carrying 2 around the house

I have always carried both around the house since they were little. Now they are getting bigger and I have had back problems in the past. Twice in the last month I have had some pretty severe pain. I am thinking it is from carrying them both in the house in in carseat when we are out. I carry them both when they go up and down the stairs for naps. Is anyone else carrying them both. I hate to go up the stairs more than I have to and it is already way too many time a day. I am just curious what everyone else is doing or if you have any suggestions. I am always out with out my hubby as he works 12 pm to 12 am so I don't have the option of him helping. But I can't sit home all the time.

Thanks for you input.

 

I never carry my boys at the same time. I've just never felt comfortable with it. Now they're about 27 lbs a piece, so it's not even an option to be honest. I don't let my husband take them up and down the stairs at the same time. I think it's dangerous. We have particularly narrow stairs.

 

I prefer not to, but when I'm home alone I do carry both of them, including up and down the stairs. I think I'm a lot more comfortable now doing that than I will be next year when they are both wobbling on the stairs on their own!
Helen

 

I carry them together occasionally, but I try not to, and only for a very short distance from their room to living room (about 10 feet). I definitely do not carry both car seats at the same time - I just can't. I use my stroller all the time when I'm out.

 

I carry them both downstairs together in the morning because they get so excited to see me, if I leave one to make two trips, they wail!

When I go upstairs at nap time, they are not as easy to upset so I take one at a time.

I sometimes hold or carry them both downstairs but only if I need to (like they are both being demanding/needy at the moment).

I almost never carried both car seats with them in them, they were just too dang heavy.

 

I carry them both quite often, up and down the stairs, I find it easier than it used to be because they hold onto my arms, much more steady. I carried both car seats for a long time, until my neck just couldnt take it any more, I think around 6 months is when I had to stop that silly business!!

 

I still do. My girls are now around 24 and 25 pounds each and I carry them at the same time. My dh works second shift also (8 hours, not 12 like yours) so I'm home alone in the afternoon/evening also which makes it rough!

 

No, even though they are little, I just carry one upstairs or downstairs, set him in the pack and play or crib, and then go get the other one. We have several gates up around the house because we have three dogs, so I need one hand free to open the gates to walk through.

 

I didn't. One thing DH did was teach them to crawl up the stairs almost as soon as they could crawl, so we would let one climb while carrying the other behind. Once they could both crawl up the stairs, I rarely had to carry. Up until that time, it was one at a time.

 

I carried them both up and down the stairs until maybe a month or so ago...now I make them go up and down themselves.

 

Now that they are heavier, I usually carry just one at a time especially up and down the steps. I figure it gives me some much needed exercise!

I only recently stopped carrying both carseats at once. They are just too heavy. I think we are all ready for the convertible seats. The snap n go was convenient but a pain to maneuver. They love the side-by-side and it's so much easier to steer.

 

Oh God, I couldn't manage if I didn't carry them both, it would be a major pain to take 2 trips for me. I always carry them both, downstairs in the morning, upstairs for naps, etc. They are 17 and 14 pounds and actually getting easier to carry b/c they have more control and are starting to grab on. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I carry both of them and their clothes down in the morning so I don't have to run back upstairs for anything.

 

I never carried them at the same time. To be honest, it never crossed my mind. I have some stupid worry that I'm going to fall down the steps, so I only carry one, and hold onto my railing with the other ... Mine are 24 and 18 lbs, and I'm just not that strong.

 

I always carry mine around together. Even now i still carry them both downstairs in the morning and at nap time (they weigh 28lbs and 20lbs) Im so lazy so its easier to take both of them together than make two trips!! x

 

I still carry mine up and down the stairs. I'm having a hard time teaching two to walk down the stairs at once!

