Being a parent of multiples is a challenge, especially if this is your first parenting experience. One of the issues that parents have to face as their kids get older is discipline. It seems like every parenting magazine and book offers some type of advice on how to properly discipline kids, however, they rarely seem to agree. If you are facing discipline problems with your multiples, there are some effective methods of discipline that teach your children how to control their behavior in a positive manner.

Tip No. 1: Boundaries and Structure
The key to well-behaved kids is to provide them a home environment that is well-structured and has boundaries. This system of rules and expectations will help guide their behavioral development and keep them from developing negative behavior habits such as being disrespectful to adults or being aggressive toward other children.

Tip No. 2: Consistency Is Key
In order to keep your multiples on the right track, you need to be consistent with both your rules and your punishments. Your multiples are naturally going to test their boundaries as they get older to see what they can get away with. If you fail to punish a negative behavior even once, it can lead to weeks, if not months, of repeated offenses. Consistency is hard to maintain for parents, as it makes you feel like the bad guy, but it is important for the emotional health of your multiples and the functionality of your family.

Tip No. 3: Provide Emotional Support
While punishments always seem to be the first thing that parents think of when they think of discipline, emotional support is another factor that parents need to incorporate into their parenting strategies as well.

Growing up is hard to do. You don't understand a lot of what is going on or why you have to follow certain rules, you are continuously told what to do, and you have to face your fears of the unknown on a daily basis. All of these stressors can lead to "bad" behavior. However, parents need to identify when the behavior problems are caused by frustration or fear and when they are caused by a child testing their boundaries or willfully breaking the rules, such as not putting away their clothes.

When you can tell that the problem is because the child is afraid of something or frustrated with something, the parent needs to offer emotional support. For example, they can talk with their child about what's going on in their life that is frustrating them, they can give them a hug and comfort them or they can take time out of their schedule to spend extra time with their child to relax and have fun together.

Traveling with multiples is a challenge in itself, especially when you have multiples that are still toddlers or babies. The key to reducing stress when you travel with your multiples is to plan ahead and have everything at hand when you need it. Fortunately, it is easy to plan ahead for the extra things that you will need to keep your multiples happy on your next vacation.

Tip No. 1: Special Accommodations
The first thing that you will want to do when planning a family vacation is contact the theme parks, hotels and other attractions that you are going to visit. You will want to ask them if they have things like multiple-child strollers, babysitting services and other special services for people with kids or special services for people with multiples.

Tip No. 2: Have Entertainment Ready
One of the problems of traveling with kids of any age is that they act up when they get bored. The best way to keep your multiples happy on a long trip is to have various activities on hand to dole out when they start to get bored such as coloring books, story books, plush toys and videos. Having snacks and beverages on hand is also a good idea, as meltdowns can occur in response hunger.

Tip No. 3: Packing Strategies
When packing for your vacation, you need to conserve as much space as possible. If you are planning an extra long vacation, consider shipping bulkier items to your hotel or vacation house ahead of time so you don't have to haul them with you. To make sure you have a change of clothes for each multiple with you at all times, you will want to pack one outfit in your child's carryon. In your main luggage, you will pack the items your kids will need on their vacation such as shirts, shoes, socks and underwear. Since many airlines are now charging fees for each piece of checked luggage, divide a single suitcase into sections and place each multiple's clothing in their labeled section.

If you are expecting multiples right now, you probably have a lot of concerns and thoughts on your mind. While you may be thinking about how you will be able to handle feeding, bathing and diapering multiple babies at the same time, it is a good idea to stop for a moment and catch your breath. To make dealing with the prospects of becoming the parents of multiples more manageable and less stressful, take things one step at a time. To start with, think about the basic items you will need to handle the first month of your multiples' lives.

Furniture
Many parents of multiples find that putting twins in the same crib works well. They keep each other company, and this can actually help to reduce the babies' initial anxiety about sleeping outside the womb. When selecting a crib or cribs, you will want to look for a crib that is sturdy, that has a locking rail system and that has slats that are not too widely spaced. If you are looking to save money in the long run, also look for a crib that can be converted into a toddler bed.

