Caring for twins is a baby gear intensive process. Babies alone require a lot of stuff day-to-day but when you care for multiples the amount and size of the gear can get overwhelming. I've been down the baby road before but I am using and learning about new things everyday in order to make life easier with the twins. When I was pregnant and searching for recommendations and reviews for twin gear I found almost zilch from real life Moms who were also caring for older children. So here is my personal opinion on some must-haves and some "makes life easier" things when you have been blessed with multiples.
Diaper bag: after going through more bags than I care to admit I FINALLY found the most amazing diaper bag. The Petunia Pickle Bottom Wistful Weekender (Moonlit Moments) (other styles available) is hands down the best diaper I have found for multiples so far. Not only is this bag stylish but it is roomy in all the right places. It includes an easy to fold changing pad and brand name plastic wipes holder. This bag is full of pockets and includes a zippered pocket on the inside as well as two smaller pockets on the outside near the handles. I like the outside pockets for stashing my cell phone and keys which I hate having to dig around for when I need them. Day to day I carry 2 of all the essentials in this bag and still have room to spare to stash anything my older kids might need; 2 blankets, 2 outfits, 10-12 diapers, 2 hats, 2 bibs, 2 burp cloths, 4 pacifiers, 2 receiving blankets, lots of hand sanitizer wipes, pacifier wipes, hand lotion, 2-6 bottles in an insulated bottle holder. As I mentioned I carry all of this everyday and still have plenty of space to stash a large camera or anything else I might need for the day's special outing. Best of all when full this bag will not throw out your back like so many other bags I've tried already.
Diaper pail: for my older children I never saw the need to justify using a diaper pail, I just changed and tossed in the nearest trash. Twice the diapers means twice the smell and mess so the Munchkin Arm and Hammer Diaper Pail, White has been a wise investment. Not only does this diaper pail hold a ton of diapers it securely contains all the stink so you'll never know there are dirty diapers stashed in your nursery.
2 baby swings; I had my doubts whether I'd actually need two swings but man am I happy we ended up with two now. There are some days when for one reason or another I need both arms free to get something accomplished around the house (cooking dinner, making a boo-boo all better, etc) and that is when having two swings have justified the expense. Even if your multiples are your only children there will be times when for one reason or another your babies don't want to be held but need some gentle rocking, this is when the swings are priceless.
Infant stroller: I chose the Baby Trend Double Snap N Go Stroller Frame, Black because I've used the snap n go strollers with my older children and have always loved the ease of just snapping on the infant carseat and quickly moving on to whatever it is we need to accomplish. With 3 older children I am always on the move so quickly getting out of the car and getting all 6 of us moving to our destination safely is crucial. Little did I know how wonderful the roomy cargo area would be when I first purchased it. The cargo area holds 2 oxygen tanks, 2 apnea monitors, and still has room for a small basket worth of groceries. This stroller quickly collapses with one hand and also snaps open with only one hand; very nice when you are juggling a toddler, groceries, or the large diaper bag. My only complaint about this stroller is that it doesn't steer with one hand, you need both hands on the handle bar to get around corners or push straight, but this is to be expected for a stroller that is carrying a heavy load.
There are lots of other smaller things I use on a daily basis that I will review and outline in a future post.
If you are a Mom of multiples or are expecting multiples please do not hesitate to contact me with any baby gear (or other) questions.
Diaper bag: after going through more bags than I care to admit I FINALLY found the most amazing diaper bag. The Petunia Pickle Bottom Wistful Weekender (Moonlit Moments) (other styles available) is hands down the best diaper I have found for multiples so far. Not only is this bag stylish but it is roomy in all the right places. It includes an easy to fold changing pad and brand name plastic wipes holder. This bag is full of pockets and includes a zippered pocket on the inside as well as two smaller pockets on the outside near the handles. I like the outside pockets for stashing my cell phone and keys which I hate having to dig around for when I need them. Day to day I carry 2 of all the essentials in this bag and still have room to spare to stash anything my older kids might need; 2 blankets, 2 outfits, 10-12 diapers, 2 hats, 2 bibs, 2 burp cloths, 4 pacifiers, 2 receiving blankets, lots of hand sanitizer wipes, pacifier wipes, hand lotion, 2-6 bottles in an insulated bottle holder. As I mentioned I carry all of this everyday and still have plenty of space to stash a large camera or anything else I might need for the day's special outing. Best of all when full this bag will not throw out your back like so many other bags I've tried already. Diaper pail: for my older children I never saw the need to justify using a diaper pail, I just changed and tossed in the nearest trash. Twice the diapers means twice the smell and mess so the Munchkin Arm and Hammer Diaper Pail, White has been a wise investment. Not only does this diaper pail hold a ton of diapers it securely contains all the stink so you'll never know there are dirty diapers stashed in your nursery.2 baby swings; I had my doubts whether I'd actually need two swings but man am I happy we ended up with two now. There are some days when for one reason or another I need both arms free to get something accomplished around the house (cooking dinner, making a boo-boo all better, etc) and that is when having two swings have justified the expense. Even if your multiples are your only children there will be times when for one reason or another your babies don't want to be held but need some gentle rocking, this is when the swings are priceless.
Infant stroller: I chose the Baby Trend Double Snap N Go Stroller Frame, Black because I've used the snap n go strollers with my older children and have always loved the ease of just snapping on the infant carseat and quickly moving on to whatever it is we need to accomplish. With 3 older children I am always on the move so quickly getting out of the car and getting all 6 of us moving to our destination safely is crucial. Little did I know how wonderful the roomy cargo area would be when I first purchased it. The cargo area holds 2 oxygen tanks, 2 apnea monitors, and still has room for a small basket worth of groceries. This stroller quickly collapses with one hand and also snaps open with only one hand; very nice when you are juggling a toddler, groceries, or the large diaper bag. My only complaint about this stroller is that it doesn't steer with one hand, you need both hands on the handle bar to get around corners or push straight, but this is to be expected for a stroller that is carrying a heavy load.There are lots of other smaller things I use on a daily basis that I will review and outline in a future post.
If you are a Mom of multiples or are expecting multiples please do not hesitate to contact me with any baby gear (or other) questions.
My twins are 8 now, but a couple things I remember being invaluable those first couple years . . . baby carriers! Ring slings and a Mei Tai were my favorites, but wraps would have been right up there if they'd been more readily available back then.
ReplyDeleteOnce our twins were old enough to sit in a high chair, we ended up getting 2 of the folding seats that strap to a regular chair & kept them in the car. I took them to meet my parents for lunch once a week and some smaller restaurants only had one high chair, plus if we went to anyone's house, it was nice to have our own seating for the babies. With one baby (I have a 2 yr old also), it's easy enough to just have her sit on my lap, but with 2, that wasn't practical.
Every baby is different but my twins LOVED doorway jumpers (that was before the jumperoo thingy was available). We had an double doorway into our master bedroom in that house which annoyed me (waste of space) most of the time, but was perfect for 2 doorway jumpers, that was where/how they first started really interacting with each other, they'd bounce toward each other and kind of "bumper car" off of each other and just laugh and laugh.
The bath seat rings, that in general I'm not a fan of (false sense of security & all), were nice for that stage where they were sitting relatively well but not QUITE well enough to have 2 of them sitting unassisted in teh bathtub. The rings gave just enough extra stability to be able to have them sit in the bath together.
If you house has room for it, once our twins were toddlers, we got a "Learning Tower" stool. It was PERFECT! They could both be in it to "help" me in the kitchen & it solved the "hold me" whining, because they wanted to see/help when I cooked.