Tips on baby gear

Hi ladies,

I need some advice from u guys abt choosing Crib and travel system. I am first time mom, obviously no clue abt preparing for twins
According to the books, twins would share same crib till 6 months. Can you guys share your opinions pls? would 2 cradles help better than single crib?
Please suggest some good brands too.
What abt strollers? Books say Jogger stroller work great, am still thinking. Wanted to know experiences before deciding anything.

Thanks in advance..
My3

 

Hi,

My twins aren't here yet, but I do have a 2 year old and have wasted lots of money in the past and have done lots of research for the twins.

We bought the Baby Jogger City Mini double stroller, which is AWESOME. It can take babies from 5lbs to 50lbs, so it is perfect for our little angels. We tested it out with our son and his friend and they loved it! I was able to handle it using only one hand and it went through every single door way.

We have two full sized cribs, but put one in our room and plan on using that for both babies as long as possible.

I guess I can't be much more help as I have not experienced the twins yet, but thought I would let you know my views on the stroller.

 

I generally advise people to get two cribs from the start. Ours only shared for 2 months before we separated them, and I can't imagine them having shared until 6 months! Some do, but it would not have worked well for us.

I would recommend some type of stroller that you can attach infant carseats to at the beginning, which means a tandem stroller (as opposed to a side by side, which includes joggers). It's really easy to clip them in and out. You can try a snap and go frame, but I will put in a plug for an actual tandem stroller. We still use ours a lot in stores because they fight too much when side by side. For a side by side, we have a Baby Trend jogger - not too expensive and I really like it. There are definitely nicer strollers if your budget allows, but for $200 I love my Baby Trend!

 

Stroller 1. Double snap and go for when they are tiny in the carseats. May be able to find one at twin sale or someone on here may sell.
2. Baby jogger city - I have the classic, heard great things about the mini also. Sooo easy to push and folds quite small. I remember getting so overwhelmed looking for twin equipment.

Cribs - Probably need 2 eventually, or 2 sleeping areas (could be crib and pack n play). Mine stayed together for 3 months, but my DS was wild so I had to separate to protect DD from kidding head butted.

Totally unrelated to your question - best purchase we made Miracle blanket for swaddling, available online.

 

I had two cribs right off the bat. My boys were seperated the whole time in NICU and so when we tried to put them together once they got home they hated it We keep both cribs in the same room and it works really well for them. I don't know what brand my cribs are but they were 199 each so I didn't think that that was to bad. I wouldn't waste your money on expensive three in one cribs because if you plan on having any more children then you have to buy another crib or bed for the older child anyway( if you don't then maybe it would be a good option). If I could do it all over again I would have boughten or borrowed used cribs because there is a lot of stuff that comes up that gets really expensive.
I did a lot of research on strollers and I needed one that I could use in the country as well as in the city and that wasn't too bulky. I got the BOB revolution and love it! Just yesturday I used it as a stroller and shopping cart in walmart and it is so easy to manuver around with one hand. If you would only every use your stroller on concrete than this one would probably be to overboard. Not sure about any other strollers though because I only looked into ones that I could use e everywhere (it is even really great at the lake and on the beach). The BOB is really pricey so unless you would use it a lot it probably wouldn't be worth it. But if it is something that you would use alot don't cheap out because you will just end up buying something different.Best of luck.

 

Stroller: With dd I had both a jogger and a regular travel system. I used the jogger far more often, almost daily for walks. It is so much smoother than the other one (it was a graco metrolite). I even ended up selling the graco and just use the jogger (a bob). With the twins though I bought a double jogger with the intention that my 2 year old can sit in one seat, one baby can recline in the other and the other I will carry in a sling. But I just recently bought an inexpensive double front and back stroller (a graco duo-glider) off craiglsist to make sure it will fit through doorways should I feel bold enough to venture to the mall, etc. with all three. My advice: think about what you will use the stroller for primarily...walks around the neighborhood, going to the mall, outside, inside, etc?