 

I got in the habit of carrying them up and down the stairs. BUt recently, DH fell down the stairs (not carrying the girls) which sort of gave me a reality check. I stopped carrying them because I realized if he was carrying both or even one we could have had some seriously injured babies. Even though it might save me 2-3 minutes, I still don't do it which sometimes leads to a crying baby but I would rather have a crying baby because of that than one who is hurt

 

Okay, as a new mom I have to ask. How do you pick them both up? When I am holding one, I only have one hand available and can't seem to pick up the other one. Any tips?

 

Wow, my twins are getting heavy in their car seats already, and they're only two months (impressed that you're still able to do it at six months!!). I do have some shoulder pain, uggh.

I carry mine together frequently. They're still light enough (without their car seats) to do it pretty well)

QUOTE(ca2pa2005 @ Feb 5 2008, 10:23 AM) [snapback]606375[/snapback]
Okay, as a new mom I have to ask. How do you pick them both up? When I am holding one, I only have one hand available and can't seem to pick up the other one. Any tips?


I kind of lean over and scoop. Or lay them next to each other.

 

I still carry them both up and down the stairs.

 

I carry them up and down the stairs sometimes, but DH gets mad at me when I do. When I was about 25 weeks pregnant, I fell from the top of the stairs to the middle landing because I was trying to carry a laundry basket and talk on the phone with my mother. I should know better!!!

 

I can relate to the back pain big time. I had back surgery and feel pain quite a bit. I still do carry both babies down the stairs every morning and up the stairs at night when it is bedtime. I keep their pack and play downstairs now for them to nap in so I only have to carry them down once day and up for bed. DH goes to bed before their last feeding. On the weekends he helps and I do not need to carry them both at once. I could never imagine carrying both car seats at once. I hurt my back before just carrying one.

 

QUOTE(ca2pa2005 @ Feb 5 2008, 03:23 PM) [snapback]606375[/snapback]
Okay, as a new mom I have to ask. How do you pick them both up? When I am holding one, I only have one hand available and can't seem to pick up the other one. Any tips?

I

When i did i scooped aswell. Or pick one out and put him/her on the floor do the same with the other and pick them both up! x

 

I ALWAYS carried them down one at a time. It was a pain in the butt for me but I was just too scared to do them together. I kept having visions of me falling and seeing them die. It was horrible. I would dream about it at night. I still to this day do one at a time because even though they can both climb down, one always goes faster than the other and my visions start again. I just look at it as one of the few times of the day that I am getting some exercise LOL

 

I do still carry the two of them up and downstairs together.

And I carried the carseats together up until we switched them out for the convertibles. That's really the only time I carry them separately, is out to the car now. And I bet if it weren't for the $%@@^&& snow and ice we've got right now (can you tell I love winter...lol) I'd try then too.

But my girls are peanuts and have mastered the baby death grip :lol:

 

QUOTE(ca2pa2005 @ Feb 5 2008, 08:23 AM) [snapback]606375[/snapback]
Okay, as a new mom I have to ask. How do you pick them both up? When I am holding one, I only have one hand available and can't seem to pick up the other one. Any tips?


When my twins were that young, I never picked them up at the same time, they were just too floppy and I didnt feel safe doing it at all. When they got a bit older they were much more steady and scooping worked great! The older they get, the easier it is to pick them up at the same time.

 

I've always carried my two at the same time. When they were little I would scoop/roll the baby up. Now I grab a kid by the clothing, put them on my chest, and then quickly wrap my arm around them. It may look funny, but the girls don't mind. Stairs don't bother me.

They are 7 months and weigh about 20 and 17 pounds.

 

QUOTE(ca2pa2005 @ Feb 5 2008, 03:23 PM) [snapback]606375[/snapback]
Okay, as a new mom I have to ask. How do you pick them both up? When I am holding one, I only have one hand available and can't seem to pick up the other one. Any tips?


I scooped them up at the midsection and made sure that they were tucked like a football. When they were tiny, I could then go right to my shoulder with one or hold them out and have their bottom resting on my hip. This hold worked until just over 1 year old then they didn't "scoop" as well.


