Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Twin Recommendations


I have been asked lately, what products I would recommend for a MOM (mom of multiples). I know I personally scoured the internet trying to meticulously pick out every single product that we purchased just so I would avoid the return, exchange, resale of items. I've also been asked what I've done that has worked for us and made life easy. So - here is my list/review/suggestions for other MOM's and especially FTM MOM (first time moms of multiples).
  • My very, very first suggestion is of course to make sure that your OB and your MFM are two people you trust completely and respect 120%. If you have any hesitation, please please be your advocate and find someone who you can trust with your prenatal care.
Products/Suggestions:
(newborn/coming home - 3 months)
  • Two boppies (Found here) Even if you don't breastfeed they are a multitude of uses for these. Mr. H loves it as a neck rest - but joking aside. I feed the boys in these. My post partum doula (later post on that) showed me how to feed the boys in these. I sit in between them and place a boppy on either side of me and put each baby in it and pop the bottle in. This trick literally cut my feeding time in half.
  • Skip the bath tub and go for two bath sponges (Found here). I had the whale tub by fisher price (here) and while it was pretty awesome. I enjoy the sponges more, as do the boys. I can bath them both side by side in the big tub and they can be with one another. It also has come in handy now that they are older and are pulling up and sitting because it gives a little cushioning for the falls and plops down.
  • I personally found the Tommee Tippee Sensitive bottles to be amazing (found here) we originally had the regular ones but the boys were still really gassy even with burping every 10 minutes so we switched and it made a big difference.
  • I previously posted this recommendation, but I really love my high chairs. I have the Fisher Price Deluxe Booster Chairs (here). It has made a HUGE difference in feeding them and is super BLW friendly since there is no fabric to wash.
  • If you plan on BLW I highly suggest the book Baby-Led Weaning (found here). After reading it I felt much more comfortable in my choices. Another great book suggestion is Bringing Up Bebe (here) I haven't finished it yet, but she makes a lot of wonderful points and I'm finding out that I'm naturally a French mother. LOL!
  • Swaddle sacks were a huge hit in this house - I suggest having 6, so you only have to laundry every 3 days if for some reason they each go through 1 a night due to a leaky diaper or spit up. Those can be found here.  We used them until the boys could roll onto their tummies.
  • I absolutely recommend the two biggest hits the Nosefrida and the famous Sophie. The Nosefrida looks gross, but I promise you it gets snot out so much better than any bulb aspirator (which is still fantastic for mouth suctioning). Sophie is also worth every penny. She is made from natural rubber and food based paint is used so it isn't bad if your baby chews and chews and chews and the paint starts to come off. She was also designed to be used for every type of chewing/teething stage.
  • I recommend this article for toys during the first year. It's fantastic and simple and we have every single one and they are all hits. It's basically 15 toys for the first year.
  • We used this mobile/noise machine and the projector has been a huge hit for naps in this house. ( found here) We only got one of these and I cant imagine needing more than one. They shared their crib until they were rolling onto each other and then we took them off completely. Now the projector is attached to the changing table and the projector video takes up half of the ceiling, so it's plenty of light/entertainment for two babies to view, their room is about 10'x11' (ish) and it takes up about half of the ceiling, which are 9 foot ceilings and can be seen perfectly from the floor up - yes I do know from own personal experience.
  • This was the swing that we used, I didn't think we would need two - but we did, thankfully we were loaned one (by of course our amazing post partum doula) and didn't have to buy a second one. I loved the plug in function on this (found here) and it was very well made and thought out. We didn't use it for too long because I didn't realize you could use it from coming home on but the timeframe we did use it, it was amazing and a life saver.
  • We also used the Rock N Plays for a good long while, they were super helpful in the early days (found here). The boys slept best in their cribs, but they were super handy to have around.
  • These are the activity mats that we have and have really enjoyed it and have had a great run with them. The boys are 9 months old and are still really enjoying them and they aren't even showing any wear or tear. I highly suggest having at least three mats, they tend to get tired of one and then I pull out the other and alternate the toys on them and so forth. We have this one, this one, and this one.
  • Johnny Jump Ups have been a HUGE help in this house. Because of them we shower daily now. We hang on in the bathroom enterance door directly in front of the shower and one in the closer door directly next to the shower and it works out perfect.
  • These boys LOVE to jump. We have two different Jumperoo's - The Baby Einstein Jumperoo Activity Center (recently recalled due to the Sun toy rebound - ours was not affected but I can't supply the link because of this) and we have the Fisher Price one (found here). You definitely need two. I suggest two different Fisher Price Jumperoo's - they put the Baby Einstein to shame. Hands down. I also suggest two different ones of any activity thing you buy - like activity gyms, jumperoo's etc that way when they are tired of one you still have another one to switch it up.
  • There are some toys that are worth buying two or three of them. This doesn't solve every screamfest but - it helps.
  • In the early teething stage when they couldn't really grasp large toys - these and now they love these, their Sophie's and these. Motrin is also a good go to.
  • This is the best diaper rash cream EVER.
  • Skip the bumbo and opt for this
  • These were our carseat choices and I highly recommend both. Infant seat and convertible seat
  • And if you need to baby proof a sliding glass door - a pool noodle works PERFECTLY!
  • Edited to Add: My Stroller! I can not believe I have forgotten to recommend my stroller! Oh my goodness gracious. We decided not to go the double snap and go route after purchasing it and not liking how the Britax B Safe carseats fit in it. So - after a lot of reviews we purchased the Combi Twin Sport Side by Side. We got an awesome deal on it - I used it for our first appointment that I had to attend alone and HATED it. So after a TON of more research, reviews, and testing them out at Buy Buy Baby I purchased the Baby Jogger City Mini Double GT (found here) and LOVE IT! This stroller has been amazing! We are able to go shopping with it, its been useful for every doctors appointment. We haven't had an issue with it not fitting through doors and the boys like it. We've been able to use it from the time we got it in, they were home for about 3 weeks so they were 2 months old on. This stroller is amazing and worth every single penny.
I highly suggest having freezer meals ready for nights that you don't have time to cook, and I highly, highly suggest a post partum doula. Kathy was a lifesaver for my family. We don't have family around to help, and she really helped us in so many, many ways. She gave me the confidence in being H&L's mom, and helped me feel comfortable in my new skin and new roles. She brought food and helped with the boys.
I highly suggest a routine, we have a night time routine that we perform every night and it has really, really helped. Find what works best for you and don't back down from it. What works best for you won't work best for someone else sometimes, but as long as it helps you that's all that matters. Our nighttime routine is this - feed, play, naked time (we undress and undiaper and let them play on a towel on the floor) and then bath time, massage, and pj's. Then we do story time, prayers, and bed time. Sometimes its play time, feed, play time etc and sometimes its play, feed, naked time. But for the most part its the same thing every night. It's helped them, and it really helped my PPD and knowing that we have one part of the day, that we all know whats going on.

This is what I have compiled together so far, I'm sure I am forgetting a lot but this is what I have done so far and what has worked for us. If you have any questions on anything specific - feel free to ask! I'm an open book :)

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