Double the babies doesn’t necessarily mean double the supplies. Honestly there’s really not much you need two of and with limited time on your hands once the babies arrive, it helps to minimize clutter. I would say the only mandatory doubles are:
- Car Seats
- Cribs and Mattresses
- High Chairs
These are some recommended other things to consider getting double of depending on your preference:
- Bassinets
- Bouncers
Other than these items, your twins will end up sharing the other items in your home. We easily got by with one dresser, one activity center, one playpen, and one of most everything else.
Car Seats:
You’re required to have car seats to leave the hospital so this is a must. It’s just a matter of what type is best for you. This comes down to personal preference, budget, and space.
Reasons to get an Infant Car Seat:
- Prioritizing convenience for the first several months
- Snaps into a stroller
- Buckle the babies indoors with harsher temperature
- Don’t need to wake the baby to leave the car
Reasons to get a Convertible Carseat:
- Prioritizing long-term budget
- Grows with the baby as it can be both rear facing and forward facing
- Saves money as you can still use it with a newborn
Ultimately, we started with the infant car seat with the plan to transition to a convertible once they’re larger. We put a heavy value on being able to keep the seats and babies temperature regulated in the house as long as possible during trips.
The infant car seats we were selected were the Graco SnugRide.
The convertible car seats we transitioned to are the Graco Extend2Fit.
Cribs and Mattresses
There are seemingly endless options here so picking cribs depends on your space and visual aesthetic. If you’re low on space, you may want to consider two mini cribs. Depending on the size of your babies, this may last you all the way until a toddler bed.
We didn’t want to risk outgrowing the minicribs so we selected a standard crib. But as storage is sparce in our house, we looked into crib options that also offer storage and selected the Graco 5-in-1 with drawers.
However, the mattress itself is arguably more important than the crib. Pick a mattress that allows good air flow, is breathable, and is chemical free. These are important factors for safe sleep. We got two of these Graco Mattresses and love them.
As these mattresses aren’t cheap there are also breathable mattress protectors to save them from blow outs.
High Chairs
This is another where options are seemingly endless and can be tailored to your needs. Depending on space, consider ones that can stack or fold for easy storage.
If you’re like us and want something indestructible that can literally be housed down following the daunting cleanup after twin meals, consider Ikea high chairs. It comes with optional accessories but it’s gets the job done without breaking the bank.
Bassinets
You can certainly get by without bassinets. You can use your crib or minicribs at the tallest setting. But you may consider bassinets if you want to start more compact, especially if they’re starting in your bedroom before upgrading to their own space. If you choose the bassinet route, there are three types I want to highlight, two of which are specifically designed for twins.
You can get two pack and plays with bassinet attachment. Once they show readiness to move to a crib, you then have two pack and plays that you can use for travel for both play and safe sleep.
If you’re short on space, a more compact option is this great single Pack n Play with bassinets for twins. The only downside is when they outgrow the bassinet, you only have one Pack n Play for sleep when traveling.
A unique option is the Halo Twin bassinet. A huge plus is being able to rotate it and get either or both twins from bed. The price reflects the convenience and you don’t have a secondary purpose once they’re larger.
Bouncers:
You can make do with one bouncer but having two bouncers can give you an alternate station for your baby for relax, bottle feed, or provide enrichment. You can make then multipurpose by adding an enrichment attachment such as this one.
Two great ones to consider are the Baby Bjorn and the Ergobaby. The fact that twins tend to be smaller when born swayed us to select the Ergobaby since it has a Newborn attachment that we used for months.