Twin Baby Registry Checklist: What You Need 2 Of, What You Don’t
Imagine deciding you a ready for a baby and finding out you are going to have TWO! Discovering that you are pregnant means that you are in for double the babies, double the love, and double the stuff. Yikes! Although the pending arrival of twins is undoubtedly going to result in getting doubles of many things, this isn’t always the case. There will be many things that you need to get two (or more!) of, however there are also some things that you can get away with buying in singles. Really, it depends a lot on your personal needs and lifestyle as to what you can buy individually and what you should buy in pairs. However, we’ve put together a fairly straightforward list of things to guide you with your baby regisitry for when you’re expecting twins.
Double Up On:
OK, so the word “double” might be a conservative estimate. The truth is that you will need A LOT of the basic day to day necessities associated with feeding and hygiene, such as bottles, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, receiving blankets, and soaps/lotions. The amount of these things you will need and go through with a single baby is surprising, with two babies you’ll need even more. I hope you have lots of storage!
Bouncy Chairs
Having two bouncy chairs might seem like overkill, but trust me what I say that you will be happy to have two places to seat your babies so you can eat in peace. Pro-tip: buy two different types of chairs so that they each get a chance to switch it up!
Car Seats
Car seats are a fairly obvious one. Two babies means two car seats, so if you are expecting twins than be prepared to pick up this item in double.
High Chairs
High chairs are another item you will need two of. You will also have to work on your mad ducking skills for flying food, since it will likely be coming back at you from two angles.
Strollers
This one is a bit misleading because strollers come in doubles. Although you will only need one double stroller, you will also want to have another single stroller around just in case you get a chance to divvy up the work with with someone.
Things You Can Get Away With As Singles:
Crib
Newborn babies are so small they don’t take up very much space at all. Having twins in a single crib can be wonderful and comforting for babies, after all they spent all that time cuddled up together in utero! Eventually you may need to invest in a second crib when they start moving around more and disrupting each other. HOwever in the early days, one crib should be sufficient even for two babies.
Activity Mat
Having one activity mat is probably ok for your twins. After all, twins in history were probably fairly content with just a blanket on the floor. This is definitely an item that your kids can take turns with (they’ll likely outgrow it in no time anyways).
Baby bath
Although you will need to bathe two babies, you will only need one bath. The reason? You only have two hands not four! Bath time will be an exercise in turn-taking and LOTS of work for you, mama!
Exersaucer
Although the idea of having an exersaucer for each to play in while they jump and giggle at each other sounds good in theory, in practice this would be unnecessarily costly and take up a LOT of space in your home. The exersaucer is like the activity mat- just because you can buy in doubles doesn’t mean you have to. This is an item that they can easily share.
Baby Monitor
Providing your children will be sharing a room (and potentially sharing a crib), only one baby monitor will be necessary to watch both of them.
Finding out you’re going to be having twins might be overwhelming. Preparing your registry shouldn’t be!
Ultimately, what you choose to buy in singles or in pairs depends a lot on your living circumstances and lifestyle. The good news is that although you will buying so much more of some items, other items can be bought individually and shared between the babies.
The most important things to consider are safety (of course) and ease. If you are a new parent to twins, you will likely be willing to bring in more stuff if it serves a purpose of making your life easier.
