My last bump shot was at 15 weeks (before we even knew we were having twins!), but I finally got around to taking one recently at 27 weeks. For fun, I also have my 27 week bump shot when I was pregnant with Miss H. A little different, wouldn’t you say?!
Pregnancy #1 at 27 weeks:
Pregnancy #2 at 27 weeks:
There’s a whole lot of baby in there!
In the midst of our all of the crazy life changes that have come our way in recent months, I’ve had a little time to focus on what I think we’ll need and want as far as baby gear for when we welcome these babies into our family. We’re fortunate that we already own a decent amount of baby gear, and we know what was helpful to us the first time around and what we wish we’d had. However, adding twins into your family – whether or not you’re first time parents – still requires a decent amount of baby “stuff”!
So, for us, below is what we are planning on purchasing and/or borrowing in order to supplement the gear we already have.
Infant Car Seat
We still have our Chicco Keyfit 30 that Miss H used, but we’ll definitely be buying another one for obvious reasons!
Nursery Furniture
Because we’re throwing so many life changes at Miss H all at once – in the span of less than 2 months she’ll have a new house, a new daycare, and 2 new siblings – we are keeping her crib as hers for as long as she wants it. She still sleeps very happily in her crib, and when we talk about the babies, she gets upset if she thinks that they’ll take her crib! For us, it’s worth the expense to just buy 2 more cribs so that she can keep hers. So, we’ll be buying two cribs, two crib mattresses, and two waterproof crib pad covers. It’s not ideal, but we’re going with it!
We also need to buy a dresser that will also serve as a changing table, a rug, a new glider (we recently sold Miss H’s rocker so that we can get something more comfortable), a lamp, etc. Once we’re moved into our new home, I’m excited to start getting everything in place and sharing nursery pictures! However besides the crib items, we won’t need duplicates of anything else for the room. That’s a relief, at least!
Baby “Holders”
We fortunately have a swing and a bouncer already. However, we never had a Rock’n’Play but I think Miss H would have loved it as a newborn! So we’re buying a used Rock’n’Play and then borrowing a second one from a friend. I’m not buying a second swing because not all babies love swings, and I’m hoping with the Rock’n’Plays I won’t need a second bouncer. We’re also buying a used Bumbo and borrowing one from a friend. Obviously this is for when the babies are a little bit older, but I think we’ll want them for when the time comes (we borrowed one for Miss H and she always really liked it and her nanny liked having it around).
Bath/Care Supplies
We’ll be buying a new thermometer, a NoseFrida Snotsucker, nail clippers, comb/brush set, and pacifiers for the twins. These are all items that make sense to us to have separate ones for the twins that will stay in their room. I’m also planning on getting a bunch of new hooded towels because Miss H’s are falling to pieces after 2+ years of use along with a bunch of soft washcloths to keep in their room – perfect for wiping little noses.
Cold Weather Gear
Miss H was born the end of April, so we never needed to bundle her up when she was tiny. For the twins, we’ll need to get warm car seat covers and some warmer clothes to bundle them up when we have to take them out. In all honesty, this is a bit outside of my comfort zone because I loved not having to bundle up a teeny, tiny newborn!
Diapers
We hope to cloth diaper the twins as much as we can – even if it’s only half the time that still cuts down on half the disposable diapers! However, as we did with Miss H, we’ll use disposables while they’re tiny in order to make life a little bit easier on us. Miss H fit into her cloth diapers around 8/9 weeks but she was a chunky baby so we’ll see when the twins fit into them. And once we do start with the cloth diapers, we have 35+ diapers, so a respectable stash. But in the early days, I anticipate we will need A LOT of newborn disposables!
And, of course, there will be plenty of things we’ll need along the way – I have no clue what of Miss H’s clothes will fit our new baby girl since they’ll be born in different seasons. And we’re in need of baby boy clothes (we’ve already bought quite a few used sleepers and things, and I’m sure we’ll be gifted some!).
. . . . .
Have any of you had twins as a second pregnancy? If so, were you able to get by with a lot of the baby gear you already had, or did you find yourself buying a lot of baby gear to help you handle two infants?
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
So excited for you! If you aren’t a member of the Chi Area Moms Swap on Facebook, it would definitely be worth looking into, as a ton of what you are looking to get x2 is often sold for super cheap. Wall me if you need an invite! Can’t wait to see how you put together the twins nursery!
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Good call on keeping lil H in her crib since she’s still content in it – it was my one big regret when prepping for baby #2!!! We opened up a can of worms, and while DD was ecstatic with her newfound freedom, we were not.
honeydew / 7295 posts
Wow I don’t know how I missed your news! Congrats!!!
olive / 57 posts
Super helpful post! We are welcoming twins in Feb/March and our DD will be a few months shy of 3. Hooray! Congrats to you and your family!
