having twins is the ultimate ice breaker. not a day goes by that we’re not stopped by someone who either has twins, is a twin, knows someone who’s expecting twins, or in the very least, just wants to emphasize the fact that i’m pushing not one but TWO babies in my double stroller. sometimes i feel like a circus side show, but most times i’m completely endeared because sometimes i, myself, can’t believe that i’m a mother of two. two that, despite the 5+ pound differential, did in fact share a womb and a birthday. and yes, they’re fraternal.

ANYWAY, this post is long overdue but after an expectant grandmother of twins stopped my mom and me (and the babies of course) this past week while we were on a beach walk to inquire my most recommended products, i figured it was time i put all of our favorite pieces in one place for easy reference.

a quick disclaimer -babies are snowflakes and even our twins are not exactly alike in their preferences so just because the following products have worked for us does not mean they’ll work for your baby, your friend’s baby, or the baby down the street. but if i had to recommend the things that have made the past seven months of twin parenthood a little more manageable, these would be my top picks:

uppababy vista stroller || hands down, the cadillac of strollers and yes, it has a hefty price tag to match. but we use our stroller every. single. day. sometimes multiple times a day and for that reason alone, it has been well worth the investment. when we found out we were having twins, i knew i wanted to find a stroller with the option to convert to accommodate a second child versus a double stroller where the babies are seated side by side. we have a lot of narrow trails near our house and being able to navigate them easily was a top priority (daily walks are truly our sanity), let alone being able to fit down the aisles of the grocery store (or madewell, of course). the vista model comes with a rumble seat (to be used when the baby is able to sit up comfortably) as well as a bassinet (we purchased a second one). we never used the bassinets on the stroller (they’re hard to stack one atop the other), but they did serve as the twins’ beds for the first 7-8 weeks of life before we eventually transitioned them into their cribs. again, i realize it’s a bit unrealistic to spend so much money on a stroller, but i encourage you to look on craigslist, facebook marketplace, etc. for gently used models. you’d be surprised at what you can find!

nuna pipa lite car seat || one of the benefits of being one of the last people in your friend group to have babies is that everyone has already done the research for you! one of my closest girlfriend’s husband is a firefighter/EMT so when they were having their daughter two years ago, he scoured the interwebs in search of the safest car seat on the market. when it came time for us to purchase two safety seats of our own, without question she offered up the nuna pipa lite. the lite being the key component for the fact that we’d be lugging around not one but TWO at a time. i swear every ounce makes a difference, especially now since henry is tipping the scales at 19 pounds these days(!).

p.s. in order to utilize the nuna car seats on the uppababy stroller, you need to purchase converters! they’re affordable and super easy to install (i say that as the person who did NOT install them). you can find them here & here.

baby bjorn bouncers || hands down the number one item i recommend for moms-to-be, especially those expecting twins (or more!). i cannot tell you how many times i’ve ‘parked’ a baby in one of these in order to tend to the other one. they come in a variety of colors, too (word to the wise, get a dark color that hides spit up and baby food stains). the twins have learned to bounce themselves in these over time (i remember when sissy wasn’t even big enough to get her momentum going) and at around four months or so, we were gifted these wooden toy bars which fast became added entertainment. these days, the toy bars act as bottle holders to feed the babies while mom runs around trying to get stuff done. speaking of bottles…

dr. brown’s bottles || as soon as we found out we were having twins, i reached out to the only other twin mom i knew at the time -a girl i went to high school who i hadn’t really spoken to in years. thankfully we went to a small school, we followed each other on instagram, and she was gracious enough to offer her best advice. two items she unequivocally endorsed were dr. brown’s bottles and the twin z nursing pillow (more on the latter in a moment). seeing as our babies were born prematurely (36 weeks + 1 day) and spent time in the nicu after birth, one of the biggest concerns was the need for them to put on weight. while i tried nursing with henry (delilah was so little, breastfeeding exhausted her), ultimately we made the decision for me to exclusively pump and bottle feed them both instead. with twins, if you can have help feeding (especially at night!), you take it. so bottles it was! dr. brown’s bottles have a vent system that helps eliminate negative pressure and air bubbles to reduce colic, spit up, burping, and gas. the only downside is that they’re a bit of a pain to clean.

p.s. we also love the dr. brown’s bottle warmer.

twin z nursing pillow || i obviously purchased this pillow per the above recommendation prior to having the babies, so it didn’t have a long life serving in its intended role (since i nixed nursing after a few weeks). HOWEVER, it became clutch for tandem bottle feeding once my husband went back to work and i was left alone in the mornings to fend for myself. similar to the baby bjorn bouncer, i also used the pillow to ‘park’ a baby if i had to do an emergency diaper change –only before they learned to roll over, of course.

