Jay and I have started compiling a list of our "necessary" baby items. We were totally clueless when we started looking at things. Who knew that you needed two different types of carseats, that pack and plays had a weight limit and that strollers could come in so many different varieties! I'm not saying we've picked out the best items or even that we have any clue what we are talking about; I just found it daunting when starting to register and something like this could have helped me a bit. Here are the items that we've picked out based on consumer reports, advice of other moms, a little test driving, and our personal opinions. We're not necessarily dead set on these items and are ALWAYS open to other parent's advice!
Crib- I had the hardest time finding a crib. I want something VERY classic with turned spindles. With two babies we wanted smaller scale cribs for the nursery. I loved this
crib, but after much discussion about price, needs, and necessities, Jay talked me down from the "upscale" crib market. My second favorite "classic" crib is the
Jenny Lind style. This is such a timeless style. When we told Jay's mom what we were after she went down to her basement and found two Jenny Lind cribs that Jay slept in. As much as we'd love to use our baby furniture, safety regulations have changed so much and we don't want to chance it. After searching several nursery pictures I had some good ideas about incorporating this crib and not making our nursery look too cheap. I was still a bit nervous about purchasing an inexpensive crib. I did a little more searching and found these
cribs on sale at Pottery Barn Kids. I loved the style and trusted the craftsmanship of Pottery Barn.
Diapers- Jay and I both try to be as "green" as possible. We are also trying to save a much money as possible. With those two in mind, we've decided to go the cloth diaper route. Based on tons of reviews, we're going to be registering for
bumGenius one size cloth diapers. We're planning to use these once the babies are about 8-10 weeks old. Prior to that we'll be using prefold diapers (very similar to the kind our parents used on us) with
Thirsties Diaper Covers. We'll also be registering for a
diaper sprayer to help keep the stench and icky-ness to a minimum! We haven't decided if we're going to go for reusable wipes yet. We're also considering
diy wipes. I'm all for using less chemicals on our babies' skin. If you're interested in cloth diapering, we found this
post to be really helpful. If you have any questions about cloth diapering,
The Milky Way in Dilworth is awesome! The owner is so kind and helpful. She actually got down on the floor and showed me how to diaper stuffed animals to get the full effect. They also do free cloth diapering classes too. We were planning to use disposables until the babies were 8-10 weeks but she showed me how easy it is to cloth diaper a newborn.
Stroller- Originally I REALLY wanted the
bugaboo donkey. It is an amazing twin stroller with an outrageous price tag. My mom generously offered to purchase it for us and I though we were all set!
After walking around the store and registering and realizing how many expensive products we needed, I rethought my stroller decision. For the price of the bugaboo, I could get a nice
Baby Jogger City Select double stroller, both infant car seats, two car seat bases, and two convertible car seats for when the twins reached 6 months or so. In my opinion, the extra thousand we would spend on the bugaboo was just not worth it in comparison to everything else. The City Select stroller allows you to change the babies positions so they can face each other, face me, face out, etc. I can also take off one of the seats to make it a single stroller.
Stroller #2-We've also decided to get a jogging stroller in hopes that we will be running/jogging/walking with the twins. We heard great things about
Bob strollers and are currently looking to purchase one second hand to save some money. Jay's been stalking Craigslist like a hawk!
Infant Seat- Originally, the bugaboo stroller we chose only accommodated two different types of child seats. The first is Graco and the second is Maxi Cosi. We went with the
Maxi Cosi Mico based on two important factors, weight and safety ratings. The Maxi Cosi had higher safety ratings and weighed less than the Graco. Our number one pick was the Chicco 30 Keyfit, but unfortunately it didn't fit our stroller. Now that we've decided to go with the City Select, the Chicco will be able to fit in our stroller and that's what we'll go with. The Chicco weighs one pound more than the Maxi Cosi but it much easier to work with. The Chicco also accomodates infants starting at 4 pounds so just in case we have preemies, we've got a way to get them home! We did a lot research on consumer reports and read tons of reviews
Maxi Cosi
Chicco Keyfit 30 in Romantic (this color name makes me laugh. We are talking about an infant here)
Convertible Car Seat- The babies will hopefully be little enough that they won't need a new carseat for at least 8 months but we went ahead and picked out convertible carseats for them to use once they hit 20 pounds. I took a friend of mine and her daughter to the airport over Christmas and watched her try to put two different carseats in my car. The first was her "back up". It didn't fit well in my Tahoe (the Mommy Car) and she ended up taking it out and putting the "good" seat in. It was such a better fitter and seemed so much safer! That helped us make up our mind to go with a Britax car seat. There are SEVERAL "levels" of Britax Car Seats. We went with the third "best" level based on consumer reports and reviews. We chose the
Marathon 70.
Pack & Play/Travel- We've decide that
PeaPods will be our go to when traveling with the babes. With both sets of Grandparents living out of town, we knew we needed a travel solution and did not want to lug around bulky pack and plays. We liked that the PeaPods were so small and light that once the twins reach toddler age they could carry them. The PeaPods are also great for the beach and will last from birth until 5 years. We decided that the pack and play would come in handy for a family that has a two story home with the nursery on a different floor than the living area. For us, the nursery will be the down the hall and we won't need to use the pack and play as a changing station. The pack and play also only holds 30lbs total, meaning our babes would have to stop climbing in there together when they each reached 15lbs.