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Mrs. Confetti: I’m in a similar group for my neighborhood that has been super helpful – got a used Rock n Play and bumbo today for super cheap!
@Mrs. High Heels: Yes, if we were just having baby #2 (instead of baby #2 & #3!) we were planning on moving Miss H to a bed before the baby arrived. Now at least the decision was made for us that we won’t have her sharing a room with a baby so we can keep her in her crib for AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!
@MrsMccarthy: Thanks!
@Mamagoose: Yay, someone else in a similar boat!
It seems like so often twins are the first time pregnancy, so always fun to hear of families with twins the second time around!
blogger / apricot / 367 posts
Congrats! You look great. Hope that your daughter has a smooth transition with all the changes coming up!
apricot / 364 posts
I’m expecting twins in early January and K will be 25 months. So it’s helpful to see what you’re planning. As for cold weather bundling, we have a JJ Cole car seat cover from when K was little and will be getting a second one. It was so nice to be able to unzip and open the flap when inside car/indoors but then zip and cover out in the elements. Also no interference with straps/safety.
olive / 57 posts
@mrs.hopscotch: Yes, it’s really fun reading about someone in a similar boat! I will be following your posts closely
Thanks!
guest
Note about the cars eat cover. My son was a late-term preemie and had to do a car seat test (they monitored his O2 while he sat in his car seat for 30 minutes to make sure he was able to breath well sitting up). When the nurse picked up the car seat she saw we had a cover and told us the only cover the hospital would allow us to leave with was a “shower cap style” cover. Basically there can’t be anything between the baby and the seat. I had never heard of this before. Just wanted to spread the word. This is the cover we ended up with http://www.amazon.com/JJ-Cole-Seat-Cover-Graphite/dp/B00511J6BM/ref=pd_sbs_ba_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KH6W48HW3C0QQAVGCW5
hostess / wonderful apple seed / 16729 posts
Congrats x2!!
blogger / pomegranate / 3300 posts
We were able to use some of my older sons things but since he was still only 9 months old there was a lot of things he was still using. They were all three in cribs but we took James out of the infant carrier car seat and switched him to a convertible. We had one swing for James but bought one more for the twins knowing James wouldn’t use it any more. Congrats again. Twins are so much fun!
persimmon / 1179 posts
I second Cecelia’s post above, if you can, I would get the “shower cap” style carseat bundle me. Car seat manufacturers don’t suggest the use of anything that goes between the baby and the seat. We used the shower cap style and even at that, my LO was sometimes sweaty because of it so they keep babies plenty warm too.
Congratulations on the twins!! Hubs and I have always wanted to experience twins. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a surprise one day!
blogger / honeydew / 7081 posts
So excited for your TWINS! How fun!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
We started Little P in cloth diapers around 4/5 weeks, and he wasn’t chunky at all, so maybe you can do it sooner than you think!
persimmon / 1165 posts
Since you have to get a new glider anyway, I’ll offer up my tip from my twin pregnancy. I bypassed the traditional nursery glider for a gliding recliner that was bigger, more cushioned and overall more comfortable to manage rocking/nursing/soothing two babies together on. I clocked sooo many hours when they were newborns just rocking back and forth and am so glad I had such a comfortable chair for that reason.
blogger / apricot / 366 posts
@Cecilia & @getjazzy: ooh thanks for the “shower cap style” car seat cover tip! Added to my wishlist!
@Mrs. Pinata: I remember trying cloth on Miss H on and off while she was still small and having SO MANY LEAKS! And kiddo had chunky legs
So we’ll have to experiment a lot to see when we’ll be able to make the switch! I’m also a bit more experienced with cloth diapering now than I was then!
@sunshineandsushi: I’ve heard good things about having one that reclines! Unfortunately I haven’t seen/tried any in person with the reclining option. We think we’ve settled on a glider from Land of Nod (I’ve sat in all of their gliders multiple times!). Our struggle is wanting/needing something that is super comfortable but also not super big because the room won’t be very large. It’s tough!
persimmon / 1165 posts
@Mrs. Hopscotch: I hear you on the space. We ended up putting ours in the family room since that’s where I spent the majority of the time with the twins when I was home alone. And by gliding recliner, I mean one that was not a nursery/baby type but a regular recliner that had wide enough cushioned arms that I could hold both babies for nursing, etc. I found the regular nursery/baby types to be too narrow for my comfort!
pomegranate / 3053 posts
Wow, I’ve been so out of it these days that I had no idea you’re having twins! Congrats!!!