As someone pointed out, I’m getting started on my registry early. I live far away from my family and Thanksgiving may be the last time I get to see them all together before the twins put in an appearance. Problem is, I have no fucking idea what I need.
I am, as I think I’ve mentioned before, kinda crunchy hippie like. I’m not interested in filling my tiny house with tons of plastic. I need to know what you really really used, what you really really wanted.
There will be breastfeeding. There will be cloth diapering. There will be some co-sleeping, I’m sure. We’re sort of a “Do what works for that moment” kind of couple, rather than a “This is the plan and we’re sticking to it no matter what” couple.
So, moms, and particularly twin moms…what were those things that were the lifesavers, the can’t-live-withouts? And what were the things that never made it out of the box, or shouldn’t have? And I am talking about things…stuff I can put on a gift registry. The doula and the LC are a little hard to ask someone else to get you. 🙂 (But they’re both on my personal to-do list already. See, I’ve been reading and learning from all of you for two years now!)
From my experience as a hippiyish mother of one… and twins on the way oo er… A pillow to breastfeed… bath towels with hoods…a long mat for the bath to prevent slipping… a chair thing that clips on to an adult chair to make a baby chair (in the UK – handysitt it’s called) a good supply of very gentle organic baby wash … for occasional use only…a super duper breast pump, as close as possible to hospital grade… a bra top sort of thing that comes with it so you can double pump hands free… a sling… a playmat or one of those inflateable ring things babies like to roll about in… a big waterproof backed blanket, for lounging on the grass … a dropside crib for initial “almost cosleeping” … a futon for actual don’t want them to fall off of the bed cosleeping…
Breastfeeding supplies, pumps, lanolin, pads, bags or bottles to store pumped milk in. Twin nursing pillow, Boppies. Bedding, towels, washcloths. Sling. Double stroller. Carseats. Don’t register for clothes, people will buy them anyway. Bibs. Changing pad. Pack N’ plays or cosleeper.
A good camera, of course!
Miracle Blanket. I have two that you can use.
As a mom to twin boys.. twin nursing pillow was a savior at the beginning, those little bouncy vibrating chairs (TWO) saved my life, lots of burp cloths, i had tons and tons of receiving blankets which were used for everything! HELP – have lots of help. I would have gotten one of those snap and go double stroller frame things for the beginning to have in my car for outings. Lugging those carseats around gets heavy and awkward. Ahh and a good pump comes in really handy…
oh and did i say HELP.. seriously.
Well, I just had the one baby, but I second drownedgirl on the towels with hoods. You know what else? If you get a baby monitor, try it out thoroughly before the babies come. We waited until afterward and the first one was a piece of junk. It took going through three before we found one that worked really well. Coulda saved a total stressed and tired new mommy emotional breakdown by me if we’d just given it a test-run!
I’m so happy that you have this “problem” of finding out what you need for twins… 🙂
I’m not very hippish at all, except in my politics, so please take this with a grain of salt. The babies co-slept with us (one in a moses basket on the bed) and the other cuddled (we alternated), but later, we swore by the Angel Care baby monitor. Lots of BIG swaddling blankets. These are a MUST HAVE and really, you don’t need much else. Ours just wore onesies through age three months because three snaps are so more appealing than five or more. We had some snappable, changeable crib sheets, too (more than one because the babies will wet through). Carseats and a double snap n’ go (we used this until we decided on a double stroller. The truth of the matter is that the baby aisle and the lists are imposing, but for the first three months … and even a bit beyond that…you don’t need much.
I second the boppy motion. In fact, I found it very helpful to have two boppys. One by my bed and then nursery, and one downstairs for the couch. Also, the babies fit snuggly in them for nap time, when they still like to be all cozy.
I agree that registering for clothes is unnecessary, but if you can get them, zip up sleepers are the best. You will be changing lots of diapers on very little sleep, and zipping is easier and faster than matching up snaps.
Baby nail clippers are a must. Saline nose drops and nasal aspirators are great (one for each, no germ swapping up the nose!) Dye free baby tylenol (2-one for home, one for the diaper bag).
Little athletic type socks stay on great. They look like grown up socks, just tinnier.
You might want to consider nipple shields. Even if you have no problems in that department, many twin mom’s find that it really helps with tandem nursing/latching. It did for me. But that isn’t something you really need to register for.
A really good stroller. Still haven’t found one.
Good Luck and congratulations!