High Chairs- Bases on the wonderful advice of a twin mom, we've decided to go with the
Fisher Price Space Saver High Chairs. While I'm not a huge fan of the print on these chairs, I am excited about the functionality. The twin mom told me these are the best for feeding two babies at once as they recline in 3 positions, are 100% washable, and babies will be at my height when sitting down to feed them. I also like that they take up less space as I know our house will be covered in baby paraphernalia. This chair converts into a booster seat making it multi-functional, affordable, and hopefully will work in the long run. We also registered for the Phil and Ted's (which always reminds me of
Bill and Ted) Lobster seats. These will be great to take to restaurants and to Grandparents' houses. We have a small island in our kitchen and we may set them up there once the babies are little older so that we can all eat together.
Fisher Price
Phil and Ted
Bouncy Seats- The
MamaRoo. I've heard that these are a Godsend from many mothers. There are lots on Craigslist and at consignment stores for half the retail price. We'll probably only use them for for the first 8 months or so and I don't see the point of spending $240 each for 8-12 months. They do "everything a mom would do" including rocking, car ride motion, bouncing, etc.
Bottles, Breastpump, Sanitizer- We've registered for three different kinds,
Dr. Brown's,
Avent, and
Born Free. We're going to see what the babies take the best and then purchase more. We are skipping the 2oz because I've heard that it is pointless. We registered for a set of 4oz and a set of 8 or 9oz in each brand. The smaller 4oz come with smaller nipples for newborns and the 8oz come with larger. I'm planning to rent a hospital grade breastpump from Milky Way if I am able to breast feed. We decided to skip the sanitizers, bottle drying rack and bottle brush. We need a LOT of stuff and we decided to skip anything we didn't see as a necessity. Now, we may definitely buy those things in the future but for right now we are going to put bottles in the dishwasher and try to go without the extras.
Monitor- At the recommendation of our registry "helper" and two other moms that past by us in the store, we registered for the
Motorola Digital Video Monitor. I was a little weary of the video monitor and other people being able to watch my kids but they assured me with the newer technology, this wouldn't happen. This monitor also pans around the entire room so we'll be able to see both babies without buying two monitors. A few other things we found cool; it plays lullabies and you can do it from the unit in the parent's room and you can also talk to the babies so when they are older and climbing out of their cribs we can fuss at them over the monitor. haha.
Diaper Bag- I registered for the
Storksak Olivia because I like how it looks. It is probably too small and not super functional for twins but I think it's cute! I also looked at the
Skip Hop Versa diaper bag. I don't love this one as much but it is bigger and has two insulated pockets for bottles so I may go with this one. We'll see!
Storksak Olivia
Skip Hop Versa
Baby Food Maker- We've registered for the
BEABA babycook babyfood maker. Seems like it will do the trick. It got pretty good reviews and seems easy to use!
Hospital Picture/Newborn Outfits- I found these adorable convertible gowns at the Milky Way and just LOVE them.
Kissy Kissy brand makes the softest cotton and their gowns all have matching hats. I'm excited to dress my babies in pink and blue!
I got this in the color pictured above, white with blue trim, all pink, and all blue
Nursing PJs- Call me vein but I do not want to be all sloppy looking during my stay in the hospital. New jammies are definitely in order. I found some really cute sets online and found them at the Milky Way. I really like the sets from
Olian. The price is steep but I figure if I get a pair or so every month until June I'll be all set :) I like to sleep in tank tops but don't want too much showing at the hospital so I like the matching robes that come with these sets.
Back and Belly Support- I've always had back pain brought on from years to cheering and gymnastics. I've been in physical therapy and my therapist said that once I got pregnant it would be even worse. I finally got to the point where it was bad enough I needed to do something. At the recommendation of a friend and my nurse, I bought a lovely pregnancy
girdle back supporter by
Mom EZ. This things is
ugly amazing. I feel like I'm working at Lowe's hardware when I wear it but my back is thanking me!
Can we talk about this picture for a minute? Do you think they could have updated it since 1984? I'm especially loving the gold chain. Ha
Registering- Just a quick blurb about registering. It was overwhelming at Buy Buy Baby until I went back and got a helper. The woman that helped me where SO knowledgeable! They could answer all of my questions with facts about a product as well as their personal opinions. We debated between Buy Buy Baby and Babies R Us, but heard really good things about Buy Buy Babies' return policy. They also accept all of Babies R Us's coupons as well as coupons from Bed Bath & Beyond. The second place we're going to register is The Milky Way. After shopping several times at Shower Me With Love and once at The Milky Way, I noticed a HUGE difference in customer service and personal attention. I felt like no one approached me at Shower Me With Love unless I was dressed up and looked like I was there to spend! The owner of Milky Way is so down to earth! Milky Way has more of the cutesy things that we don't really NEED but definitely want as compared to our registry at Buy Buy Baby, which is why we are registering at both!
Other items we've yet to figure out:
1. Glider vs. Sofa- Not sure if we can make it without rocking the babies, and not sure how we'll both be able to rock them without two gliders.
2. Exersauces & Playmats- How many, what kind, when do we need these, Help?!
3. Baby Carriers- Ergo Baby or Bjorn?
4. Bathtub
5. Cart Cover
Baby's now the size of a sweet potato!
Baby's now the size of an onion!
