Hellobee

In all of the excitement of preparing for the arrivals of our baby girls, I really struggled with understanding which baby products we would need two of, and which we would be fine with only one. Nearly seven months in, below is my advice on what you should stock up on and what you just need one of with multiple babies.

Stock up on two

To keep things simple, I’ll start with the easy and obvious. You most definitely need two car seats if you ever plan to take both babies in the car at the same time.

You will need two cribs and mattresses, but many twin parents will initially sleep the babies in the same crib so you could feasibly wait a few months to purchase and set up the separate cribs.

I am a huge fan of the Boppy loungers and I suggest one per baby. These were so nice when I wanted to lay the babies down safely in the early and exhausting months. We still have these in use every single day (now as a cushion set up as a crash pad as they are learning to sit up on their own).

I recommend two highchairs. We feed the girls at the same time and I view this as necessary for our sanity! Even if there is only one of us doing the feeding, we often alternate bites between babies to keep things on schedule. I think two highchairs will very soon be absolutely required as the girls are starting to feed themselves some finger foods, but I will say that you could get away with one highchair in the beginning as a caregiver needs to do the entire feeding (and can only feed one at a time).

We have a stroller with two seats. I spoke to a lot of twin moms about their favorite strollers and the unanimous favorite was the Baby Jogger City Select. We live in Chicago and our nanny frequently takes the girls for neighborhood walks and on the bus, and it is nearly impossible to do those things if you have a side-by-side stroller rather than a tandem stroller.

The girls on a Chicago bus in their stroller.

I suggest two baby carriers. If you ever plan to go on a stroller-free adventure with the babies, you and your partner will each need to carry a baby. We also found the carriers to be lifesavers during colic periods, and we kept our carriers separate and adjusted to our own bodies so that we could quickly get a baby in the carrier as soon as the wailing started without having to spend time adjusting the straps/belt. (We tied different color ribbons around a strap on each carrier to indicate which carrier was mine and which was Mr. Starfish’s. Our nanny also has a different carrier.)

A typical evening in month two – we both wore a baby in a carrier.

Finally, I recommend getting two seats. We have loved our BabyBjorn Bouncer Balances. They don’t take up too much space in our living room, and they fold flat for storage. I really depended on the bouncer seats for story and music time with the girls. Also, Baby Audrey has to be placed in an upright position after a feeding because she spits up, and this is my go-to device for her. The BabyBjorn bouncer is expensive (especially when you’re buying two!) and you probably could get the same effect for cheaper by going with a Bumbo Floor Seat.

Listening to stories in their bouncer seats.

Only one needed

You absolutely need only one swing. Inevitably one baby will like the swing and the other will not like the swing so save the money. Also, this product has a short life for babies (mine were done with it by 2-3 months) so all the more reason to only get one.

Baby Lilly in her kitty swing.

Although we had two, I would say that the Rock ‘n Play is similar to the swing in that only certain babies like it and it has a short useful life. I also felt like we used the Rock ‘n Play too much and became dependent on it when we really should have been getting the girls used to sleeping in their cribs. I think you’re good with a single one.

Two rock ‘n plays not necessary. This probably was the only time they were both in there at the same time!

Both of our girls love their jumperoo, but we only have one and I can’t imagine having two of these. The simple reason is that it takes up way too much space! I don’t think two would actually fit in our living room with all of the other gear.

Although we have friends who keep an activity mat for each baby, we have survived with one single mat and it has worked out just fine. When the babies are small, both of them easily fit on the mat together. Now, as they are older they don’t find the activities as interesting anyway and quickly grow bored and so it’s fine to alternate them on and off the mat.

Sharing their jungle activity mat.

My go-to recommendation for new twin parents is the Baby Brezza Formula Pro One Step Food Maker. The good news on this expensive product is that you only need one.

Other items for which you only need one include a baby bathtub and nearly all bath accessories, medications and first aid and baby proofing items, a diaper pail and changing pad/station, humidifier, diaper bag and varied toys and books.

Maybe multiples, maybe one

There are a few items that I’m on the fence about. You might want two, but you can definitely get away with one.

The first is a Pack ‘n Play. We have two but the only time that we use both is when we are traveling with the girls for an overnight trip and use them as their travel cribs. This is not an item that is in daily use for us and it never has been.

Next is a video monitor. We have the girls’ nursery set up so that a single camera captures both of their cribs. That said, I often wish that we had gone ahead and purchased a second camera so that we could see better because I can see Baby Lilly’s crib very well but have to sometimes squint to see what Baby Audrey is up to. If I had to do it again, I think I would get the second camera.

Finally is clothing. There seems to be a great deal of debate in the multiples world about dressing twins or more in matching outfits. I personally don’t shy away from it and I figure that I should make the most of it at this young age when they can’t fight me on it! My mom frequently dressed me and my sister in matching outfits even though we were born years apart and I don’t believe I have any emotional scars from the experience. Plus, the pictures are pretty adorable. Still, this is a personal call and you may or may not want to load up on identical outfits.

Our matching feminists…

and matching cherries…

and matching snow bears…

and matching ballerinas!