Anything that can (1) help with breastfeeding, and (2) help entertain one while the other is breastfeeding. I used the ez to nurse twin nursing pillow for several months, it was great. The Medela pump n style pump was used constantly. I had a great fridge/freezer system for storing breast milk that was super handy. nursing bras.
on the entertainment front, I loved bouncy seats. I could bounce one with my foot while the other nursed. And we had this great mobile from manhattan baby, really simple, but that on the changing table kept the screaming down during changes.
um… there must be other things. nightlights. they help change one at night without turning on the lights.
books. we love board books. apparently they taste good, too.
Good luck. It is really exciting. twins are amazing.
Hi there! I actually had just made a giant list up for a friend of mine. I’m afraid that it isn’t exactly very crunchy, but you can always choose the best versions of the items on said list.
It’s on my blog here.
BTW, I am also having twins! Soon. Well, soon-ish. Sometime within the next 30 days. And I am tired!
I’m a sorta crunchy mom of one…
A cosleeper was handy, though baby wound up in bed with me most nights. The Arms Reach full size one can sleep twins. So that might give you more room.
Breast pump, nursing pillow (they have ones designed for twins), a good breastfeeding book, nipple cream of some sort (I like Earth Mama Angel Baby brand.) Nursing pads, the reusuable cotton/hemp ones I bought online are sooo soft! But the Lansinoh disposables didn’t give you that coaster look.
Baby carrier of some sort. The Moby Wrap or another soft stretchy wrap are comfy for newborns. You can even hold twins in them when they are tiny. I also like a ring sling or pouch sling for hip carries. Though you would have to get someone else to wear the other babe.
Bouncy seats. Gotta have ’em.
High chairs. If you get the booster seat style you can just strap them on regular chairs and put them away when you need the extra room.
Baby safe mesh feeder. These were awesome for teething. Just put some frozen fruit the the mesh part and baby happily chomped away.
Sleep sacks are nice to keep baby warm in winter.
Pack ‘n Play. I didn’t think I needed one, but I could have used one.
Changing table of some sort. We just got the pad and put it on top of a low dresser.
The big money wasters were
1)That $300+ crib set I just had to have. Cute, but way overpriced for what you get. I should have just bought extra sheets and a plain skirt and bumpers.
2)Exersaucer, the lifespan on that thing was way too short to justify the money. You’d be better off putting the kiddos in a pack and play with some toys if you need them immobile for a minute.
HTHs! Best wishes!
drownedgirl’s list looks pretty good to me… but I would add more in the way of baby containment devices. It’s *really* nice to have good places to plop down one baby while wrangling the other.
Our babes are too small for them yet, but we did register for Bumbo seats… and right now we get a lot of mileage out of those bouncy seats with vibrating action. The swings have been great, too – we have a passed-down mobile swing, as well as a thrift-store “big” swing, the kind that swings side-to-side as well as front-to-back.
Let’s see, we love our Ergo carrier (with infant insert), and the Moby wrap. The ring sling I have (an EllaRoo from Peppermint) is still a bit big for them, but I’ve used it a few times anyway. When the stars align properly, I can get hands-free breastfeeding action with the Moby, and that’s just priceless. Remember, you will be breastfeeding a LOT.
The twin nursing pillow has been a godsend for us – we used it from day one, and every day since. But it is bulky for breastfeeding one, and I wish we’d gotten a Boppy as well.
I second the pump idea, and get the glass bottles to avoid using plastic (thank you, Jo from Leery Polyp). I desperately want one of those hands-free pumping bustiers about now, and I also crave the angled pumping shields from http://www.ingeling.com. Don’t forget breast pads – the organic reuseable ones are nice, but you may also want a box or three of the Lansinoh disposable (*super* absorbent) pads, for when the milk really comes in and you’re soaking through the regular breast pads.
Got people who want to get you ssomething big? Don’t spurn the jumbo glider, it’s awfully nice if you can find one.
We were super lucky, and most of the stuff we got was hand-me-down. Take whatever is offered, it lets you spend your money where it counts.
Good luck!
I never did get a hang of the EZ-2-Nurse Twins pillow. I ended up just giving it away. I hope the woman I gave it to got more use out of it than I did. The boppy, however, was great.
Honestly, swings were a lifesaver at our house. The cradle variety they could go in when still quite little. Loved the boppies too.
I agree with PP to not register for clothes. I registered for 2 clothing items, plain white onesies and those gowns with the open bottom. Didn’t get either of them, but got about 30 onesies and enough clothes to take my girls to their current age of 17 months (and beyond). Easily 100 clothing items.