Cribs: I actually bought two already. But I have a type a personality and need the nursery to be done now. I also bought a new pack and play (a full size Graco) for our bedroom for the first little while, we still have the one from our dd but it was a "travel lite" and I think it would be too small.

 

Yes...I 100% agree with the 2 cribs right off the bat. Some get pack n plays, co-sleepers, etc., but they DO NOT have to meet the safety requirements of a crib. Concumer Reports has all the ratings and such for all.

We have 2 babli italia cribs and bought the conversion kits, so they will last WELL into their toddler years. There are some of the highest quality cribs and solid wood.

As far as strollers. I wild go see what you feel you like the best, but infant car seat adapters are a must and there are a few that can use 2 car seat adapters.

Not sure uf you have a BabiesRUs around in your area, but they were very helpful to us, even after we knew what we wanted to buy. We wanted the Snugfit 32, but babies have to be over 5lbs for that. Our kids were born almost 4 months early, so there was a chance they would be under 5lbs when they came out, so we got the Snugfit30. Knowing little things that can help

 

Our girls were born at 5lbs each, and they shared a Pack n play for almost 3 months. We were moving so didn't really have a choice. They fit well though. They each had a boppy pillow to sleep in and snuggled right in.

When we did put them in a full size crib, they stayed together until about 5 months or so, then we bought a second crib and started seperating them, but only becuase they started rolling around. One liked to have her space, the other liked to crowd everyone out. didn't work to well..

Strollers. We bought a Graco Duoglider (original, not Quattro) and actually still have it(they are almost 3) we've used it through our son being born as well and he's now almost 18 months. They didn't have the Quattro available when we bought ours, but I tried it out in the store, and it folds really FLAT, is a little smaller then the original, a LOT lighter and can easily be maneuvered with one hand (so could the Original) and we used ours even on rough terrain. The only thing it wouldn't work well for is if you're a regular runner. Walks it worked just fine, but if you are a runner, DEFINETLY get a jogger.

 

Thanks a lot ladies.
U guys r really helping me a lot. I will soon come up with my choice and let u guys know

 

I agree - do 2 cribs right away. Mine slept together for the 1st month, but one boy would have a leaky diaper in the middle of the night, and I would have to pick the other one up (while he was sleeping) to change the sheet, and then he would wake up. Don't wake up a sleeping twin!!!!!

 

I also gotta throw in there the Itzbeen. I know you were just talking bout cribs and stroller, but this will be a Godsend...

www.itzbeen.com

 

We had these too and never got it together to use them. I think I would tell people to consider whether this is really "them" because they are pricey gadgets to collect dust. Actually, I have two unused itzbeens if anyone is interested.

 

yeah...maybe not for all, but it beats writing things down on paper. Worth the 30 or so bucks I spent for each. It's really gonna help because each will need medicine at different times. All you gotta do is set up the interval, click it when you admnister it, then it beeps when it's time for the next dose. Same thing for feedings, changings(of course change when dirty...ha) and helps track sleeping and awake time.

I'm already running on fumes at time, plus I have lots of "brain farts", so in my case...I'm def. gonna need it...LOL

 

Anyone got any Angelcare montiors still new they wanna sell. Mine are still in the box and I can return them if someone wants to cut me a deal????

They will be on Apnea Monitors for a bit, but after that...I'll use thier angelcare monitors.

 

Our twins slept in their own bassinets in our room until 3 months of age, then we moved them to a crib. If I remember correctly they shared the crib until they were 5 months and then we got another crib. As far as strollers go we had the Graco Duoglider, I like that their infant carseats could attach to it and using both canopies they were completely hidden from weather/strangers. LOL
It was big though so I had to remove the front snack tray/canopy to fit it in the trunk of my car that we had at the time. Kind of a PITA! I'm sure there are a lot better/fancier strollers out there now, but it worked well for us at the time and we used it until they were 3. We also had an Instep Safari double jogging stroller with front swivel wheel that was awesome!

I think the itzbeen is a neat idea, I totally would have preferred to have used that other than writing everything down with our twins.