What items can twins share?

Hello,

I'm new to the forum and so glad that someone recommended it. This is my first pregnancy and it was a total surprise to find out I'm having twins. I am 14 weeks and not sure of the gender. When my mother said I have to get 2 of everything, reality nearly made me fall over. So I'm wondering, besides the obvious (i.e. car seats, strollers, etc) is there anything I could get away with only purchasing one of...such as perhaps a crib?

 

My boys shared a crib until they were 11-12 weeks, so for the first few months yes. I know that some girls on here have had thier guys in one crib well past a yr even. I only had 1 swing and 1 bouncy chair. I rotated them. I had one Jolly jumper and once excersaucer, again I rotated them. I had one baby bath, because really, you can only bathe one at a time anyway, unless u have someone helping you. I cant think of anything else right now, but I am sure the girls will add in some more for you.

Congrats on your twins and welcome to TS!

 

My girls shared a crib till around 14 months. I didn't have doubles of any play toys except the bouncers.

 

My girls shared a crib for the first few months but I have heard lots of stories of twins that shared a crib for the whole first year. Mine napped in the same crib for the first year, but I had to move both of mine out of cribs at 18 months b/c they were jumping out of them and it was dangerous. I only used 1 boppy pillow to feed both, but I had and used 2 swings and 2 vibrating bouncy chairs. We started off with 1 swing and 1 chair but wound up going to buy a second one after the birth.

The reason I used 2 bouncers is b/c I would bring the babies in the chairs into my bathroom so that I could take a shower during the day while I was home alone with them. I used 2 swings b/c all of my children have napped so well in swings and sometimes that is the only way I can get them to sleep during the day

You definitely only need 1 baby bath tub. I also only had 1 PNP, I got the twin PNP with the double bassinet and I have really gotten my money out of that thing. At almost 3.5 years old we still use the bottom part of the PNP for naps every day.

 

I also bought 2 bouncy seats which has been a life saver. I bought 2 portable swings. They are much smaller than full size and you can easily move them around. They share a PNP now and we have 1 crib for later. We will buy another as they get bigger. We also bought 2 high chairs for later. We got a set that turns into a table and chair for them when they are toddlers, so we are trying to get the most out of it. We bought the chairs and swings on Craigslist. We are not having any more kids so it didn't make sense to buy new. We did buy 2 baths (the mesh small ones not the tubs) and my DH and I bathe them at the same time. Works for us.

 

You can share a ton. We have 2 bouncers but different kinds on purpose. Mine shared a crib for 6 mo then we put up the other one when they got mobile (DD was crawling then) ONely 1 swing, 1 exercauser, 1 jumper, 1 of each toy, 1 baby bath. 1 really great stroller (find on you will love) We did have 2 high chairs, 2 car seats, 2 play mats (different kinds). I wouldn't worry about 2 of most things and if your kids love them, find them used after birth.

 

PnP Graco with a twin bassinet

We got two cribs for them right away but didn't use them until the boys were almost 3 months old. They slept in the pack n play until they hit the max weight limit. We got our cribs from Ikea, they are holding up well and were only $99 each plus the cost of the mattress.

We have one swing and one exersaucer and a jumperoo that they swap between.

I never even really used the baby bathtub that we got. I just climbed in the bath tub and brought one with me, then when he was clean swapped him out for his brother until they were able to sit up on their own at about 6 months, then they sat up in the tub in a couple of inches of water with me sitting outside the tub to hold them up.

 

There's a ton of double strollers out there. Personally I'd get the double sit 'n' stand. You can snap 2 carseats in it to begin with, then it will have 2 seats when they're big enough, and it'll convert into the traditional sit 'n' stand for when they are toddlers.. REALLY will get your use out of that.

Instead of high chairs (unless you get like PP said) get booster seats from the get-go, they can be strapped in just like a high chair and will last MUCH longer, not to mention the are cheaper (and some come with play trays to keep them occupied while you're preparing meals)

We did one of: Full sized swing, PNP(they shared till about 4 months), Crib (Shared till 7 months), exersaucer, all toys, outfits(REFUSED to dress them alike)

We did two of: Bouncy seats(made feeding time easier for MIL who watched them), travel swings(moved when they were 8 weeks old, these saved our lives), High chairs....

Where you're really going to have to start buying 2 of everything is when they get older and they start exerting their independence...

Also, check out your local Mothers of Multiples club (MOMs) they do semi-annual sales where you can get gently used items for dirt cheap, and most of the time they have doubles of everything!LOL Perfect... I think most places do their sales in like September and March, so be on the lookout for one coming up in the next couple months.

 

With the exception of car seat, high chairs and places in the stroller--twins can share everything. Or nothing. It's up to you.

The only things we had two of were car seats and high chairs (we got trayless highchairs that grow with them so no need to buy boosters later). I advocate getting a good double stroller, a high quality one with a good warrenty because you will use it a lot. Spend your money there and not on two baby baths--I mean really, one person can not bathe two babies at the same time! I also no some parents who bought two changing tables! What the heck--you'd have to be an ocoptus to be able to handle two babies up on changing tables at the same time. We only had one bouncy seat and one rocker type seat.

We coslept for the first year, so no crib for us until they were a year old--then we had one made that fit a twin size matress and they both slept in it until they were 5 (the rails came off at three).

 

I had a double stroller, 2 swings (I was given them by a friend who'd had twins), 2 carseats, 2 bouncy chairs--exersaucer type things (also used... I'd had 1 from older kids and got a 2nd), and 2 high chairs. But we didn't actually have 2 high chairs, we had 2 of the portable ones you can strap on a regular dining chair, just to save space. Other than that and clothes, I can't think of anything we had 2 of. We had an Arm's Reach Co-sleeper, that has a bassinet which will hold up to 30 lbs (twice what other ones will, I think). I had to remove the bassinet for safety when they were pulling up on the sides, before they outgrew it. We used that and a regular pack and play and never got cribs. We'd gotten rid of our crib before I knew we were having twins, because we just didn't have room in our small house.

On the stroller, I'd go to the store and put a good 15-20 lbs in one of the seats and try steering with 1 hand. Then try it with the weight in the other seat. Inevitably, I'd end up holding a fussing baby and pushing the stroller. Some steer much easier than others! It's also nice to be able to snap your carseats right in the stroller, to not disrupt a sleeping baby. There are some that work both with and without the carseats. Very handy.

 

We brought two bumbo seats(great for teaching them to sit up), two high chairs, two car seats of course. I got two pnp, two swings, two boppy, two Dr. Brown formula mixing pitcher but one of each is at my parents.

 

Thank you so much...this forum has been so helpful. I don't even know what half these items are that you all mentioned but it's been fun learning.

 

Thanks for that tip with the stroller...good one!