Most twins, triplets and more grow and develop along roughly the same lines as their singleton peers – even those who start out much smaller will catch up in time. But there is nothing to say twins, triplets or more have to reach milestones at the same time as each other. The exception is for identical twins or triplets, where you can expect the babies to have a pretty similar pattern of growth and development Try not to compare your babies with others – multiples sometimes take longer to reach milestones, especially if they were premature. Health professionals will make allowances for this when they monitor development. A singleton pregnancy usually lasts forty weeks, so if, for example, your babies were born at thirty-five weeks, their progress will be monitored as if they are five weeks younger than they are.

Some key milestones in the first year to expect would be , around 3 months you can expect your babies to be responding to you by smiling, lifting their heads and may be using their forearms for support. At 6 to12 months your babies will be starting to make sounds such as babbling, cooing and laughing. 9- 12 months your babies may be able to sit unaided for a short time and might be starting to attempt crawling or the first stages of moving.

Emotional milestone, from 6 weeks to 3 months babies enjoy looking at familiar faces such as a parent or older siblings and starting to respond to these faces with smiles, 3 to 6 months babies start to be able to tell a strangers face from a more familiar one and will show signs such as excitement when they see preparation for their feeds by smiling for example. At 6 to 12 months your babies will enjoy games which interact with their carers such as peekaboo and showing their happiness by laughing and smiling.

These milestones are a guide only, if you have any concerns or questions regarding your babies development or reaching milestones you may want to contact your health visitor or GP for advice.

Twins Trust runs a group where parents whose children have special needs can share experiences and offer each other support. Find out more here.

For more information on milestones and development: https://inourplace.co.uk/developmental-and-emotional-milestones-leaflet/

Twinline, Twins Trust’s free telephone helpline. Twinline is open between 10am and 1pm and 7pm and 10pm everyday on 0800 138 0509.