What to Do When You're Having Two

November 4, 2013
Diaz, a Manhattan mother of fraternal twins, founder of the Twiniversity Web site, and director of the Manhattan Twins Club, brings her experience and the collective wisdom of her online community to this niche offering in the What to Expect genre. As multiple births in America increase due to IVF treatments, older maternal ages, and better medical outcomes for preterm labor, the medical system has developed more standard processes for dealing with them. This handbook proves most successful in clarifying these processes, telling the expectant twin mom how to handle such things as bed rest, to avoid preterm labor; a delivery that may place in an operating room with medical students watching; and a likely stay in the NICU for one or both babies. Diagrams for tandem nursing and co-swaddling are clear and helpful. But Diaz wades into murkier waters with a mix of consumer advice, personal opinions about controversial topics like cloth vs. disposable diapers, breast vs. bottle feeding, and sleep training, as well as several half-formed advice beyond her expertise, in realms like baby proofing, financial planning, and marital issues. The book is most suitable as a supplement rather than replacement for standard baby books; parents will likely want the wisdom of the professionals as well. Agent: J.L. Stermer, N.S. Bienstock.

October 15, 2013
Twiniversity website founder Diaz delivers a comprehensive guide for parents of twins, from prenatal care through the first year of child development. Humorous at times--"I always liked bathing the twins in the sink because it forced me to do the dishes. That's the sad truth"--and exhaustive in the details, the author provides meticulous lists, tips, do's and don'ts, and compares brands of products, offering advice on what to purchase, including baby monitors, double breast-feeding pillows, Bumbo seats, jumperoos, exersaucers and baby swings. As a mother of fraternal twins, the author provides firsthand experience, and her desire is to ease parents into the oftentimes overwhelming moments of dual parenting. From health concerns during pregnancy, such as insomnia, morning sickness and how to handle bed rest, to an all-inclusive registry list to a debate over cloth diapers versus disposable, Diaz moves from one arena to the next with the efficiency of a drill sergeant, someone who's been there, done that and wants readers to learn from her trials and errors. Rounding out this how-to guide is excellent advice on how to breastfeed twins, when to start solid foods, finding time to sleep and setting schedules, bathing, swaddling, and how to navigate the ins and outs of car travel to and from the grocery store. Diaz even considers fellow airline travelers in her considerate and helpful hint of passing out earplugs to those seated around anyone with twins. "Nothing is off-limits here," she writes, "as we will delve into some pretty murky waters." For readers expecting a double pregnancy, Diaz's book should be the first purchase after that all-important moment when the doctor says, "Guess what?!" In-depth, supportive information on navigating the complex road of parenting twins.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2014

Diaz (founder, twiniversity.com) offers expectant parents a complete survival guide to babies' first year. While twins are hardly the unicorns they used to be, they require unique considerations for expecting, delivery, breastfeeding, scheduling, and more, and common guides to pregnancy and early infancy simply do not apply. Diaz, a Manhattan mother of fraternal twins, covers the major topics one would anticipate, as well as the more mundane but crucial ones, such as choosing a stroller. Her top six mistakes to avoid (e.g., not accepting help, not napping, etc.) are useful lessons, and she does a fine job of helping parents prepare for events such as outings to the grocery store (yes, they are that involved). VERDICT Diaz offers a detailed and on-target guide for parents expecting two; for libraries needing an update or addition to the parenting collection, consider this a worthy purchase.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.