Your friend gets pregnant, and you help her register for everything. There is so much stuff, and you think, "what all does she REALLY need?" Then...you get pregnant with twins. You now need TWO of everything? Did you think she was getting a lot? Well here you go girlfriend, double it!
The worst part is... the things that you really need TWO of for those precious twins are bulky and big--can you say strollers, carseats, and pack n plays? And those are all things you are potentially traveling with! So how do you cart around all this gear? What gear do you even pick for your twins? Today, I'm going to share with you a few of my most loved gear choices for twins. I'll start with strollers.
While running, I am constantly told how awesome my stroller is. Now, I have a toddler who is older than my twins, so I need THREE seats in my stroller. I feel your pain triplet mamas...how do you push THREE kids around? There is nothing out there! However, I wasn't going to give up my love of running just because I had twins. And I found it... my life saver--the Valco Baby Twin Mode. With the third seat attached, I can take all three children cruising down the street as I run. It has an adjustable handle bar so you can set it at whatever height feels most comfortable to you. It also comes with a safety strap to put on your wrist so the stroller doesn't get away from you. And furthermore, whatever kid sits in the front thinks it is just a blast as they sit above everything and feel like queen of the world! However, I don't use this stroller for anything but jogging as I need something a little more practical, something that folds up easy, and something that takes TWO infant seats.
You'd be surprised to find out how many strollers DO NOT take two infant seats. But the Baby Jogger City Select does!!! It's pricey, but COMPLETELY worth it. Not only can you cart around two infant seats at the same time, but if you have a third child, add a glider board to it, and voila, you're carting around all three kiddos. Twin mamas swear by this stroller. Seriously, you probably won't find anything better, and if you do, I want to know about it!!! And yes, if you're a jogger, I would absolutely get BOTH of these strollers. They are well worth the money. And hey, hopefully you're having a baby shower, and maybe they'll do a big group gift and get you at least one of these beauties! Now, speaking of getting those infant carseats into one stroller...what infant seat do you choose? If you're buying the City Select, make sure to choose a carseat that is compatible with the stroller. I don't have a HUGE preference on an infant carseat, as long as it works with that stroller. You'll also need to buy the adapters for the stroller for your particular carseat so consider the cost of both items. I have two Britax B-Safe carseats and love mine. They are affordable, and extremely safe. HOWEVER...I do have a big preference on carseats AFTER you're done with the infant carseat. And that is the Diono Radian RXT. This carseat is THIN. And why do you care about that? Because, depending on your car situation, you probably need two carseats to fit nicely in a three-seat bench, and still have room for one more person. Therefore, a thin carseat is something that will end up being very handy for you. Also, if you don't care about having an infant carseat first (which by the way, I did, because my babies would fall asleep in their carseats, and I didn't want to have to wake them to get them in the stroller), then you can use the Diono for a baby from 5 lbs all the way up to 120 lbs. And now pack n plays.
You may choose size and weight as the most important factors when choosing a pack n play, but I'm going to throw you a curveball... ease of setting up. When you have twins, I promise you, you do not want to fiddle around with trying to put a bed together for TWO babies when you're trying to hold one twin, and calm the other one down. This is where a one-handed fold pack n play comes in. My two favorites: 4moms Breeze and the Nuna Sena. Now how do you travel with these things? Leave the jogger at home, get the Baby Jogger Carry Bag for the City Select, spring for the backpack carseat straps for the Diono, and try and borrow a pack n play if you have to travel by plane. If you're traveling by car, just make sure it's in the case, and take it with you!
Having twins is already going to be twice the fun, so don't let double the gear overwhelm you. Pick smart choices, and feel free to always come and ask me for recommendations!
*The “Two to Kiss, Two to Love” series is a helpful series for all you twin mamas out there! If you have a twin related question, comment below, and I’ll answer it for you!*
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[…] of effort! To make life more simple, I gave you a list of a few of my favorite twin items. In that list, I mentioned Baby Jogger’s City Select. This stroller is a twin […]