Our Montessori Home with Twins at 9 Months Old
Let me start off by saying that each baby is different and what my twins are doing is no indication of what your baby should be doing. Quite honestly, I have even questioned this myself. One of my twins just started to sit up completely on his own and the other one still will topple over. I had this idea in my head that babies sit up around 6 months…well we are at 10 months in and that skill is still being developed. But on the flip side, they are crawling and pulling up on things. I am just trying to prepare the environment to best meet their needs and trust that they will follow their natural development if allowed to do so. Let me share with you our Montessori home with twins at 9 months old!
Things Worth Noting About This Month
Sleep
I am grateful that the boys have been sleeping through the night for quite some time now. We did some light sleep training around 8 months, and now they sleep on their floor bed in their bedroom together.
They are consistently taking two naps a day, one around 9 a.m., depending on when they wake up, and then an afternoon nap around 2 p.m.
Teeth
Lots of new teeth this month! Three came in on the top for one twin and one new tooth for the other! Lots of drool, and a little extra sensitive on those days leading up to the tooth surfacing.
One thing that seemed to help was putting Copieba on their gums. This article gives some essential oil remedies for teething, which I have found to be helpful as we navigate teething.
Food
Currently, their favorite foods are scrambled eggs, oatmeal with peanut butter, and blueberries. As well as avocado and tomato with balsamic dressing. Oh! and any type of fruit. They especially love blackberries! More and more they are showing that they need real food rather than just breast milk. They are still nursing 4-6 times a day, and eating 3 meals a day.
We have been working on the skill of drinking from an open cup. As a way to remember to work on this, I started keeping a small trivet with their water glasses and a small pitcher of water at the table. This has given me the opportunity to offer water at each meal as well as model pouring from a pitcher. Preparing our home in these ways, even early on, is a great way to support the work that our children will do soon.
Play
The twin’s newest favorite toy is a bead mover. This material has been perfect becuase the boys are able to move the chunky beads easily. It has great colors that draw them in and the beads make a fun sound when they move around the wire track. I see this continuing to be a favorite for weeks to come!
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Another favorite this month has been the peg pop-up toy. This has been a great material for them to work on grasping. I like this toy because they can grab the peg guys and enjoy watching me make them pop up. They don’t intentionally make them pop up themselves, sometimes it just happens while they are playing with it.
Twin Life
I am noticing that having twins makes the environment come alive in a very special way. They naturally draw one another into activities. When one baby goes to find something to explore, the other follows. When one baby plays with a toy that makes a unique sound, the other one crawls right over to see what is happening. They keep one another engaged.
This also has its challenges. For example, one twin will come crawling to me and then want to nurse, naturally when the other baby sees that, they instantly think that is what they need and want too. It is like a real-life “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” situation in our house these days.
What Has Been on The Shelves
- Wooden dowel with ring
- Bead Mover (a favorite)
- Books
- Cars
- Bowl with kitchen objects (wise, mini spatula, silicone baster)
- Spinning drum
- Egg in cup (Use coupon code TWINS for 10% off your order)
- Object permamance box
- Pop-up toy
- Wobbles
Things that Surprised Me
I have been surprised by how fast their need for more food has come! The transition from exclusively breastfeeding to eating more solids has happened quicker than I thought. The twins are eating 3 meals a day and sometimes a snack on top of that, definitely growing boys!
Why We Use Montessori in Our Home
Montessori at home is really more of a mindset shift than physical objects. As a Montessori parent, I consider the needs that my babies have and then interact with them in a way that allows them to meet those needs. For example, I recognize that my babies have the need to move, and since they can crawl, I allow them many opportunities to move from one place in the home to another. However, if I move too quickly it seems to overwhelm them, so I will tell them where I am going, move slowly, and wait for them to follow me. This is one way that we have been applying Montessori principles in our home lately.
The older the boys get, the more fun it has been to start doing more Montessori things in our home. I can see the ways they can be more involved in their self-care tasks. For example, getting dressed and having their diaper changed. I have been doing more standing diaper changes, which makes the process a bit smoother so they are not rolling or crawling away from diaper changes.
The Transition Ahead
The transition into toddlerhood is just around the corner and I’m excited to see what that new stage brings. Things like pouring water, getting their bib on, and putting on their shoes are new experiences they will have. We are still at the point where I do all of these things for them, but I am aware to model and show these different tasks slowly, knowing that in a few short months, they will want to be trying to do these things with greater independence.
