Doubling Up

Parents that are expecting multiples frequently ask me, "Will I need two of everything?!" There is always fear and trepidation in their tone. Lots of it. They see their bank account dwindling away to nothing… and their house shrinking, shrinking, shrinking...

Breathe.

The answer is no.

The most valuable tip I received when I found out I was having twins? Take another mom of multiples with you when you register for baby showers. She’ll tell you the real deal. (You DO NOT need two wipes warmer. Step away from the wipes warmers…)

Here are my suggestions for the basics...

You’ll need two of these:
-Bouncy seats – these are LIFESAVERS. In my opinion, the more basic, the better. Skip the bells and whistles and get a simple seat that vibrates. Ommmm....

-Bumbos – Only use them when your kiddos can hold their heads up on own. They make great interim "highchairs." We put Sam and Jane on the dining room table with us while we're having a meal. (Watch them carefully if you do this. We had a really big table. And never leave your kiddos unattended.) They loved the "big person" perspective.

-Activity Mats (with arches to hang toys) - Put a few together to create a crawling gym of sorts.

-Highchairs - Get them now and use them in the full recline position until babies can hold their heads up. This way you can just strap in the kids and wheel them around your kitchen and such instead of carrying them from place to place...

Things you need just ONE of:
-Jumpy - You can rotate the kiddos in and out. These are over $60./each and take up lots of room.

-Swing - We like the Fisher-Price Aquarium swing because it swings side to side and front to back.

-Exersaucer - Again, you can get just one of each and rotate kids in and out... Saves lots of space! (We received a second one for free but found we didn't really need it.)

Stuff I couldn’t LIVE without that made my twin-life easier:

-Medela "Quick Clean" micro-steam bags - use these to quickly sterilize pacifiers, bottles, breast pump stuff, etc. in the microwave. Takes about 3 minutes. SOOO much better than boiling nipples, etc. This was a HUGE timesaver.

-"The Ultimate Crib Sheet" - "4 products in 1! Quick Change Sheet, Mattress Pad, Super Absorbent Pad, and Waterproof Pad!" Yeah, it's all that stuff. Elastic straps that snap/unsnap easily without removal of bumper guards or having to completely strip the crib to change the sheet... If a diaper leaks (or you have a huge spit-up) in the middle of the night you'll be glad you have these. A total timesaver when I needed to change beds QUICKLY.

- A breast pump - I used the Medela Pump n' Style and it worked wonderfully. Be sure to change your valves out about one a month and the pump will work much better over time...

Of course there's more items that I could list but that's the basics of the basics.

Of course the most important things to have two of are arms (to hug), boobs (to feed) and lips (for lots of baby kissin').