Twin moms (and others) - HELP

[marit]

I have a good friend who's having twin girls at the beginning of December. I just found out that they bought NOTHING yet! She said that they're in complete denial...

I want to help her with advice (just told her I have a Ph.D. in strollers, LOL, but the truth is I know nothing about double strollers).

I am getting her the BB Book of course, and thought also Wiselbluth (sp?) I heard about Happiest baby in the block, but after Maya was older so I never actually read it, is it good?

I need some advice from twin moms, what do you do? do you buy double of everything? two cribs? what do you do in the first months (two bassinets?)

And most important, ant good book talking about how to handle twins in the first months?


Thanks,

[marit]

Bump...

[bonbon98]

The babies are due in 2 months and she's still in denial?!?!? Eeek!

The stroller thing I can't help with - I have the basic Graco Duoglider - it was free! I wish I had done a lot more research and invested in a double that was more durable.

The things that we doubled up on were the carseats, the cribs, the swings, & the highchairs. We did a lot of resale shopping for the bouncy chairs (2) and the exersaucers (2). The first 3 months E&E slept in a bassinet and a PNP w/the bassinet feature. After that, I bumped them up into their cribs.

I didn't find any books on raising twins that I really liked. I did join a multiples group (http://www.nomotc.org/), where I got a lot of BTDT information on how to handle E&E during the early months/1st year.

HTH - good luck to your friend!!

Bonny
Mom to Evan & Emma 5/7/02

[jasabo]

Eegads!!! She hasn't bought anything yet?!? Wow!! I'd actually be a little worried about that, to be honest, especially if she's saying that they're in denial and not buying anything... I don't know - maybe that's just me. And I don't know her history, if she has a history of losses and doesn't want to get anything early, etc. It can be extremely overwhelming though, thinking about being a mom to twins, so you might want to try to get a read on how she's feeling. If she's overwhelmed now, it's just going to get worse after she has the babies. So just keep an eye on her.

Anyway, on to shopping :) ....

2 car seats, of course

we only bought 1 pack n play at first and had both boys sleep there for the first few weeks. Weight limit is 15 lbs for the pnp bassinet though, so depending on how much hers weigh, she may need 2 pnp's right away, or 2 cribs if she's going to have them sleep there.

2 bouncy seats, 2 swings, 1 gymini - we put both boys under the gymini at once when they were small. The swings were a life saver, but not all babies like swings. She might just want to buy one at first until she knows if they both like them. Bouncy seats were life savers too. My my boys had reflux, so they spent a lot of time in the bouncy seats.

There's just so much to buy and every one is different and different things work for different families. I'd say one of the most useful things you could do for her would be to go to her house often and help out...hold babies so she can get a shower, do a load of laundry, etc. It's just so completely overwhelming that it's hard to describe it adequately. But having a good friend close by would be really great for her, I'm sure.

In the meantime, see if you can drag her out shopping, or at least help her make a list. She's probably not going to have the energy to do it after the babies come and once she hits that last month or two of pregnancy, she probably won't feel like it then either (though everyone's different).

Kudos to you for thinking of her. She's lucky to have you as a friend :)

Lisa - mom to 15 month old twin boys

[nathansmom]

Well I've been in denial for awhile but it finally sank in. I've finally gotten out ad bought a few things for the twins. I plan on using one crib until it becomes nesscary to move them into 2. Hopefully it won't happen but it might.
Strollers: I have no clue. I'm still debating which stroller to buy.
Carseats: Thats a given and I just bought a second one this past weekend.
Clothes: I'm still trying to decide how much I'll need.

As far as books go I still haven't found any book that has me wanting to recommend it.

[marit]

The truth is those babies took A LOT of work, I think that's why they didn't want to buy anything too early KWIM? AND, she is going into bed rest next week, I guess her DH will do the shopping...

[HannaAddict]

This is from a good friend who has twins. She said invest (and with the price tag, I mean invest)in a Mountain Buggy Urban Double. She went cheap first and said it was a nightmare. I've pushed her MBUD and it was amazingly smooth and easy. Easier than my single Teutonia Y2K! It also holds infant seats. For cribs, I would seriously get small cribs to save $$, especially since I bet you will want them near you for the first several months. It will have good resale value in a few years too. Or maybe try the Zooper Tango if it can take carseats or recline fully?

We have a Ragazzi crib, beautiful buttercream color and Colgate mattress that has been nice decoration for the nursery since our baby has been sleeping next to our bed since he was born in March! First in his pram (wheels locked, very stable) when no place in town sold co-sleepers and we decided not to use the pack n play at the last minute as it didn't feel firm enough, now he's in a white metal portable crib from babiesrus ($80). It takes the same size sheets as a pack n play and we bought a dust ruffle for it (but no bumper). If I had twins I'd buy a couple of these cribs. They are a really nice size, not too small, not too big and can be easily rolled around if you need to move them. The mattress it came with is actually very firm and he likes it so I returned the mattress I bought separately. Congratulations and I would also invest in a Starbucks card for a jump start on those winter mornings after they arrive!