Baby Supplies
One of the biggest surprises of being the parents of multiples is the sheer volume of stuff that you need. You will need a healthy supply of bottles, pacifiers, bottle cleaners, washrags, towels, baby shampoo, baby wipes, diapers, diaper pales, diaper rash ointment or cream, toys and grooming equipment. As you can see, the more babies you are expecting, the more of these items you will need to stock up on before the little ones arrive.

Baby Clothes
The first month of your multiples' lives is going to be difficult. Many multiples are born premature so they may spend several weeks in the hospital before you are allowed to take them home. However, when you do get to bring them home, they most likely will still be very small. To get through the first few weeks at home you will need extra-small baby clothes and diapers, such as preemie onesies, socks, baby shoes and jumpers.

Having multiples means there are a lot of things you have to do in twos or threes. However, one of the advantages of having twins, triplets, quads or quints is that you can throw one birthday party for the set. While this saves you some hassle and simplifies things a bit, it is still important that each child is treated specially on their birthday. Fortunately, there are several ways you can make a joint birthday party a special event for each of your multiples.

Separate Birthday Cakes
To ensure that each of your multiples has a unique birthday experience provide each one with their own cake. You don't have to buy two or three luxury, character cakes for the birthday party if you don't want to, after all a cake per child can add up to a lot of cake. Instead, you can make a personal-size character cake for each child and then have a larger party cake for the guests. This way, each multiple will get to blow out the candles on their own cake and pick the design and character that they want for their cake.

Separate Guest Lists
While it is likely that your multiples will have some of the same friends that they will want to invite to their birthday parties, if you are having a sleepover or a small party with only a few special guests, each multiple will likely invite their best friend(s) from school. If this is the case, you can provide each multiple's guest with a special colored t-shirt that corresponds to the color of shirt worn by the birthday boy or girl that invited them. You can then use this color team philosophy to play party games.

Special Presents
While many parents of multiples give their multiples the same gift on their birthday, it is important that you make each child's gift unique in some way. For example, you may buy each the same type of shirt, but each child gets that design in a different color. Try to consider the preferences of each child in the gift selection process. When they get older, you can provide them with a gift card to their favorite store and allow them to shop for what they want. You can even make the shopping experience part of the birthday celebration fun.

All parents need to worry about safety. However, when you are the parents of multiples your safety concerns are double, tripled or quadrupled. Because of this, you need to take extra steps to keep your home safe, and you need to implement different safety strategies to keep all of your multiples safe from harm.

Safety Tips for Parents of Multiples No. 1: Electricity Safety

One of the biggest hazards in your home is electricity. Electrical devices and outlets are found throughout your home, and they are necessary parts of modern life. Some of the steps you can take to safety proof the electrical devices in your home are inserting outlet plugs in outlets not in use, taping down electrical cords and keeping all outlets barricaded with furniture.

Safety Tips for Parents of Multiples No. 2: Daily Safety Proofing

Because things in your home are moved around on a daily basis, you need to search for safety hazards on a daily basis. The best way to do this is to get down to your children's eye level and scan your home for safety hazards. You will be surprised how many hazards you can find like open drawers, uncovered outlets, small toys and sharp corners. Make it a point to conduct a safety check each morning before your multiples wake up or each evening after your multiples have gone to bed.

Safety Tips for Parents of Multiples No. 3: Safety Is a Team Sport

One of the challenges of being a parent of multiples is keeping the multiples from dividing your attention when you are trying to keep them out of trouble. It is inevitable when you are dealing with the crisis of one multiple, the other sneaks away to get into a similar predicament. You can keep all your multiples safe by making it a point, at least when they are young, to treat crises as a team sport. If one multiple is injured or gets dirty, then have the other multiples act as your helpers. They can hand you supplies, bring you a change of clothing and throw items away for you. This will not only keep them in your line of sight, but it will teach them about how to treat minor injuries and how to clean up after a minor accident.