Ever feel super overwhelmed with all the baby gear and “necessities” that you see advertised? I know that when I was creating my registry for twins I really had no idea what all was most needed! I read reviews, talked to all my momma friends, but the one thing I learned is that every mom and every baby is different! Today I am sharing what we personally have loved and used the most during the 0-3 month stage (yes my babes are 6 months now, but just turned 4 months adjusted age) or the newborn stage with twins. There are only a few must haves for twins, most of these I would consider just as important with one baby as well! However, I recommend most of these items even more so with twins because, momma, you’re going to have to do something with the other baby when you are taking care of one! But remember, what we loved you might not, and vice versa, but I do think overall these products have been loved by many! I also will tell you what is nice to have but not a absolute must have, and things I think you can skip and save your money on!
Must haves:
Burp Clothes: we registered for like 10 of these, I think we bought like 30 more and then were given about 20 more from Todd’s sister, so yeah we use these like all the time! haha Most (not all) babies spit up. Don’t worry about getting super cute expensive ones, you’re literally going to wipe up spit with them. We have loved these ones. And also if you want a cute print version of them, we love these as well!
Swaddles: our babies loved loved loved to be swaddled. While I know not every baby does, most babies love the feeling of being all warm and snug! Our two lived in swaddles almost all the time in the beginning. Of course, when they were awake we would get them out, but naps and sleeping at night they were always swaddled! We started with halo velcro swaddles which are great for arms down sleep. Trust me when I say, you need the velcro! Otherwise swaddle blankets don’t stay on most babies for long, they wiggle! Then we transitioned to these swaddles which allowed their arms to be up! We also had a nested bean one that we loved as well, but we didn’t notice a huge difference between the two.
Owlet: bringing home two babies that were always hooked up to monitors in the NICU was a little bit nerve racking. I always wanted to check to see if they were breathing, but often times you wake a baby up when you try to physically check! The owlet has given us so much peace because it tells us their oxygen levels as well as their heart rate. We’ve learned what their normal awake and asleep heart rates are, so we can quickly look at the readings and see if they are asleep or awake, which can be very helpful! I know this one is costly (we bought 2! LOL) but you can use your HSA if you have one.
Snuggle Me: wow wow wow are these things amazing! Talk about the ultimate place to lay a baby when you need a bit of a break from holding them! My boys absolutely adore napping in these (supervised). They are supposed to mimic the feeling of being held for babies. Both my boys still love theirs! To save money don’t worry about buying the covers, just use a muslin blanket to keep clean!
A bouncer: When babies get to the stage of wanting to sit up and look around, but aren’t able to by themselves and aren’t able to sit in the sit me up chairs, then a bouncer is your best friend! They are able to lounge and see everything going on, while you get whatever you need to done! Many of times my babies have sat in the kitchen watching me cook dinner! We didn’t get anything super fancy, this is a great affordable option that someone gave us as a hand-me-down, but if you want a more aesthetically pleasing one this one also looks great as it can fold up and save some room!
Hatch Scale: we didn’t buy one at first because I hadn’t heard great reviews, but I don’t know what those people were talking about! This doubles not only as a place to change baby (easy to wipe down!), but also as a very accurate scale. When breastfeeding sometimes you may want to see how much baby is intaking, so you can do a weighted feed. It’s also great to be able to check baby’s weight between appointments! We also love the free app that goes along with the scale, it tracks and graphs baby’s weight, feedings, sleep, diapers, etc.! And you can use it with more than one baby! WIN! Originally we bought the keekaroo, which is great too, but if you’re going to spend the money, get the hatch!
