Childcare patterns of mothers of twins during the first year

This study aims to describe the ways in which mothers of twins organize their childcare activities during the first year after a twin birth and to determine what factors might affect these mothering practices. The mother's physical and psychological state, support and help from the father and others in the surroundings, and the type of twinship were among the factors studied. Data on the organization of feeding, sleeping and waking routines were gathered from 51 families. A correspondence analysis and a cluster analysis showed that twin mothering practices can be described along two dimensions: individualized care vs collective care, and level of organization of daily routines. The mother's state of fatigue only partially accounts for the different types of maternal behavior. Likewise, the presence of several caregivers does not lead to greater individualization in care routines. Nor does there seem to be a clear link between the type of maternal behavior and the type of twinship. The discussion deals with the mother's emotional investment, her personal capacity for adjusting to the 'triadic motherhood' process, and the nature of the father's involvement in that process. Another consideration is the impact of the type of childcare pattern on twin development. Copyright (C) 1996 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry.