The Art of Parenting Twins: The Unique Joys and Challenges of Raising Twins and Other Multiples

Over the past 20 years, the number of twin and multiple births has risen by 50 percent, yet information on caring for twins and multiples remains sparse. Most child-care books touch lightly on the subject of multiples--here's one that fills in the gaps. Authors Patricia Maxwell Malmstrom, founder of TWINLINE (providing services for parents of twins) and mother of twins, and Janet Poland, parenting writer, address the issues and concerns of parents of multiples with aplomb and reassurance. From the moment parents-to-be discover that they are having more than one child, they enter what the authors call "twinshock," a state of stunned disbelief soon followed by elation, despair, and many questions: "How will I tell my babies apart?" (Leave their hospital bracelets on, or paint one baby's toenails until there is no doubt in your mind) and "Will I ever go anywhere ever again?" (Yes. With planning.)

Malmstrom and Poland cover the biology and causes of twinning; the emotional terrain of parenting multiples; the differences between twin and single pregnancy; twin development in babyhood, toddlerhood, the preschool and school-age years, and adolescence; and twins' relationships with each other from babyhood to adulthood. An excellent chapter provides help in coping with difficulties--financial problems, single parenthood, divorce, twin loss, and disability. The authors provide intensely practical details on twin care, especially for babies (yes, they stress, you can breastfeed multiples). Throughout, the authors dispel myths, provide tips, and help fill the dearth of information that, until now, parents of multiples have faced. Malmstrom writes, "My hope is that someday parents of twins will have as much information as all other parents about how to nourish their children's healthy physical and psychological development." In this book, she and her coauthor have begun to provide just that. --Ericka Lutz