Twin mums - advice needed

[CB2805]

Hi lovely mamas🫶🏻
im 21w expecting twins and started to prepare our list for essentials!
my question is - what crib did you use for bedside sleeping for the first few months? I’ve seen lots of mixed opinions on that, some got just a single bedside crib and was fine till around 4-5 months (how they fit both?) and some got a twin crib but were struggling picking up babies on night feeds. Just looking for honest opinion and advice here.
also which pram worked the best for you? Donkey pram feels the safest but is it easy to operate when outside?

any other must have items that saved your life during those early months please let me know about them❤️

I’m 20w with twins and have the same questions about cribs - I’ve seen so many variations of people using cots, next to me style cribs, travel cots, Moses baskets….really not sure what’s best. it’s the same with prams because they’re so expensive. It’s just an absolute minefield!

Not sure if you’ve joined the twins trust Facebook pregnancy group but there’s lots of similar questions on there that you may find helpful!

We used cribs, two but then they were nearly 7lb each and never tiny, which fit in besides my bed. Meant I wasn't risking disturbing one if I needed to do stuff to the other.

Twin feeding pillow was very useful in the night as I ended up bottle feeding.

The pram I loved was Graco modes duo
Meant could have them facing me, away, each other, opposite ways etc as they grew up, SO easy to steer . We were gifted an Put n About nipper
Again, really good and easy to use

I HATED the out n about 3-wheel one. I regretted it every day. Found it so hard to manoeuvre.

My advice isn't about equipment as such.
Those first months are such a blur
Take so many photos and make sure he takes photos of you too. And make sure he pulls his weight
Twins are a team sport!!

We just used a single cot in our room. No space next to me for any type of cot, so cot went on DHs side of the room and he just lifted them to me for feeds (and also did nappies). They fitted in there next to each other then feet to each end until they were 6 months. They were prem and little though.

Just reading this makes me wonder why we didn't swap bed sides - obviously far too set in our ways 😂. DH was great at pulling his weight though.

X posted with Sleepingstandingup. Completely agree about it being a team sport!

Hi there
Welcome to a very exclusive twin mum club!
We had a side by side crib, one on each side of the bed.
My twins were born premature but in NICU did not cot share. At home I put them in one crib together for a short while but they were fidgety babies so I eventually put them in their own.
I got my side by side cribs on Facebook marketplace from another twin mum and they were in them until about 7 months old.

I had the mountain buggy duet, still have it, as I liked the idea of the them being side by side in the pram and it does fit through standard doorways. It's by no means a stylish pram though, and not lightweight! But it worked for us.

What type of twins are you having? Just cos I'm nosey. Geography teacher too.

I have mcda boys

I second a feeding pillow - I tandem breast fed and it was a life saver. Also had a mountain buggy which I loved. Steered so easily, can't describe how much I loved it weirdly. I cried and had to leave the house when we sold it....
Full height changing table if poss to save your back. Or at least a changing mat on the washing machine if no other space.
A nice big changing bag so no struggling for stuff.
A bit after newborn but little seats for the bath so they could sit in them independently and I didn't have to hold them both. Made bath times much more fun to do it together.
To be honest that was about it.
Fun times.

Echo the twin pillow, have more than one (doesnt need to be expensive, mine were around £15/20 from Asda online). Have one for home and one for when you eventually visit people.

Another godsend for me was two rocker chairs for the babies, or babybjorns (pricey but you can pick them up on Facebook). Twins are relentless and there will be moments you need to leave them in the chair to dash to the loo or quickly make a bottle or two if you're home alone during the day.

Vinted have a special section for twins clothes, stock up on there as it's great!!!

I would say, everything you do, make life easy for yourself and don't compare yourself to your friends who have had or having 1 baby as it's not the same. I remember signing upto baby yoga with mine at 6 weeks and finding getting out of the house so difficult, I'd cry the whole way there knowing I wouldn't be able to do all of the exercises with both of my babies. I wish I hadn't put so much pressure on myself.

