Twin Sense: A Sanity-Saving Guide to Raising Twins from Pregnancy Through the First Year. By Dagmara Scalise. 2009. Amacom. New York.
I highly recommend this book for expectant or new parents of twins. Twin Sense is 200 pages of thoughtful advice from a mother of twins and an older sibling. I can relate.
The book is divided into 4 sections.
1. Preparing for Twins. Includes financial considerations, buying what you really need, answering probing/insulting questions from strangers, and preparing siblings and fathers.
2. Managing the Basics. Feeding, bathing, diapering, sleeping.
3. Leaving the House. Yes! One quarter of the book dedicated to getting out of the house! Flying included.
4. Life After Babyhood. A bit about discipline, child-proofing and a summary of “best tips” for life with twins.
This book is straight-to-the-point. There are lots of amusing anecdotes, but don’t expect a scintillating read or cute full-color photos of twins. And what frazzled parent of two or more infants wants that? The sections are short, easy to find, indexed and summarized so you can scan for the information you need in just a few seconds.
I also appreciate that the author is specific. She recommends brands that parents of twins have tried and liked – but I didn’t feel the book was trying to sell me anything. As with Twin Set, Twin Sense is US focused and quite mainstream (no discussion of cloth diapers, for instance).
Still, I would have learned a lot from Twin Sense had I read it 3 years ago. In fact, I learned a lot reading now. Who would have thought of bathing twinfants in a laundry basket?
Thanks to Nettie Hartsock and Amacom for the review copy.
