When we had twin sons in 2001, it quickly became clear that some things that worked just fine for a single baby didn't cut it with two. One baby leaves one hand free most of the time for adjusting things or making things work, but twins mean things need to work well without repeated adjustment and with a minimum of setup, takedown, cleanup, etc.
The list that follows is far from exhaustive, but it covers things that Koralee and I have used successfully with our twins and would recommend to other parents of multiples.
Where possible there is an on-line shopping link for these items. On-line shopping is definitely one thing that works well with multiples -- almost all of our groceries now get delivered by Albertsons.com, the on-line delivery service of Albertsons grocery stores. Anyone who has struggled through a grocery store with two grocery carts because the twins need a whole cart to themselves will appreciate having food delivered on-schedule to their front door instead.
Like most twin moms who breast feed, Koralee has had to pump milk regularly to provide for cup and bottle feeding, making cereal, etc. We started out renting one of those huge hospital pumps, but Koralee found that the Avent Isis Breast Pump was actually faster and more comfortable, and it's a hand-held system that's easy to use in the back seat of the mini-van, too. Other useful supplies for the system include:
High chairs take up a lot of space we did not have, and are quite bulky to carry around, so instead we looked for good booster seats to fit on the dining room chairs we already owned. After much shopping and comparison, we have been very happy with the 4 Stage Feeding Set from The First Years. It's sturdy plastic with a removable, washable strap set and pads, and the tray can also go in the dishwasher. The seat also adjusts for size and has three recline positions, so the boys have been comfortable in these seats from a few months of age until well over 20 pounds each.
Those seats are great at home or on vacation, but if we're just going to a restaurant or visiting someone else's house, they're pretty bulky. We have a pair of portable booster seats, mostly cloth with inflatable bases, that strap securely into most standard chairs. They're On-The-Go Booster Seats from The First Years, part of their Toddler Travel Kit.
We also discovered that these seats both fit inside a standard shopping cart, so that both boys can sit securely strapped in, inside the cart, rather than having to figure out how to clip two car seats onto one cart, or push two carts at once.
When the boys were first at home, we could fit them both in a big old baby carriage and they were quite happy together. As they got bigger and more active, however, we clearly needed separate seating arrangements. We condisered twin-specific strollers, but they're quite large and cumbersome, and if we have more than one adult, it's more pleasant to put each boy in his own stroller so we can walk separately if one boy is asleep and the other is crabby.
We also wanted large enough wheels to walk on gravel paths, rather than tiny little wheels that are only good indoors. And we wanted weather protection so that the whole family can go for a walk in typical Seattle weather.
We finally decided on the Caddy Stroller from Chicco. It's not the fanciest model on the market, but it is sturdy, comfortable, light weight, and folds compactly. It also comes with a clear rain cover that goes on very quickly -- less than 45 seconds when we got hit by a sudden thunderstorm at school last spring ;-)
We have two of these strollers, and when there's only one person to push, we lock them together with these Stroller Connectors and the two strollers push as easily as one double-wide one, but we can take them apart when we come to a narrow doorway.
Koralee can sew. I mean she can really sew -- she made a dress for Alessandra at the wedding that looked every bit as good as Koralee's own wedding dress, and she sewed the matron of honor's dress, too. So it's no surprise that Koralee sews our baby slings, too, or that the ones she makes are better, in my opinion at least, than any of the commercial ones we've tried out. Some day we'll have detailed directions here, or even a pattern.
Koralee is almost as much of a bike nut as I am. So it's no surprise we needed a bicycle trailer for our Viewpoint tandem. Thanks to several other helpful parents of multiples, we decided to spend the extra money for a trailer that did everything we wanted, the Tanjor trailer from http://www.lodrag.com/. There's even a model for triplets!
This page written by Josh Putnam. Please feel free to email questions, comments, corrections, suggestions, etc.
© Joshua Putnam