I can tell you what we didn’t need. Diaper Genie and Wipes Warmer. Total waste. We needed extra Bulb Syringe (nose sucker as I call it), syringes (for meds), Receiving blankets (which double nicely as burp cloths), and a good Thermometer with a jumbo jar of Vaseline.
Specifically for twins – I found things that allowed me to do stuff with one baby while the other one was happified was great. The magic bouncy chairs worked from when they were quite small until quite recently (they’re 9 months). These are rocker chairs with toy bars. If your babies are fussy, you can feed one baby and bounce the other one with your foot, change positions, repeat. If they are spitty or refluxy, sitting up a little is a better sleeping position for naps than lying down and it was great for the occasional nap, althugh they don’t recommend them for everyday sleeping.
I didn’t cloth diaper, but a stash of the square towelling nappies (diapers) were invaluable for keeping baby bodily fluids off things. I got them in bright colours and went through about four or five a day for the first few months.
I used a whacking great enormous foam-covered pillow with a zip-on cover and a U-shaped hole in it – fantastic for twins, ludicrously annoying in every other way (storage, style, etc). I am a huge fan of twin feeding because otherwise, there goes your life for the first few months.
Congrats!
I have this big, circular changing pad called a Patemm Pad (www.patemm.com) that I love. It’s oilcloth for easy cleanup and goes with me everywhere for diapering and just about everything else. I also have the Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper, which was great in theory, but I am an incredibly light sleeper and wasn’t getting any shuteye with the twins in the room. They were sleeping in their cribs the moment they came home (and they were preemies, born 9 1/2 weeks early). I agree with Stacie and also did not use my Double Blessings nursing pillow…I used the Boppy occasionally but mostly don’t use a pillow at all. Also, the double electric breast pump (I had a hospital-grade one, now I have a Medela Pump in Style) was essential because the twins were not nursing at first due to their prematurity. Now that they have got the hang of it, I still use it occasionally for pumping milk to mix with their rice cereal.
MIRACLE BLANKET – you should purchase four because you will kick youself if you don’t have a clean spare when a baby urps on the one they are wearing. The MIRACLE BLANKET is truly a miracle. It got us through the early days of total sleep deprived insanity. And I swaddled my twins until they were old enough to escape (8 months). Also handy – two boppys, fleece covers for the infant seats (purchased at Lands End) double snap and go for infant seats, as much as you say you don’t want you house filled with plastic stuff I would recommend at least one swing and if both babies like them – go get another. Swings enabled me to shower in the early days. Things I never used : baby bjiorn (sp?) because when I carried one baby the other one was still screaming & a diaper champ pail. NOT made for double the diaper duty. Oh – another staple would be a white noise / nature sounds machine. We STILL use it and the girls are 10 months old. GOOD LUCK!
Daipers. Ask everyone you know to buy you diapers. So many people gave us baby clothes for really small babies and they didn’t fit, because our twins were so big. Gift cards to stores where you can buy things for the babies.
I LOVED my Munchkin food mill. I just took whatever we were having and mushed it up through there and fed it to the boys. Worked great. I also could not have lived without my vibrating bouncy chairs. Kept the boys away from their toddler brother and lots of times it was the napping chair. I had a bumbo, which I got rid of, the boys didn’t like it at all.
Congratulations on your twins. No matter how prepared you are, you’re always going to be missing something. Go with the flow, so to speak.
I’ll second the Miracle Blanket! Glamourmom tops and a Peanut Shell kept me sane and got me out of the house.
A cotton guaze wrap – like an ellaroo, or a gypsy mama – probably a couple on your case.
Skip the cute burp cloths and the diposable changing table mats, go straight for a pile (like 30) nice unbleached prefolds. They can be used to wipe up any substance your baby can create wen they are little ad all the stuff the can find to smear on themselves latter. They also make a great stuffing for a pocket dipe, or with a cover they are fast an easy when all the pocket dipes are in the wash.
Habba toys, way safer and more durable then the plastic charcter marketing plastic crap.
baby legs – they don’t hsbe to come off when ypu change the dipes.
i have more but my lo is freaking – those are the tjings that i did not know before that really saved us in the long term – good luck!
Things I would suggest: breast pads, Medela pump in style advanced breast pump, hooter hiders (for nursing in public), bouncy seats (those little vibrating chairs were lifesavers for me in the early days!), Tiny Love playmat, Fisher-Price Healthy Care booster seat (it snaps to your kitchen chairs and is a huge space saver! we never got the traditional high chairs).
