How on earth am I supposed to be able to select car seats or a double stroller or decide which baby products to register for or determine if I should use a cloth diaper service or disposables?

There are million mommy blogs and review sites out there that I don't even know which ones are reliable. If you have any suggestions of web sites and/or products that you consider to be must-haves, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks in advance.

I have a small house and try to get by on the minimum of stuff and that said...

* my brestfriend for twins was invaluable, whether bottle feeding or breastfeeding, it is a breastfeeding pillow that lets you feed both kids at once.
* double snap and go for transportation, can just snap most car seats in there
* swaddle blankets, with or without velcro
* bottles and formula, just in case or to supplement or to have breast milk to feed when you are not there.
* Sleep is key and my RE recommends taking 1 prometrium before bed so that you can get some sleep.
* Bouncy/vibrating chairs- were a life saver as a safe entertaining place to put one of the kids while I was changing a diaper, getting a bottle, etc..
* Your local (Biggest) Hospital should have a multiples class- go to it and meet other moms-to-be of twins.
* Should be a facebook or other local group for moms of multiples-- ask your high risk Dr- somebody who delivers/treats a lot of twins. And get a recomendation for a pediatrician who treats a lot of twins.

Also, once the babies are here it is like magic...total strangers will come up to you and identify themselves as twin mommies. They will give you the secret handshake on discounts, where to go, what kind of stroller, babysitter recommendations, etc..it is amazing.

My guys are 3 months and very healthy, no NICU, born 38+ weeks. Do you know if you will stay home with them or go to work outside the home? I work fulltime (single/solo parent)and breastfeed so for me a highend breastpump is necessary...depending on your situation it may not be.

...of items that I need to figure out how to buy.

Thanks for the other suggestions, particularly the sleep tip!

I will return to work probably after 12 or 16 weeks. I will be the day care morning drop off because I don't have to be at the office as early as my husband and he will do day care pick up because he leaves work earlier and has a shorter commute home.

I'm happy to hear that you made it over 38 weeks! I hope to be able to carry them that long.

Enjoy your little ones!

I welcome Aufrecht's list, too, as my niece in the Netherlands is expecting twins in the fall, and her mom is asking me questions. But the answers won't always be the same as for a U.S. mom. For example, I'm pretty sure most Euro twin moms prefer tandem strollers as older architecture and narrower aisles in stores make it harder to maneuver side-by-sides. And I'm not sure they have diaper service in Europe.

Anyway, if you're going back to work, day care will probably require disposable diapers. If you use a nanny, you can require her to use cloth diapers, but it may narrow the people willing to work for you. Our nanny spontaneously offered that she would be willing to work with cloth diapers, but then got tired of it and started doing passive-aggressive things to make me give it up (one of the few real peeves I had with her).

That being said, I wish I had invested in a handful of one size cloth diapers so that I could use them to the extent I could and so I could have some in case I was running out of disposables.

Snap 'n' Go. Yes. I didn't really understand how the Snap 'n' Go worked till it was too late, and that would have made my life a lot easier.

If you live in a multi-level home, haunt Freecycle or yard sales for bouncy seats so you can have a set upstairs and downstairs. Lugging them up and down was a nuisance.

Others in my MoMs group have praised My Breast Friend, though I didn't use it. One of my breasts really wasn't producing at all, so tandem feeding was a sort of academic exercise for me. If something will help you do it more easily, that would be really good.

Also, I really needed something that would help me keep my cell phone on me more consistently, and I never found it.

I would print out paper charts for recording bottles and diapers in the early days. There are phone apps that will help you do it, but I think fiddling with the phone is hard in those early days. I found the Itzbeen timers to be next to useless.

We used the Arm's Reach original co-sleeper, and it was pretty good.

Maggie (in VA)

Great tips. I've been worried about child care providers and cloth diapers but I do hate the concept of disposables. If only I could work it out that my mom would move in and help out. She used cloth diapers for me 42 years ago. And is in favor of them.

Is there a MOTC (Mother of Twins Club) in your area? I found there twice yearly sales to be a great resouce.

RJ

for consignment equipment, clothes, books, etc, as well as advice. Definitely see if there is a local chapter.

Good luck!

Wendy

the Baby 411 book has advice on items for twins. I loved that book for a singleton. I will check the book when I get home. Their website has a blog too.

I meant to say the Baby Bargains book. While there are only a couple of pages for twin items, this bood is still a great resource for all baby items. I was so lost about what to get until I purchased this book.

Thanks