Noise machine: At first our boys could sleep through anything, but we still used a white noise machine with them, as they got older though sound became a little more distracting for them. Now when napping at home, we always turn on the white noise machine. Not only does it signal to them that it’s time to sleep, but it helps block out whatever else is going on in the home. We have this sound machine in their nursery, which is awesome cause it has a light and can be controlled on your phone, but we have also loved this one for the bassinet and for other places in our home. Warning, not all sound machines are created equal. Some are not very loud, some don’t make the white noise sound that is best for sleep, etc. So don’t trust that an item you are buying (say a swing) is going to cover it in the noise department. These two though are golden!
Tubby Todd oinment: This was a find a bit later in the game for us. Both our boys started to get fairly dry skin (thanks winter!) and Rhodes also had a mild case of cradle cap.
aquaphor: Such a simple product but it is seriously the only thing that cured a bad…and I mean a BAD diaper rash! We tried just about everything else on the market, and only aquaphor + hydrocortisone cream worked! We also love to use aquaphor on any dry patches, especially around the face and neck! One of my boys loves to rub his face so it’s perfect for chapped cheeks!
Halo bassinet: Although this is in my must have category I need to clarify! We had the twin halo bassinet, which was great in theory, but if I could go back in time I probably would have gotten two halo bassinets and kept our twins separately one on each side of the bed! They quickly started waking each other up and outgrew it faster then they would have a single one. It was also very large. However, I think the halo bassinet is a great choice because the sides are mesh, and you can have your baby sleep as close to you as possible without them actually being in your bed! I know not everyone wants their babies in their room, but I definitely wanted mine close, especially for the newborn stage!
kids books: I read to my boys A LOT! While you don’t need a ton, pick a few books that are short and have really colorful pictures! We love to buy seasonal/holiday books as well for our boys! Some of our favorites linked here!
twin z pillow (or boppy for 1 baby!): This is a 100% must for twin moms. You can technically use it for breastfeeding (although I wasn’t a huge fan of using it that way), you can also use it to give two babies a bottle at the same time, and I have loved using it as a lounging/docking area for the babies! The elevated position allowed me to interact with both of my boys at the same time! Every night we place them in the pillow to read to them, sing songs, and look them in their eyes and smile and giggle! The pillow is also great for tummy time in the beginning! It makes it more enjoyable for the baby when they don’t have a ton of neck strength rather than just doing it on the floor! I can definitely see the benefits of having a boppy for one baby too!
Nosefrida: for all those boogies and especially great for when spit up comes out the nose. Yes the concept is weird to suck out snot but so much better than the bulbs! P.S. don’t forget the extra filters and saline drops
car mirrors: for when you stop sitting in the back with your babies! Gives you peace of mind!
Nice to have:
Crinkly stuffed animals: before the boys started being able to grab stuff with their hands, I loved that I could put these in their arms and they would make noise! The boys always tried to chew on them too!
Baby swing: We didn’t use our swing that much in the very beginning because our boys got a bit stressed out while in it, but once my SIL recommended swaddling them in the swing, they loved it! It definitely wasn’t a must have for us, but once they liked it, it was super enjoyable for them! We used it for the occasional nap here or there and my boys also loved just chilling in it while awake! We have this swing which our boys definitely enjoy, but if we were shopping now I would go with one of these bassinet/swings! I love that it can be used for true “safe sleep” with motion! Also this one can be used in the reclined or lying down position!
Lovevery playmat / baby einstein playmat : We bought both of these playmats for the boys and each of them are a hit! You definitely don’t need a playmat, you could just use a blanket on the floor, but these have so many developmentally appropriate features to them! I try not to put my babies in “baby holders” too much, so we spend a lot of time on these! The lovevery playmat is more expensive, but the bell toy is by far the boys FAVORITE toy! I love that it grows with them too and can eventually be a tee-pee! Definitely gets you more bang for your buck! The baby einstein playmat has the fun piano the boys can kick to make noise too! Only downside is that the mat itself isn’t padded!
duck thermometer: to make sure the bath water isn’t too hot for baby!
angelcare bath tub: nothing crazy special about this, but it worked for our babies and dried well (no gross mold!)
pee-pee teepee: boy moms, these things can save you if your little one likes to pee-pee as soon as you go to change a diaper!
ubbi steel diaper pail: keeps the stench out of our nursery!
baby relax swivel glider: a super comfy glider is important since you will most likely be spending many hours hear!
baby breeza bottle warmer: great to warm up either breast milk (slow warm so it doesn’t kill nutrients) or formula and fits most bottle types
car seat cover: for going out and about to keep strangers at bay! We have this one but I have also heard great things about these!
milestone discs: to take pictures of your growing baby each month!
