Equipment for TWINS?

I am having a hard time figuring out some of this. I still have 2 children in 5 point harness carseats and 1 in a high back booster seat. I am expecting twins with a due date in May. I am trying to figure out whether to do carseats/convertible or carriers with the twins and what works best with preemies. I am also trying to figure out WHAT to do about a stroller, 1 crib or 2 and where for the twins to sleep their first months. Do most put them in the room with them to begin with??? I would love input!!!

 

The twins were my first. We did the Graco DuoGlider stroller with the bucket seats. That was fine for us. They were in the infant seats until they were nine months old and then I switched them over to convertibles rf.

We got two pack n plays, but honesty, they got more use after they were older than when they were little. They slept in them for the first few weeks, but not for long. They moved to swings/carseats/cribs. By four months they were in their beds at bedtime.

We have two cribs, that converted to full size beds. One is a big mover, so them sharing wouldn't have worked so well. I know of a mom from here whose girls shared a crib until at least 2.5. It can be done if $$ and space are an issue.

The twins slept in the pnp in our room for a bit. Then Dh and I did shifts, so he was up with them until 2am, and they were in the carseats. At 4 months they were in their cribs.

Deep breaths! You can do this! I'm sure right now you are wondering how you will handle one new infant, let alone two. One day at a time!

 

We first used the Double Snap-N-Go with their bucket seats until they were 8 months old when they switched to RF Marathons.

They slept in my room until they were 7 months old. First in 1 pack n play together, then their swings, then a shared crib, and finally, at 6 months, their own cribs.

You probably don't need two pack n plays. We never needed two until we moved overseas and waited for their cribs to be delivered. I did have two swings and two bouncers though which I used often those first few months.

 

Two infant seats (the 22 lb ones) and a Double Snap and Go were the best solution for the first 6 months--easy to get in and out of the car and push around. Mine were pushing the weight limits by that point of the bucket seats so we moved them to convertibles around 6.5 months. We have a side-by-side double stroller that we use now for going out. there are higher weight bucket seats now (30 lbs and 35 lbs) but not all of them work with the Snap N Go (but there are other options).

Mine slept in our room until they were 4-5 months old--my son in a pack n play (or my bed) and my daughter started out in a rock'n'play (bad reflux) then moved to the cosleeper. We started transitioning at 4 months and they still spent part of the night in bed with me (my son) and in the cosleeper by the bed (my daughter--bad reflux so never coslept). Actually, my son still periodically spends a couple of hours a night with me. Sadly, his sister is too independent, pukey and wriggly to share a bed with comfortably (and safely).

We transferred them to two cribs in their own room. They are pretty good at sleeping through each other's yelling at night most nights. I'm always surprised to see the one sleeping away while the other hollers for attention.

We had two swings and that was probably the best decision we made as the babies slept in them every day for the first 3 months. My daughter still naps in the swing at least once a day at 7.5 months but my son has been napping in his crib consistently since 4 months old.

We had two bouncers but stopped using them pretty early on, but I was able to take showers that way during my maternity leave by bringing both into the bathroom and strapping each into a bouncer!

 

We have 2 swings, 2 bouncers, and 2 cribs. We use the swings and bouncers the most. We have one PNP.

 

[quote name='La'Dawn' date='05 November 2012 - 01:36 PM' timestamp='1352140605' post='1890967']
I am having a hard time figuring out some of this. I still have 2 children in 5 point harness carseats and 1 in a high back booster seat. I am expecting twins with a due date in May. I am trying to figure out whether to do carseats/convertible or carriers with the twins and what works best with preemies. I am also trying to figure out WHAT to do about a stroller, 1 crib or 2 and where for the twins to sleep their first months. Do most put them in the room with them to begin with??? I would love input!!!
[/quote]

We did carriers but didn't get the snap-n-go. If i were doing it again i would definitely get the snap-n-go. Not having it really limited my ability to get out in the beginning.
Ours were preemie and we used the Graco 35, which has the preemie insert. If i were doing it again I wouldn't worry about the higher wt limit. We moved them to convertibles for comfort long before they reached wt. Also, i couldn't carry 2 carriers once they were over 18 lbs!

Check out the earlier posts on strollers there are a lot of good comments. we only use our BOB, but we are very rural and need the all-terrain wheels.

we have 2 pack-n-plays but only used one, except for travel. They slept together in the bassinet section and then moved into a crib together (in our room). At 4 months they went into separate cribs b/c DD was climbing all over DS.

