A Few of My Favorite Things-Twin Baby Gear
We have our 3 year old son and our boy/girl twins are 18 months old. Needless to say we have gone through a lot of baby gadgets and contraptions over the past few short years. Having two babies at the same time does require a little more creativity and variation from your typical baby gear set up. So here are the items I found most useful and essential as a twin mom.
You need two of them, or more. I literally had 4 of them, 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs. They are pretty portable so you don't need to go that crazy ( I had them passed along to me from friends) but you should have them. You want to have them, they are amazing. Even for one baby, everyone needs a Rock n' Play.
Photo courtesy of Target.com
2. Table for Two Twin Infant Seat
This thing is AWESOME. The inventor is a twin mom and you can only purchase it off of her website. Kinda pricey but totally worth it. My babies loved this thing even when I wasn't feeding them they would just sit and hang out together. Its GREAT. Can't wrap your head around how you are going to feed two? Struggling with feeding two at the same time? This thing is your answer.
Photo courtesy of buytablefortwo.com
3. Britax B-Ready Stroller System
I love Britax. I researched the heck out of every stroller out there. I did not care what the cost was I wanted what I found to be the best functioning and top reviewed stroller. After extensive research I found the Britax B-Ready to meet all of my requirements and I felt the price was very reasonable compared to many other high end stroller options out there. The Britax brand as a whole has treated us very well. All of our carseats are Britax and they consistently receive high safety ratings on their products. This stroller is heavy duty, easy to use, easy to maneuver, and has a high end sleek look. I receive so many compliments on this stroller but its truly the ease of use, functionality, practicality, and durability that makes my husband and I such huge fans. The infant car seat carriers click in and then when they outgrow those you switch to the seats that are shown below. Honestly this stroller is not only perfect for twins but if someone knows they are going to have 2 children close in age then you absolutely should get a convertible stroller like this. I know many people who registered for single strollers then had another baby close to their first and the single strollers are now pretty much useless. This stroller can fit the infant car seat and the "big kid" seat. Just seriously go on the website and check it out. For the price point this is absolutely a stroller and car seat system that will not leave you disappointed.
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
4. Pack n Play
Yes, I know everyone gets a pack 'n play! However, with my older son I never had to use it as a playpen. I only would put it up if he was sleeping somewhere other than home. I currently have one set up in my kitchen. Why? Because when you have twins and they become mobile things get crazy. We no longer have a jumperoo or exersaucer because they are too big but when I need to open the oven, let the dog out, or go to the bathroom without having two quick little rugrats making a bee-line after me in comes the pack n play in the kitchen. I put them in with their toys only for very brief periods of time, for their own safety. Seriously.
Photo courtesy of Target.com
I need two high chairs in my kitchen. I don't know about you but I am not a fan of the look of high chairs in general and now I need TWO of them in the kitchen? Yeah. So when shopping for high chairs I did not want anything bulky, overly cushiony (because really why does a high chair need to feel like a recliner and take 2 hours to clean?), or just flat out ugly. Now I am a fan of the look of Bloom high chairs (the Kardashians have them, gag, I know), but they are super pricey and at the time there weren't any knock off versions. So I stumbled across the Mama's and the Papa's Pixi high chairs and they were just what I was looking for. I have used this high chair for my older son and now the twins and its great. It's sleek, compact and is easy to clean.
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
I know this is a personal thing and everyone has their own experiences and opinions on baby carriers but for me the Baby Bjorn worked best. Now I could only carry one baby at a time in the carrier, there is no Bjorn double carrier (that I know of) but it did help to have one safely strapped to me when I was literally holding both of them at the same time (which you'll end up doing, a lot). We had two Baby Bjorn's and my husband would wear one as well and found it to be comfortable. I find that the Bjorn is super easy to figure out and get on and off. Mama doesn't have time to be watching YouTube videos to figure out how to strap a baby to me!
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
7. Skip Hop Duo Double Diaper Bag
This thing is large, but not too large. Truth be told we used this with our older son Greyson before we had the twins and my cousin even said that it's really the size every diaper bag should be! It has a lot of compartments and really is a fantastic diaper bag that holds everything we need for our 3 kids. I know some people are fans of designer diaper bags, and I will admit I do appreciate a good designer bag but not one that will be used to hold exploding tubes of diaper cream, smashed up goldfish and boogey wipes (used ones, yup #momlife).
Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
I know this does not technically fall under baby "gear" but diapers are a big deal and I am totally a Pampers mom. No, this post is not an ad nor am I getting any free Pampers (that would be nice though). I am just a mom who has tried other diapers but in my opinion Pampers are by far the best. I do also love The Honest Company diapers, they are natural, work effectively and are adorable but for the price I just couldn't do it with three kids all in diapers. Back to Pampers, some friends have said to me, " but they are expensive, the ones I get are cheaper and I think work just as well". My response is this, I have tried cheaper diapers and for me they did not work just as well. As far as the cost goes I found that if I get coupons for Pampers (which they are out there you just need to look for them) and combine them with store discounts and deals they end up being just as cheap and sometimes cheaper than buying the cheaper diaper. I'm also a big fan of Pampers Sensitive Wipes.
Photo from Amazon.com
9. A Swing.
Ahhh the miracle of the swing. All three of my children were huge fans of this swing. With the twins we still only had one swing. I really don't think you need two. Typically one would be be happy in a rock n play and we would switch who was in the swing. There were many a nights that either my husband and i were downstairs on the couch next to the baby just because the stinking swing was the only thing that would help the baby sleep.
Photo from Amazon.com
10. A Jumperoo and Exersaucer
We only had one of each (then actually inherited an additional excersaucer that lived in my master bathroom so I could take a shower every once in a while). We would just rotate the twins between the two. My son seemed to enjoy the jumperoo more so than my daughter initially but they were happy in whichever.
Photo from Amazon.com
Photo from Amazon.com
So some miscellaneous items that you also should have are a boppy pillow (one or two, we only had one and it was sufficient), a Bumbo seat (my older son hated it) but we had the one and it came in handy for the twins. Activity mats, we had and used two.
So there you have my top 10 list of twin baby gear essentials. Any twin mommas out there with any more suggestions? Comment below.
