practical tips for getting ready for birth of twins...

[beachesandbuckets]

A short summary of me, 2 dcs so kinda know the normal things to do in preparation (stockpile sleep, hospital bag, etc) but at 25 weeks and having done nothing this time (due to losing a baby last year and not wanting to 'jinx' things by getting ready early too soon this time) anyone got any tips on preparing for the birth, when they are home etc? Should I put the cot(s) up now, what do I need two of (have 1 of everything). Anything I can do for 2 dcs to help them adjust? Thanks!

I asked myself a few questions, wrote up a list with DH about what I need and avoided things I wouldn't need until they were older. If it helps I could like you to my baby register of what I got for twins (can't link until tonight though - I'm on phone).

The questions I asked myself:
Do I want to co-sleep? - if so, puttinh up the crib can wait.
Do I want them in separate cribs?
Do I want to tandem feed/bf, if not what bottles?
Cloth or disposable diapers?
Baby bath or bath divider?

You say you have one of everything, do you have a swing and bouncer? Maybe ypu can alternate between them so you don't have to have 2. I just have bouncers.

Hope some of this helps. Oh, and congrats! I'm PG with my 2nd set ;)

Oh and for old DC we bought them gifts and said they were from babies. I also let them help at bath time and fetching diapers etc and 'bigged up' the big bro/sis role to make them feel special.

You definitely need two baby seats/bouncers. Our twins went straight into their cots so they were made up in advance. If you're bottle feeding you need plenty of bottles. We also had two sterilisers as we got through so many bottles. Loads of babygrows. You need to be able to change your babies upstairs and downstairs. If one baby fills a nappy while you're all downstairs you don't want to have to leave one while you go upstairs to sort out the other.

Could they bunk in one cot together? That way, one cot in your room for night time and one cot downstairs for daytime - moving both cots into their bedroom when they are old enough?

I personally had the following for when they were out of hospital:

Two moses baskets (one downstairs, the other upstairs). Then when they were a little bigger both moses baskets in our room and a travel cot with bassinet in the living room.

One playmat to lay on together, two bouncers, 12 bottles saw us through a day and one steriliser was plenty (I decided against breastfeeding so that my elder daughter and husband had a chance to help and bond more with the babies), we washed up once in the mornings and then again in the evening to see us through. I keep nappy changing boxes (just cheap boxes from tesco) in master bedroom, nursery and living room. Always keep your changing bag stocked so its one less thing to worry about when you go out, you just pick it up and go :) I started using a baby bath, but honestly, the sink was easier as bathing two babies on the floor kills your back. So personally I would just bathe in the sink and move onto big bath with a bath seat. Disposable diapers because they are just easier, you will be doing enough washing without adding to it (I order from amazon and stock up). Plenty of baby grows and vests, you really cant have too many.

If i'm only feeding one baby then I will do my daughters reading with her, I get her to do jobs for me to do with the babies and again like someone else said, just big them up and make them feel like you really wouldn't cope without their help. I didn't give my daughter a gift, I just made sure that she wasn't forgotten, a massive hug for her when she got to the hospital and constant reminders that she is just as important to me.

Good luck and massive congratulations :)

hi there,

the one thing i didnt buy and wish i had was a video monitor- i could do with one now and my twins are nearly 2!

if you are planning on breast feeding invest in electric pump- i did and although you feel like a cow sometimes it will get your milk suppy up and its cheaper then formula in the long run, i used to express 2 bottles (one for dh to give one baby at 10/11pmish and 2/3amish, i fed mine to 11months, never would have got through the early days without it!

in the first few weeks record whos fed/ how long , its hard to remember when coupled with sleep deprivation!

agree ith the above- get as many babygrows and vests as possible... i used to wake one baby up if the other had woken, so they would go back down together- otherwise i had one up one down all day, lots of well wishers told me not to wake a sleeping baby but they didnt realise how important it was to get half an hour to yourself!!

as for the birth id say its as unpredictable as a singleton, if you have a natural birth prepare to have ALOT of doctors and nurses etc around, i cant comment on a c section. good luck try to enjoy it- and take LOADS of pics xx

Currently pg with twins so no direct experience as yet and these are our first too. Other than the stuff already mentioned we also decided to sort out all the house jobs that needed doing which we knew we would never get round to doing ourselves or getting people in to do when the twins arrive. Up to now its been great to benefit from a newly decorated hallway, doors that don't stick and new fencing in the back so we don't have neighbours staring into our back yard

If you are planning to bf, buy a tandem feedin pillow (try eBay or your local twins club). And bring it to hospital. Tandem feeing is such a timesaver that I wish I'd started earlier.

I used the bugaboo pram carrycots as Moses baskets downstairs (still at 14 weeks!) - I put them straight into the cot upstairs from day one for sleeping. We have just moved them into separate cots for night time sleeping at the weekend.

Agree have dedicated changing stations up and down stairs

Baby grows are your friend. You don't want to be fiddling with clothes after a nappy change while the other baby is screaming in the background.

Et out of the house early. Otherwise it feels massively daunting.

Bath support and two towels on the bathroom floor has been the way I bathe mine. One on the floor, one in the bath. Then swap round.

Get a really big playmat. Ours is 1.5m by 1m - could do with bigger tbh.

I guess just think through your typical day with your DCs and imagine a new born in it, then think 'What am I doing with the other one?'. So if your DCs need holding a hand to go out to the car for example, remember hyou won't be able to do that whilst carrying both babies. How you're going to put them down for naps, chaning stations upstairs and downstairs etc.
Much easier to do I imagine if you've already had DCs, we wre winging it!

Best thing we did was have a kettle witha temperature guage and mini fridge upstairs, bottle warmers next to bed (as we mixed fed). Also we made up feeds in batches then quickly chilled and refridgerated (not current guidelines but how they do it in NICU so we were confident. We also dedicated a sink to bottle washing as we had so much.

Second video monitor - still useful now mine are toddlers for spying on their mischief!

Thank you for all your helpful and sensible advice, have made notes, keep them coming!! X

Also, if you don't want to keep getting up during the night, I'd recommend a twin co-sleeper. I used this one; it's great because the last thing you want to do is get out of bed to comfort/bf. It also changes into a playpen.

Have you thought about Angel care? We have two put unable to use them until the twins go in separate cots, but if it separate moses baskets/cots you would benefit from it.

Also, get a room humidifier and temperature gauge. I use this one; it has both.Keeps the room breathable and you'll know if the room is too hot or cold.