A lot of people think that having two babies means two of everything. Two of the same toy, book, blanket, swing, bouncy chair, etc. Its NOT true! There are obvious things a twin family needs two of. . . cribs, car seats, high chairs / boosters.
Bouncer
I'd recommend a bouncy chair AND a swing to start and then you can see which your kids prefer. We started with two bouncers:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-K2564-Rainforest-Bouncer/dp/B000I2WB6G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293687266&sr=8-1
A bouncer like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Infant-Toddler-Rocker-Friends/dp/B001HTJS60/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1293687326&sr=8-3
might even be better. I like toys and items that grow with the child since a phase only last so long, and lets face it. . . we only have so much space! This chair starts as a bouncer, and progresses to a rocker/stationary chair.
Swing
And got a swing later on. . . niether of my boys like the swing. It could be because we waited a while to get one, but in any event. . we returned the darn thing!! I know other families who swear by their swing, so its worth looking into.
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-Sweet-Peace-Soother-Cuddly/dp/B002T4F0UU/ref=sr_1_17?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1293687582&sr=1-17
Car Seats
We used the graco snugride car seat:
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-SnugRide-Infant-Tango-Tongo/dp/B001PNAL5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1293687653&sr=1-1
It was rated highly on consumer reports, so we went with it.
When it was time to move on to convertible car seats, we went with the Evenflo Triumph.
http://www.amazon.com/Evenflo-Triumph-Advance-Convertible-Harbortown/dp/B000YZD0QM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1293688305&sr=1-1-spell
Again, it had a strong consumer reports rating. We got one for N at about 10 months, and another for E a few months later. E has always been smaller, so we didnt feel the need to upgrade him just because we were getting a new one for N, who was too tall for the infant seat! We DID, however, have to say goodbye to our snap n go at this point. Once one kid is out of the infant seat, the snap n go was useless. This initial transfer is expensive, but when the second kiddo is ready for the bigger car seat, its just one purchase at that point.
There are some car seats that are safe for an infant -toddler of some age. I think starting with the infant car seat is best because of the versatility. A sleeping baby can easily be carried in and out of the car, the store, mall, wherever. . . but if you have a stationary convertible car seat, the baby needs to be taken out at each stop - a rough time for busy parents, and especially parents of twinssss. Our grace snug ride had an optional snap n swing so if we came home with sleeping babies, we could snap the swing in to keep the motion of the car going - at least some semblance of it.
http://www.amazon.com/Graco-SnugGlider-Swing-SnugRide-Infant/dp/B000M4K4BY/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1293688665&sr=1-1
We also picked this car seat because it has a high weight for rear facing. Legally, a childs seat can be turned forward at 1 year or 22 lbs. . . maybe 20, cant remember. Studies I cannot site because I dont remember, have shown that the longer a kid is rear facing, the safer they are and more likely they are to survive an accident. G-d forbid of course, but we have both boys rear facing still, at almost 19 months, and at 26 and 22 lbs.
Strollers
Graco makes a whole travel system: car seats, car seat bases (a base that sits in the car and the car seat snaps into it for easy in and out) and a stroller. Its a great combo, but VERY bulky. Most twin strollers are bulky, but I just coudnt handle this ginormo stroller, PLUS the car seats in there. . picture the link below, WITH car seats. . . just a huge freakin bus!
http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=1997/form_keyword=graco+duoglider/rd=1/st=query
We started with the Babytrend snap n go:
http://www.babytrend.com/strollers_snap-n-go/1305TW.html
This was awesome and worked so well for me. I was on my own a lot with the kids, and this stroller is just poles so it weighs like nothing. VERY easy in and out of the car and stroller, and light, which was nice to my back:)
Once the boys were big enough, and out of their infant car seats, we opted for the Kolcraft contours duo stroller:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VPCPRS/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000J2DQPA&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0G8BCX7SQFXSFEN6D6K9
I liked this stroller because the seats can change position. I had visions, which have come true over and over again, of my boys pulling each others hair. For amusement, meanness, crankyness. . . whatever. . they pull hair! Soon, Im sure they will be kicking each other too. This stroller is cool because my kids can face each other, both face me, both face front, OR even face away from each other. . . . this might be a good timeout positioning if we come to that in the stroller. They HAVE figured out that they can reach over the top of the front sitter, if he is facing forwards, and still pull his hair. I cant imagine how they would be in something side by side though, even as luxurious as the city mini.
http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Jogger-Double-Stroller-Orange/dp/B003WIYO2C/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1293688210&sr=1-2
The kolcraft is a bulky fit when folded up and the city mini folds like a dream, but it costs more too. . . . tough call, but I still think we went the right way.
