Planning for a new baby means choosing gear and equipment to fit your home and lifestyle — like an infant carseat, stroller, and crib, along with a bassinet, swing, and bouncer. When you’re expecting twins, triplets, or higher order multiples, planning can become more complex. You may be wondering how to set-up your home and prepare for outings with two or more babies. Parents of multiples often ask, “Can twins share a crib? What type of stroller is best for twins? How many bassinets and swings will we need?”
When preparing your home for multiples, consider the layout when deciding what equipment to buy for your twins. Especially if your home is large or has multiple levels, plan to have more than one diapering station. A smaller changing table with drawers, like this stylish Babyletto Hudson, allows you to organize a full supply of diapers and wipes, several changes of clothes, swaddling blankets or wraps, and burp cloths in a second location away from the nursery. Each area should also have a diaper pail and a small laundry basket to collect the many changes of clothes that your babies will go through.
When choosing baby gear, like swings and bouncing/rocking seats, you can buy two of each, or start with just one and discover what your babies prefer before investing in a duplicate. But plan to have at least one seat per baby in each room where you’ll spend a lot of time, like the family room and your bedroom. The 4moms mamaRoo swing is a popular choice, with a variety of movements and sounds to soothe your babies, and the Fisher-Price Deluxe Rock n’ Play Sleeper has the benefit of being lightweight and portable. You can position your equipment around your home and rotate the babies through each piece of gear until you learn what they like best.
Some parents who are having three or more babies may want to have separate areas set-up for daytime and nighttime baby care. Kinsey, a mom of triplets, temporarily converted her dining room into Babies HQ with bouncy seats, swings, a feeding area, and diapering station. This centralized baby care area was downstairs and adjacent to the kitchen, family room, and laundry room, and had a similar set-up in the upstairs nursery near the master bedroom.
Continue to part two, Gearing Up for Multiples: Sleeping Arrangements.
Written by Rebecca Mills, mom of twins and postpartum doula and newborn care specialist at Music City Doulas.
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