Things you don’t need but the baby stores try and tell you that you need them: baby bedding (i.e. quilt, bumper and mobile all of which they can’t even have in their crib for a long time….even the bumpers an mobiles they are now saying to not use). Wipes warmer and bottle sterilizer waste of money.
I would agree with the don’t register for clothing because people love to by baby clothing anyway. Do some research before you hit the stores to register! And I wouldn’t register for small things that they would use when they get older like silverware and sippy cups. Try and get the essential things down that you need in the first six months. Later on you can ask family to get other items that you need for a holiday or birthday! Good luck!
not a clue, but what is a boppy?
I say hold off on breastfeeding supplies and pumps just because you never know how things will go once the babies arrive and those things aren’t returnable. You may find that breastfeeding isn’t working for you so…that’s my two cents (Melissa ducks as people throw things at her head). That said, for our twins, it was about owning 30 bouncy seats. We had two in each room pretty much and there was always a place to put a child or a place to do a double feed. Loved things like ocean wonders for the crib or a mobile that makes music. Sound machine (white noise) makes them sleep a lot longer. Books like Happiest Baby on the Block that you can read now and prepare yourself (that book saved our life). Baby bjorn (hold one in there and carry the other). We also had a double carrier called Maximom, but I didn’t use it a lot. Stroller (we have a MacClaren we love). Activity mat. Booster travel seats (with snap on tray) to use later.
I’m drawing a blank right now on more things.
((throws things at Mel))
Actually, I would agree not to get a high end pump to start off with. If you are in a situation where you NEED NEED NEED to pump (NICU, major latch issues) right away you are going to want to rent a hospital grade pump. If all goes well, you shouldn’t need a pump at all until a bit into it, by which point going to the store and buying one will seem like a treat because it gets you out of the house. And, if BF turns out to not be in the cards for you, well, do you want a $200 pump sitting around mocking you?
That’s funny, the only thing that I couldn’t have lived without was my breast pump, essential from day two–thank god I had it, already. It wouldn’t have been a tragedy if I hadn’t bought a pump-in-style before the birth, just a heap of added stress at an already stressful moment. However, I DO see the point of Mel and Stacie.
Unfortunately, babies are as individual as the rest of us, so what is a life saver to one mother is a meaningless waste of space and money to another. I had two bouncy seats (they saved my sisters life when she had twins) that my kids hated, two cradle swings (sister’s-in-law life saver)–hated, two Boppies (it’s a pillow) that both my kids and I hated, two exer-saucers (hand-me-downs) that my kid actually liked, a horrible-looking plastic kick-toy entertainment thingy that they loved to play with side-by-side from 2-7 months, slings were somewhat helpful (but ask me how many different kinds of carriers I have)…
Thinking back, all your babies want and need is their mommy and all Mommy needs is the mental stability to be able to provide limitless loving care every minute for at least the first four months. Have the family pool their money and hire you a cook and housekeeper!
Well, I’m getting in kinda late here, but better late than never. I can’t help in the twins dept., but I do the crunchy thing pretty well. For newborn CDs, I always love size 0 Kissaluvs fitteds. They are too cute and they’re easy. They’ll last you a good 3-4 mos. if not longer unless the babes are giant. I paired them with small or NB prorapsfor day and wool covers at night. I’d go for a cloth wipe that’s about 8×8 square, and if you can swing double velour or double sherpa or sherpa/velour, they’re yummy. Swaddlbees makes some, I have them on my store on my site http://crunchyparent.com/?page_id=110. Actually, that might be a helpful resource as I list a lot of crunchy goodies for CDing, BFing, babywearing, etc. there.
I would also suggest having the boiron homeopathic gas stuff (cocyntal or something close) and the teething one too. I love my amber teething necklace too, but you won’t need that for a few mos.
We did love the vibrating bouncy chair for both girls, as well as the “highchair” that clips onto a regular chair. You do not want or need two giant highchairs in your home. Hmmm, those sleep “gowns” that have the foldover things to cover their baby claws and also allow for easy diaper changes, Halo sleepsacks, Robeez or some other soft shoe, Babylegs are super cute as well as nice to cover those cute legs when they wear dresses and get a chill (if there’s a girl in there that is). LOTS of dedication, patience, and support (but I sense tat you have that in spades).