Joovy Room 2 with Twin Nursery center: need another place for your twin babies to sleep? This is an awesome cost effective baby gear item! We use ours mainly as a diaper changer, but the play pen is extra big for the future too!
Overrated (or at least for my babies!):
Momaroo: We bought a momaroo second hand and at first the boys were not fans, now they will both sit in it and ride around and enjoy it, but I don’t believe, at least for us (some families LOVE their momaroo!), it is worth the price tag. A swing that is 1/2 the price tag worked just great for us! I will say that one perk is that it is way smaller than a swing, so it fits better/looks better in a small room! Also, our mobile broke on ours, which is supposedly a super common problem!
Swaddle blankets: the regular old fashion swaddle blankets for actual swaddling don’t last long. Your babies will quickly be bursting out of what you think is a tight swaddle. Also, you will probably be gifted a good bit of these! My advice is to buy one that is special that you love the pattern/color of for the hospital and pictures and then call it a day and don’t buy anymore lol (maybe one like this!). The ones you are gifted can be used though! We have put ours to good use as nursing covers, snuggle me covers, burp clothes, and used them for swaddle baths!
onesies & pants: This is a total seasonal preference, but my boys did not wear many onesies and pants in the newborn/0-3 sizes. Our boys were little pretty much in the cold months, so if that’s going to be you, I would suggest mainly buying sleepers (like these!) because they will keep baby warm and make for an easier diaper change! Short sleeve onesies could be layered if your baby has a hard time maintaining temperature, but overall the hassle of trying to put pants up and down when you are constantly changing baby is just a nightmare. However, if you’re baby is little in the warm months, a simple onesie seems like the perfect outfit! Also, if you know your baby is going to be in the NICU, they will pretty much put whatever you want on your baby except pants! Which is why it’s so confusing that so many preemie outfits come with pants!
hats: We loved putting our sweet boys in hats, but they really don’t get much wear out of them unless you have them outside in the winter months a lot or maybe if they have trouble maintaining their temperature in the very beginning. Otherwise, you’re probably not going to be keeping many hats on your baby while they are laying around sleeping most of the time. A few cute hats (maybe one for the hospital) is really all you need for the newborn phase! We have loved these carhartt beanies for the boys because they will last a long time. We also really love these knitted ones! Otherwise save your hat buying for when you know you will have them out and about and awake more!
ollie swaddle: I saw this swaddle recommended so many places and I was able to get a used one off of the facebook marketplace for a fraction of the cost! First of all, I don’t think these swaddles are bad, I just don’t think they are worth the $50 dollar price tag. A plus is that this swaddle doesn’t have a size, so it should be able to last your baby until they no longer need to be swaddled. However, I wasn’t a big fan of the material (I didn’t find it very soft or cozy) or the velcro( it was so loud and you had to pull so hard, there was no sneaking in for a diaper change with it). Also, my babies were still able to wiggle their way out of this sometimes, just like any other swaddle. I would recommend buying a few of the swaddles I listed above over the ollie!
my breastfriend pillow: there is both a regular and twin version of this pillow. It just didn’t work for me, I’d rather just use cushions around my house! I think breastfeeding pillows are especially hard for women who are taller or have longer torsos, the pillows just don’t come high enough!
What did you find the most helpful during the newborn phase? What about things that were a waste of money? Let me know in the comments below!
-Kasey
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