by I recently surveyed the Dad’s Guide to Twins community and asked, “what is some twin baby gear you bought before the twins arrived that you never really used?”
Different For Everyone
It’s very interesting to see the different types of answers come back, because different parents had different experiences with different twin baby gear. Some found something very useful, and others found that same thing not useful at all. So here’s a few things that I made note of and that you may want to consider as you’re planning for your twins or planning your next baby gear purchase for them.
Wipes Warmer
One is a wipes warmer. Now, the companies that make these warmers market them very well. For example, who would want a cold damp wipe on their butt, right? Nobody. So picture images of babies with happy bums getting cleaned up after diapers because they have a warm wipe. Well, that doesn’t really make sense. One parent found that the wipes warmer actually dried them out and made them less effective. In the Rawlinson house, we did not have a wipes warmer. We just kept them out at room temperature and that worked just fine, regardless if it was summer or winter.
Bouncy Chairs
Another parent found bouncy chairs were something that they bought before the twins came but they never really used. Now, our experience was the complete opposite of that. Our bouncy seats were lifesavers for us, as we were able to put the twins in them and able to feed them, either my wife or myself solo, and it was very effective for feeding time.
Bottles
Another parent bought lots of baby bottles but then found out that their twins wouldn’t take the bottles. That’s something you may consider as well when you are stocking up on bottles. You may want to try a few bottles with your twins to see what types of bottles and nipples work, or if it’s even going to work, before you buy lots of those particular types of bottles.
Bumbo Seats
Another parent found that Bumbo seats were something that they purchased but did not use. In our home, we did have Bumbo seats for a little while. We got them as a gift at one of our baby showers. It was amazing to me how you can put an infant in these Bumbo seats, and they can actually sit up, even though they weren’t strong enough to sit up by themselves. We did use them and we’d put our babies in the Bumbos and then put them on the table so they could join us for dinner time. But we didn’t use them very long. I’d say we used them for maybe a couple months, and then we moved past that phase.
Double Feeding Cushions
Another thing to consider is double feeding cushions. There are many of these twin feeding pillows on the market, where you can feed both babies in the cushions at the same time. And some parents have success with these, and some parents do not. In our home, like I said, we used two bouncy seats or two individual nursing pillows to prop up our babies when we would be feeding them.
High Chairs
Someone else mentioned a high chair is something that they purchased before the twins came, but they never really used. I agree with this a lot, because we used booster seats instead of high chairs for our twins. Your twins are going to get a longer life span of usage out of booster seats than they will high chairs because, eventually, they’ll outgrow their high chairs and then they need booster seats anyway to sit up to the table. So we put even our very young girls in the booster seats on the kitchen chairs around the kitchen table.
Buy Used
I’m given you a sample of some of the twin baby gear that parents bought but they never really used. The moral of the story is that you should probably buy your twin gear used from a consignment store, from another family, or your local multiples group.
Plan to Resell
And then, definitely, try to resell whatever you don’t use because you’re going to end up with things you purchased, but you don’t use, or that you received as a gift that you don’t use or you only use a little bit. There is no need for that to go to waste. You can turn around and resell your baby gear to others that are expecting twins or having babies coming. You’ll probably break even on your purchase.
(RELATED: Still expecting twins? Will you be having two boys, two girls, or boy/girl twins? Answer these quick questions to see what several old wives’ tales claim you’ll be having….)
Setting Expectations
Remember that you are not going to use all the twin baby gear you get, and that’s totally natural. Only use what works. Don’t force it if it’s not working because, with twins, you need to find what works and stick to it. Don’t try to press something on your twins or use it with your twins just because you may have spent a lot of money on it. I talk about a lot more about some of the essential baby gear for your twins in chapter 5 of my first book for fathers of twins, the Dad’s Guide to Twins, How to Survive a Twin Pregnancy and Prepare for your Twins.
This topic was originally addressed on the Dad’s Guide to Twins Podcast Episode 83: Baby Gear You Don’t Need, First-Time Dad Expectations, Breastfeeding NICU Twin.
