah, I like that term. I've found myself doing that more lately. And introducing things at the same time . . . yep, that sounds familiar too. My daughter will be 4 in a couple of months. The big "item" on my mind with her is a bicycle. It seems ALL my friends/family give their kids bikes when they turn 4. But honestly, I just don't think it's feasible to give my DD a bike and not my sons. Anyway, I liked your last post Jensboys. It's good to hear those kinds of experiences. I guess I just felt like rambling a little bit in response! :arrow:

Well, from a different perspective... I'd love to ask my mother in law, but she passed away before DH and I started dating. DH and his brother are 10 months apart also. My Dh is the youngest, aka the "celebration baby" lol. Anyhow... When they were younger, they did look a lot alike, but not like identical twins. I can always tell which is which when I look at pics. They were closer when they were younger, fought like cats and dogs when they got older, but were like night and day personality wise by about 10-13 years old from what I've heard. His brother was alway super into school, reading, very quiet. DH...well...not so much into the school work part of school, more the social aspect, doesn't really like to read..and is NOT quiet. His bedroom used to be in the basement and if he wanted to ask his brother or dad something, he would use what I called the "yell-a-com" (in other words, yell whatever he wanted to say as loud as he could). They were a grade apart in school and had no common friends, except maybe some kids that lived nearby. Still, they are like night and day. My brother in law has an office job and probably stops maintance at maybe checking his oil and couldn't fix or build something around the house if he wanted to (but why would he want to when he could just pay someone to do it). DH HATES the idea of office work, does all the repairs on our cars, and we do all of our own remodeling short of rewiring and putting on the siding (we did the demo work though). I was an only until 11, so I've never had a sib close to me in age, but I'd say they are typical brothers, except they are close in age. My best advice is to raise them just like any other kids.

Sounds a lot like my two. They are 6 months apart - boy and girl - with DD being the younger one, though she is far ahead of DS developmentally. With their birthdates my two should have been a year apart in school, but after really struggling with the decision we held our son back from starting last year as we just felt he was not ready. Like you said about working much harder to keep up. So this year both of them are in kindergarten together. I left it up to the teachers and principal (who I knew from my older son) to decide where to place them and they ended up in the same class. It is working out great for me (only have to keep track of what is going on in one classroom) and so far is working fine for them. Not sure what we are going to do next year for first grade. Everything will most likely always come easier to DD and there are always going to be comparisons. We are just taking it one year at a time. I agree with Jensboys about the 'group' mentality. Especially at the younger ages. There was one of me and two of them so there weren't a lot of other options. Now they are school age I am trying to work more on them having their own activities, playdates, friends, etc. Everyone is so used to seeing them as a 'set' it is hard to get people to invite just one of them over. Or if I am somewhere with one, everyone is always asking where the other is. Luckly my 3rd is 5 years old so I can use the 'he is 5 years older' line for a lot of things they can't have/do. :)

:cheer: First of all I want to start off my saying I think you are amazing and congrats on your little ones. There are lots of benefits to having siblings from educational to social. The older ones will help the younger ones out doing anything from small tasks like walking and talking to homework and it may even seem that the younger ones are developing faster or are smarter then the younger ones, but in truth they are all equally intelligent they just have a little help. :love: Your "oldest" is going to pave the way by setting the standards and taking the lead. In a way also setting the limitations that you will allow. Your younger ones may be a little more creative and maybe a little more social. My advice: set schedules, make up rules, and explain those rules. Encourage decision making and show those kids the unconditional love you have for them. I know you will set an amazing example and they have a mom that really cares so in the end I dont think you have anything to worry about.

Thank you :)