Megan is expecting TWINS this fall (Yea! and Hooray!) and asked what baby products were must haves with multiples.
Well, do I have a list for you!! =)
IF you plan on breastfeeding, here are the essentials:
Well, do I have a list for you!! =)
IF you plan on breastfeeding, here are the essentials:
-EZ 2 Nurse twin nursing pillow. Or some variation there of. I did not get mine until after my twins were born because I (naively) thought I would just nurse my twins one on one every single time to allow for more bonding. Ha. If you are able, it is 10,327 times more efficient to tandem nurse. It takes some practice, but it's such a time saver, and trust me there is still plenty of bonding going on.
-Nursing Tanks. I spent wayyy too much money a Bravado tank (because Bravao made my favorite nursing bras) only to find I did not love it nearly as much as I loved these tanks. They are the best in my opinion. They are not expensive, and mine held up just fine even though I rotated through about five of them (I lived in them!) and so that meant being washed a lot.
-Boppies. Two of them. These were great for when one person needed to feed both twins a bottle at the same time (even if you plan to breastfeed, it's good to have a plan for when someone else may need to give them a bottle, like to take one overnight feeding so you can sleep a little bit, or if you have to go back to work or something). Plus I used these when my twins were tiny as part of my set up to nurse them when I was by myself (I would put them each on a boppy on either side of me on the couch, get my nursing pillow situated, and then pull a baby up on my pillow one at a time)
-Nursing Tanks. I spent wayyy too much money a Bravado tank (because Bravao made my favorite nursing bras) only to find I did not love it nearly as much as I loved these tanks. They are the best in my opinion. They are not expensive, and mine held up just fine even though I rotated through about five of them (I lived in them!) and so that meant being washed a lot.
-Boppies. Two of them. These were great for when one person needed to feed both twins a bottle at the same time (even if you plan to breastfeed, it's good to have a plan for when someone else may need to give them a bottle, like to take one overnight feeding so you can sleep a little bit, or if you have to go back to work or something). Plus I used these when my twins were tiny as part of my set up to nurse them when I was by myself (I would put them each on a boppy on either side of me on the couch, get my nursing pillow situated, and then pull a baby up on my pillow one at a time)
Misc gear:
- Double Snap and Go stroller. I don't mean to sound dramatic here, but it will SAVE YOUR LIFE. Many times I had to take my infant twins somewhere by myself, and this stroller made it so much easier to do it. Just pop the babies -still in their carseats- directly in this thing and off you go! No unbuckling and re buckling and moving from one seat to another. Life saver. It's light enough that it was easy for me to lift in and our of our trunk even post c-section. Our twins didn't move into convertible carseats until right before their first birthday, and part of the reason for that was this stroller. It just made things so convenient. I can't say enough good things about it. I loved it so much that if I weren't already taken I'd marry it.
- Wipe Warmer Do you like a cold, wet anything on your person at 2am? Me neither. And neither does a baby. Middle of the night changes are rough enough, and we were all about doing whatever we could to make it as smooth as possible and disturb the babies as little as possible.
- Swaddlers And this movie right along with it. Our babies loved being tightly swaddled. They craved it. And Dr. Carp is a freakin' genius. His tips in that movie worked wonders on our colicky daughter. If he ever needs a kidney, he can have one of mine.
- A sling or wrap that can fit both babies at one time. Dave and I spent a lot of time pacing the halls carrying both babies in a sling to soothe them.
The only other "tip" I can think of is you really don't need two of everything. Unless you have an abundance of space and money (which we didn't), then save and only buy one swing, one jumparoo, one exersaucer, etc. Especially until you know what your babies will like! For example, neither one of my babies ever really liked the swing, so I am really glad I never spent money on two. And you end up with so much gear (even with just one of each!) that we had plenty of "stations" to rotate through=).
- Double Snap and Go stroller. I don't mean to sound dramatic here, but it will SAVE YOUR LIFE. Many times I had to take my infant twins somewhere by myself, and this stroller made it so much easier to do it. Just pop the babies -still in their carseats- directly in this thing and off you go! No unbuckling and re buckling and moving from one seat to another. Life saver. It's light enough that it was easy for me to lift in and our of our trunk even post c-section. Our twins didn't move into convertible carseats until right before their first birthday, and part of the reason for that was this stroller. It just made things so convenient. I can't say enough good things about it. I loved it so much that if I weren't already taken I'd marry it.
- Wipe Warmer Do you like a cold, wet anything on your person at 2am? Me neither. And neither does a baby. Middle of the night changes are rough enough, and we were all about doing whatever we could to make it as smooth as possible and disturb the babies as little as possible.
- Swaddlers And this movie right along with it. Our babies loved being tightly swaddled. They craved it. And Dr. Carp is a freakin' genius. His tips in that movie worked wonders on our colicky daughter. If he ever needs a kidney, he can have one of mine.
- A sling or wrap that can fit both babies at one time. Dave and I spent a lot of time pacing the halls carrying both babies in a sling to soothe them.
The only other "tip" I can think of is you really don't need two of everything. Unless you have an abundance of space and money (which we didn't), then save and only buy one swing, one jumparoo, one exersaucer, etc. Especially until you know what your babies will like! For example, neither one of my babies ever really liked the swing, so I am really glad I never spent money on two. And you end up with so much gear (even with just one of each!) that we had plenty of "stations" to rotate through=).
Ok twin momma's - time to link up! Head over to Megan's page and tell her everything I forgot about.
7 comments:
And wine... lots of wine & beer. Local varieties are best.
LOVE,
GRAND DAD
I think that's great you shared your thoughts on things she will need or not need! I bet it'll help her and many other Moms expecting twins too.
By the way, I hope your two little sweeties are doing great :)
I second that the Double Snap and Go stroller is a must! It saved my life also so many times. Its not the most attractive stroller on the planet but who cares when it is so stinken' convenient!!
I did not discover the snap and go stroller until Baby #3. I don't know what I would do without it. So SO much easier than anything else.
Also, I too live in nursing tanks. It's time to buy the next size down now (the ones I have were borrowed immediately after birth). Good to know you found a brand you liked.
It's so funny how one mama's must haves, a different mama can do completely without. We never got the snap n go stroller because I didn't like it when we checked it out at BRU. We used the Graco duoglider to snap in the seats instead. I also never had a wipe warmer- my two never seemed to mind the wipes just the way they were! I also wish I had never bought the EZ-2-Nurse pillow, for me, it was a complete waste of $. I think you were smart to wait to buy it!
I'll go over to tell her more... but most helpful for me- a chart for space to write down feedings, amounts, and diaper changes for both twins. I loved it so much we kept it up until almost 9 mmonths. There's no way I could keep track of the feeding amounts and times without it. It was so helpful to know when Sam and Anna's refluxing got out of control for the second time, and gave me piece of mind when we had to work so hard to get them to drink enough, knowing the exact amount they drank and the exact number of wet diapers they had.
I'm so happy to have a cat.
Thanks for sharing!!! Your kiddos are PRECIOUS!! That first comment is awesome and probably true! haha
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