It is a lot to think about! You will figure it out as you go.
As we say in the adoption world, 'babies are perfectly happy sleeping in a drawer.' They won't know if you have all the right stuff. The only thing you have to have is a car seat so you can leave the hospital.

 

I had to share this.... my 3 children that are now 8 yrs, 6yrs and 5 yrs were all low birthweights for singletons... under 6lbs and they were not preemies. All 3 of them have horrible reflux. In the early days like the 1st 6 months, they all slept in their carseats that we put in the cosleeper beside of the bed on my side of the bed. The cosleeper was perfect to have a carseat and apnea monitor all in it!!!

 

I also did the infant bucket seats (I prefer the Graco snugride for my kids, just personal preference), and the double snap n go. I used that for the first 3 months. At that age both mine were knocking on HUGE and carrying 2 bucket seats was killing my back, I switched to Britax marathon's (only because I had 1 seat already and a great friend lent me and extra seat), and the combi twin sport stroller.

Around the age of 1, when my older kids were in t-ball, I realized the smaller umbrella wheels on the combi stroller wasn't good for offroading, and i went with a Baby Trend double expedition jogging stroller. I also switched to the Graco Nautilus car seats (forward facing only).

From day 1 we used 1 crib in our room. I did have 2 bouncers which I LOVED, they were always in a bouncer if they weren't being held. I have 2 older kids who were 7 and 2.5 when my twins were born, and laying the babies on the floor was a little dangerous sometimes The bouncers I consider a necessity. Swings are optional, my last 3 kids didn't really enjoy them at all. I did buy 2 pnp's but more for traveling than for at home. We put them both in one occasionally when we were outside. My twins shared a crib until they were 9 months old, when we finally got the spare room done for them and split them into 2 cribs at that time.

You CAN do this. :youcandoit: Your older kids are going to be an amazing help for you!!

Can I make a suggestion?? Eat tons and tons of protein. Supposedly it's helpful in your twins gaining good weight while you are baking them! I have no gaurantee's of course, but I personally ate more protein than normal and at 36wks my twins weighed more than my singleton did at 36wks. My singleton was 5lbs13oz, and my twins were 7.2lbs and 6.4lbs.

 

We did not have our twins in the room with us. We did by 2 cribs, but for the first 5 months or so, they slept in one crib in their room. Our hospital had a stork club which provided the car seats when you joined (I don't think they do this anymore), so we just used those and then upgraded once they were forward facing to the Nautilus (which we still have now as boosters..great buy!). We had a pack n play that we kept in the living room that had a changing table integrated with it which we used until they got too big to use it (another great buy). We had to infant to toddler rockers which we used from the time they were born until they were about 3 (another great purchase, don't know what we would have done without it). We did have two swings, then once they got too big for that we had one jumperoo and one activity center thing that they sat in.

Absolute best piece of equipment hands down was the infant to toddler rockers by Fisher Price. Don't know if they still make them, but we definitely got our money's worth out of them!

 

My twins are 5.5 months and still in our room in a co-sleeper. We use our swings a lot for naps also! Couldn't imagine life without the swings and didn't have one for our singleton.

We have carrier seats and a double snap and go. Honestly the snap and go was a waste of money for us. As little babies I had them lie next to each other in our bugaboo frog bassinet if we were out and about. When they outgrew that they were switched to a double bob (which I love).

Congratulations on your twins!

 

Mine were in a portacrib (minicrib) in our room till they were about 6 months old. Then we went up to my mom's for a month and they shared a PnP there. Now they are in their own separate minicribs in my older daughter's room. I'm really not a bouncy seat mom, my older daughter was 5 lbs when she was born (full term) and she was plain too small for a bouncer, as were my twins. By the time they were big enough for it, they were used to the swing. I did have two swings though and they were a lifesaver!

 

My twins were in a cosleeper beside my bed until about 4.5 months when they started slipping the swaddle and rolling/crawling on each other. Then I moved them into a crib together in their own room until we could get a 2nd crib set up and they could get used to their new location.

I had 2 bouncers (one for each floor of the house) but only ever used one. I also had 2 travel swings but only ever used one. I had a swing baby and a bouncer baby.

For strollers, I have the Graco Duoglider and 2 infant carriers. It has worked out really well for me since I have a toddler as well. In a pinch, I can carry her on one hip and push the stroller with one hand. When she gets a little older and more trustworthy and when the little ones can sit uo better, I will probably switch to the cheap side-by-side from BRU.