YOU need to buy two or more of everything, and a supersize buggy, and trips to the swimming pool can be out of the question.

Just some of the every day challenges in the life of a multiple-birth parent who has to look after two, three or even four children at the same time.

Anna Ward, of Robert Louis Stephenson Avenue, Westbourne, who runs Bournemouth Twins and Supertwins Club, says it is vital to provide practical and emotional support for such parents.

Anna, mum to 21-year-old twins Kelly and Scott Duburguet, took over the running of the club in 1986 from founder Val Smith.

The club, which is celebrating its 25 anniversary this year, can advise on dilemmas from whether twins should be separated at school to how to cope with breastfeeding, says Anna.

At the meetings, parents swap tips on how to manage a trip to the supermarket - involving problems which can range from how to fit a triple buggy through the door to which supermarkets provide trolleys designed for two or more children.

Taking twins swimming can also be a problem as pool operators demand that at least two adults supervise if there is more than one child aged under eight.

Members of the club also benefit from special discounts at Clarks shoe shop and various children's clothes shops in town.

Former member Debbie Rudge, who had two sets of twins born in 1985 and 1986, says she found the group a lifeline.

Twenty-year-olds Thomas and Gareth and 18-year-olds David and Rebecca still live at home at Beamish Road, Canford Heath.

Asked how the club benefited her as a young mum, Debbie, 41, told us: "I would say the moral support and being able to talk to other people. Also the guidance and help with different situations from people in the same position.

"At one point I had four children in nappies and in those days they weren't disposable ones. But the main problem was when they went to school because I wasn't sure whether to keep them together or whether to separate them. They did go to the same school but were in different classes, so they had their own identity."

Katharine Cook, of De Havilland Way, Christchurch, mum of six-and-a-half-year-old identical twin girls Elise and Jessica, says Bournemouth Twins and Supertwins Club "helped me enormously".

Katharine, 35, who works part-time as an IT trainer at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, said: "I had my routine 20-week scan expecting to see one baby but was told I had two.

"The midwife said there was a twins club so I phoned up and spoke to Anna and went along to the next meeting.

"It was really nice to have intelligent adult conversation with people in the same boat as you."

Member Sharon Kinlin-Martin, from Bournemouth, gave birth to twin girls Amelia and Liberty in 2001, which led to the setting up of antenatal classes for multiple birth mums at Poole Hospital.

Sharon, a journalist, also has two older children, Dermot, six and Lydia, eight, and at one point had four children aged under four years old.

"It was really in the months before the twins were born that I felt that I needed to talk to other mums who were either going through the same experience or were now parents of twins and had survived the same experience," she said.

"It has been very reassuring to meet other mums and share experiences and listen to the mums with older twins swapping advice and anecdotes.

"Twice a year the club holds a nearly new clothes and toys sale. On a tight budget this has always been a bonus for us and very worthwhile."

The group is now affiliated to Tamba, a national organisation providing help, support and information to multiple birth families.

For further information about Bournemouth Twins and Supertwins Club ring Anna on 01202 759149.