halo sleep sack || there seems to be a lot of opinions out there on what sleep sack reigns supreme but for us, the halo has been far and away the most successful of the three we’ve tried (the twins HATED the ollie and did fair enough with the love to dream swaddle). as i mentioned above, once the babies could roll over (at around five months), it became necessary to have their arms free. the halo’s main zipper sack is sleeveless with velcro flaps to adhere snuggly around their trunk. the twins are free to move around safely with their arms uninhibited, yet are still contained enough to be soothed into dreamland (if we’re lucky, of course).

burts bees burp cloths & crib sheets|| one of the twin accounts i follow recently posed the question, “how many crib sheet sets do you need for twins?” i can tell you that the answer is most definitely more than two! we only have two sets ourselves and it’s all i can do to have a clean one on the mattress at all times (so much spit up, guys). luckily burts bees makes some quality sheets because even after a zillion washes, they’ve held up and are just as soft as the day we opened them. we also have about 25 of these burp cloths. we stash them everywhere.

fisher price snugamonkey cradle n swing || in the very early days of parenthood (twins or not), you do whatever you can just to survive. our babies were not the best sleepers (spoiler alert: they still aren’t) so in our desperation, we started researching apparatuses that could help facilitate rem. mind you with twins, more often than not, you’re purchasing TWO of everything (except bathtubs, you really only need one), so while we considered both the SNOO and a mamaroo, our bank account laughed at us and urged us to keep browsing. we landed on this hideous yet very positively reviewed swing. my need for a chic home aesthetic has all but been thrown out the window for the time being, all in the name of a few more zzz’s. though henry’s legs are all but dangling over the edge of the swing now, at a time, he basically lived in this thing. we are STILL finding use for them seven months later so for that reason alone, they have been worth the eyesore in our bedroom. i’ll admit, the accompanying music is quite soothing, i sometimes think about turning it on before my own bedtime.

hatch rest sound machine || as someone who loves to fall asleep to the sound of the TV myself, it made sense that the twins’ slumber might be aided by the addition of a white noise sound machine. everyone recommended the hatch version so that’s what we went with. to be honest we haven’t really explored the sound options too much other than the time i accidentally switched it from white noise to its current lullaby -light rain. the babies didn’t seem to mind the change so we’ve kept it (shrugs shoulders).

sophie the giraffe || it took some time for the twins to warm up to sophie (or sophia as we occasionally call her), but now that they’re in the throes of teething, they can’t get enough of their favorite giraffe. it may seem silly to spend over $20 on a teething toy, but let me tell you, if chewing on sophie will keep the babies quiet and occupied, she is worth every penny.

fawn design diaper bag || with two babies to manage, having your hands free is crucial. that’s why i opted for a backpack style diaper bag -one that also doesn’t scream I’M RESPONSIBLE FOR TWO TINY HUMANS because mama still wants to feel chic, you know what i mean?! i personally love the fawn design leather bag for its durability and the abundance of pockets to hide away teething toys, extra diapers, a change of clothes (don’t get caught post-blowout without a spare onesie!), and a protein bar for mom (about all i have time for my meals these days). i scored my bag during last year’s black friday sale (nearly half off!) so always keep an eye out for holiday discounts!

a few other miscellaneous things of note —

baby gap is our favorite place to buy clothes for a myriad of reasons -one: they’re almost always having a sale, two: their clothes run pretty true to size, if not on the generous side so the babies don’t grow out of the clothes too quickly, three: they carry everything from jeans to jammies, and four (and most importantly, obviously): the stuff is just really really cute.

i delivered the twins via planned caesarian. when i was pregnant, a fellow twin mom advised me to create a secondary diaper changing station downstairs since my mobility would be limited in those first few weeks of returning home (our nursery is on the second floor). i can’t emphasize enough how great of a tip this has turned out to be. even seven months later we use the second station on a daily basis -especially when we’re running out the door and someone decides to have an impromptu blowout.

speaking of changing tables… chances are your changing table cover is going to get peed and pooped on. a lot. instead of driving up the water bill by having to wash it 13408346 times a week (or day, trust me, things can get crazy in those early days of parenthood), we heeded the advice of one of my best friend’s husband, purchased a big box of puppy pads at costco, and simply drape a pad across the table prior to each diaper changing session. should there be a rogue blowout, following clean up on aisle 2, we simply roll up the soiled puppy pad and lay a fresh one down for next time. easy peasy!

and that’s all folks! as always, if you have any specific questions about any of the above products or a different inquiry entirely about twin parenthood, parenthood in general, or if you just want to say hi, please feel free to email me directly or use the contact form on the home page.

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