2 years down the line, it's still challenging, but differently so, and their bond and friendship is beautiful to witness develop.

Deffo agree with it being a team sport! Ex DH and I split when twins were 7 months old (nothing to do with them, everything to do with him!) and I don't know what I'd have done without the support of family.

Xx

I initially had a next to me crib and planned to sleep them both in the 1 crib. But they never settled in this, maybe because they were in separate cots in special care. And in special care they were used to sleeping in a nest so even the next to me was too big. So after a couple of nights they started to sleep in individual moses baskets which they slept in till 6 months.

Pram we had the bugaboo donkey (brought second hand) and loved it for the first 10-12 months. It is wide but managed to get it into most places. If I was going somewhere I knew would be narrow to get into (i.e some coffee shops, charity shops) I would use it in single mode. When the twins were small (upto 3 months) I could fit both twins in 1 carrycot when older would put 1 twin in a sling. From age of 1 we started to use a stroller most of the time as it folds so much smaller and is much quicker and lighter to put in and out the car.

Other must haves is a twin feeding pillow. A bottle feeding twin pillow was great not just for feeding but as somewhere to put them on the sofa. I combi fed my twins but never got on with a twins breast feeding pillow (my twins were prem and struggled to latch). Another must is a sling/carrier. A single sling is useful to put 1 baby in so then you have hands free for other twin to carry. I occasionally used a weego (twin) sling for first 4 months till they got too heavy. Another must is a bouncy chair or rocker or similar. I would often be feeding or settling one baby whilst rocking the other in the chair.

Thank you ladies for all the suggestions and sharing your experiences❤️
although I’m still struggling to decide what to do about bedside sleeping😅

@SleepingStandingUp i have didi twins boy and a girl. Such a blessing but while the time passes i started to worry about every little thing😅

@GeographyTeacher hello fellow twin mama🫶🏻 unfortunately I don’t use fb (I know who doesn’t?!?!) so I relay on mumsnet😅 how your pregnancy is going so far? Have u bought anything or start preparing?

MCDA boys here, now 15. Congratulations- twins are brilliant- but tough on you in the early days.
We swaddled ours for a few months, and they shared a cot while small enough- they were happiest together and I think the swaddling made them feel secure. During the day they shared a laundry basket!
The single best thing for us was to use 'grow-bags' for sleeping. Wriggly babies get cold then wake up- ours started sleeping through from about 3 months, as soon as they had their first sleeping bags, and have never stopped.
Buggy-wise. we used a Nipper Out 'n' About, which was great- manoeuvrable, packable, and allowed the babies to lie flat. We're in a rural area though- you might benefit from single-width if navigating pavements etc. Babybjorns also really good for going for a walk with another adult.
I do remember endlessly ironing tiny clothes at midnight, weeping with exhaustion. Please don't do that to yourself- the babies didn't notice and you need to make sure you use every life hack to make life easier. In a few years you'll be the lucky mum whose children entertain each other.

I used a moses basket which they slept in together (one upstairs, one downstairs). When they got bigger put the basket in the cot bed and then just popped them in cot when they'd got used to it. They slept together in cot till 21 months when I popped them in separate beds (invariably they were both in one bed by the morning).
I breastfed for 13 months the feeding pillows were no good (I used with singleton).
Bouncy chairs were a god send after feeds to keep them upright.
A Sheet over where you sit as you can't catch two lots of vomit.
Routine was my life saver I woke them to feed at same time. Write things down like which child needed calpol I once nearly gave dt2 calpol to close together because i'd forgotten who needed what in my sleep deprived state.
Always have a bag packed to leave the house.
DA mid wife who had twins told me don't take advice from parents of singletons (having had both its a whole different parenting style needed).
You can't easily rock twins to sleep, I found from day one popping them in the basket and being close helped them learn to self settle (never had an issue unlike my singleton).
These are things that made our lives easier you just need to figure out what's best for you and your dc as everyone's different. I am a single parent so I'm sure I did things differently to what a couple might have done.