Pack n play
There is a pack n play out there that is specifically for twins. . . I think its totally unnecessary. We had the chicco lullaby play yard:
http://www.amazon.com/Chicco-Lullaby-Baby-Playard-Discovery/dp/B003ER9926/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1293688719&sr=1-3
Honestly. . . I think we went overboard on this request. It was a bit too fancy for what we really needed. As new parents though, I went with things I read and blah blah blah. As long as the pack n play is safe, has a bassinet and a changing table, I think its great. The bassinet attaches to the rim of the pack n play and holds the babies up at a high level, easier on your back, and for good reason. . . teeny new babies arent climbing yet, so they can be up high with little risk of them flopping out onto the floor. We bundled both boys in the bassinett together until they were over the 15lb combined weight limit. Being that N was born at 5'5 and E was 4'7, we had some time. This is obviously not the way to go with twins born at 6lbs each!
One thing I liked about this pack n play was it came with a snap on night light. . . I was paranoid and checked to make sure they were breathing at all hours. We started out in a small apartment, with the pack n play at the foot of our bed - there wasnt room to have it on the side next to us. I slept upside down for a long time. . . my head at the foot of the bed near my babies and my feet near by poor hubbys face.
High chair
We have two evenflo high chairs. . they are huge. I cant even find a link for them online anymore, so maybe they are discontinued??? Either way, its important to read reviews. Its also important to have something easy to clean because these things get DIRTY!!! No fabric, fancy stuff. . . plastic lined, all washable, wipeable surfaces:)
Im undecided, but I think maybe we could have been better off choosing a booster with tray that sits on a chair, at the kitchen table. Im not sure though because even now, with almost 19 month olds, its nice to have space for 4 adults to sit, and the kids have their own messy eating space.
For travel eating, I think this munchkin booster seat is a MUST!~
http://www.target.com/Munchkin-Travel-Booster-Seat-Green/dp/B002XMRGMS
Its awesome because it folds up small for keeping in the car, and when you drop by someones house, friends, family, or a restaurant without high chairs, you have a seat already! There is a storage compartment at the bottom for food utensils, diapers, wipes, toys, whatever! VERY cool thing:)
Bottles
We have used all kinds of different bottles. its a hard thing to figure out what bottle will work for one kid, let alone 2!! We spent a lot of money trying to figure it out and ended up with the playtex drop in system. Its not the greenest option, but it its the easiest to clean. The liners can be purchased at Target. . use their brand, its all fine, and they are recyclable. Its a monthly cost, but time is worth something too, right? E had acid reflux for 10 months, so we used the playtex ventaires with him - they are supposed to limit air intake, and cause less spit up and reflux spit up. These bottles have like 5 pieces and were a PAIN to clean!
Cribs
We got our baby furniture form IKEA. The cribs are convertible and turn into toddler beds - though Im dreading the day they can get out of bed on their own!!!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60108663
We got the matching dresser and changing table too.
Swaddling
We loooved these aden and anais light weight swaddlers. They are really big and made swaddling really easy. I wish we had found them sooner! Receiving blankets werent as useful as these, and we got a TON of those!!!
I heard awesome things about the miracle blanket too, but never had the guts to spend the $40 on them to try it out, so I cant speak to that.
SIDS
any new parent will have read and overread things on SIDS, and how to prevent it, what it actually is. . . .we have had a fan in our boys room since day 1. Those are said to lower the risk. The risk also goes down as the kiddos get older. There is a definite risk of over heating a baby as well. In an air conditioned house, we were still worried. This is part of why I looooved the aden and anais swaddlers. We put the kids in diapers, onesies, and these swaddlers, and I felt like they were warm, but not hot.
More of the stuff to come later. . .
No comments:
Post a Comment