I do still carry them together coming in from the car only. I carry out one at a time to get to the car and have also made them start using stairs to get upstairs. We only have like 7 stairs to get up to the bedrooms. I wish I would have let them start doing the stairs months ago because I would be able to be gateless at this point instead of STILL worrying about them taking a header down some stairs away from home.

 

Well, since I TRIPPED carrying both of them across the living room, I don't carry them at the same time anymore unless it's just to comfort them both at the same time, and then I stay in one place. Thank heavens I tripped and managed to fall forward onto the couch, but the trauma was sufficient to convince me that two trips up the stairs was worth keeping them safe. Now I like to keep one hand firmly on the banister.

In their car seats, though, I'll carry both of them anywhere...so long as I've got one on each side to balance the load, it doesn't bother me

 

I recently nearly dropped one of them while carrying them both and will NOT carry them together again!! It was very scary and could have been life altering for the baby that almost fell. Since then, I feel pretty strongly about this.

 

QUOTE(Username @ Feb 5 2008, 12:36 PM) [snapback]606652[/snapback]
I've always carried my two at the same time. When they were little I would scoop/roll the baby up. Now I grab a kid by the clothing, put them on my chest, and then quickly wrap my arm around them. It may look funny, but the girls don't mind. Stairs don't bother me.

They are 7 months and weigh about 20 and 17 pounds.


I do the same thing, I tend to pick up my heavier baby first, and then the lighter with one hand. It really does get easier as they get older, It's harder to put them down now b/c they grab onto my shirt and won't let go, they think it's a riot.

 

I never carried them at the same time, except in their SnugRides (and then only when absolutely necessary). We don't have stairs, but if we did, I would have been even less likely to carry them both. Just too scary to be going down stairs carrying two babies and no hands free in case you stumble.

The daycare teachers would carry two at a time (just within one room) -- either both across the midsection, or one like a football and the other across the midsection.

 

To pick up baby babies, I'd lay them down side by side and one arm went behind the heads and the other arm went behind their bottoms and I held them against my chest. I love it now because the sit on either hip!

 

I don't have stairs in my house, but if I did I wouldn't carry them at the same time up and down the stairs. I'm too much of a klutz. And only now that they can hold on to me can I carry them at the same time from room to room.

 

To be honest I don't remember how I carried them around the house in the beginning but I always carried BOTH carseats when going out, it kinda balanced me out and I didn't have to leave one behind. We live on the 2nd and 3rd stories of a building and I go up and down stairs ALOT! I still carry them both up and dowstairs toegther ALL the time if I need to (i.e if no one else is around). Before we got hit with snow I was carrying them out to the truck together to put them in their convertible seats. It was a tricky balance and I probably should stop doing this but...I can balance one on my thigh while putting the other in their seat OR I can set one in the passenger seat of the truck and load the other in a car seat. I think our vehicle setup makes that easier to do.

These days, since they are about 17 and 23 pounds, to get them 'loaded' up to carry together around the house I squat down on my legs and put one on one thigh and the other on the other thigh (as long as they are close by they can 'help out' getting to ME) and then get a good grip under the butts and stand up to situate them on my hips. I also use slings around the house occasionally if I want to carry them both for dancing in the living room or whatever. They do hold on better now and my arms haven't been in this good a shape since I was a Sea Kayak guide here in Southeast Alaska! One thing I've mastered this year is how to do LOTS of things for the babies with one arm! It amazes most other singleton mom's I know and I LOVE THAT!!

 

I NEVER do! Honestly I'm too scared and maybe not strong enough. They still aren't able to hold their heads up on their own so I really need to hold them at their butt and back of the head when I do hold them making it virtually impossible to do two at a time...safely...IMO. I'm also paranoid as it is to slip down the stairs with one....they are wood and a bit slippery. Maybe when they are older, can hold their heads up better and can hang onto me then I will do it...maybe.
As far as carrying two carseats at once....I can barely manage ONE at a time....UGH! Guess I'm a wimp.