MoM Newborn Must Haves?

[vtdiamond]

My shower is coming up in October so I've been putting the final touches on my registries.

I've registered for most of the standard recs that you see on these boards - RNP, PNP, etc.

I was wondering if you all had any recommendations for items that were great to have with newborn twins that I may have missed.

[cinnamoncox]

The only things I really needed were the RNP they were used so much for so long.

I nursed but did pump and the bottles with the disposable liners were a life saver. I had a thing I pumped into the liners themselves and saved them in fridge all ready to go.

They slept in our room for the first year. About five months in the RNP and the rest in pack and plays. One on either side of us.
I always had everything I needed for them in our room. Not changing table but fully stocked with diapers and wipes and hand sanitizer for middle of the night changes and feeds.

I tried a moby sling but never felt comfortable with both in it. I still held them so it wasn't hands free.

In hindsight, most of the "stuff" was unnecessary. I so wish we could've registered for meals and stuff.
Ds was 11 when the girls were born so we didn't get to just survive on whatever in the early days. We still had to have proper meals on account of ds, so it sucked so so much when dh and I would be wicked frazzled and trying to sort out their witching hours, and that was like 4-7, so one would have to cook a full meal while the other single handedly dealt with both newborns/infants.

Good luck. Diapers. You'll need diapers more than anything lol.
And proper swaddles. Get the ones that Velcro.

We had little sacks that zipped up they were little pink beans it was so cute I'm kind of getting choked up thinking of it it was such a wonderful time.

[Deleted]

one of those vibrating chairs or a swing thing and a wrap/sling/baby carrier. They both had to be rocked to sleep so walking with one and swinging one was a lifesaver for me.

DIAPERS

Ditto the bottles with disposable liners.

Really anything that helped them sleep was a must haha. You should be fine with standard recs.

Good luck!

[egishere]

Are you BF or formula feeding? If you are formula feeding I would recommend the Dr browns formula pitcher.

The RNP was one of my fav items. We used them during the day in the family room then moved to our bedroom at night for them to sleep in until they went in their cribs around 3 months.

Agree with swaddles. I think Swaddle me was the one I liked.

[vtdiamond]

Aug 25, 2014 10:31:39 GMT -5 egishere said:

Are you BF or formula feeding? If you are formula feeding I would recommend the Dr browns formula pitcher.

The RNP was one of my fav items. We used them during the day in the family room then moved to our bedroom at night for them to sleep in until they went in their cribs around 3 months.

Agree with swaddles. I think Swaddle me was the one I liked.

I'm hoping to BF but am open to formula feeding if BF doesn't work out!

[fryjack2]

Rock N Play were BY FAR the best thing we owned for the first 7 months, but I see you have that covered

I see your twins are due in the winter----maybe some winter hats for the babies? or those car seat covers? socks (Trumpett socks are great), soft soled shoes for when they start crawling/standing.

More burb clothes
More washclothes
More towels
baby food making supplies? Like trays and food containers.
A nice thick quilt to lay on the floor. My grandmother makes all the new babies in the family one with double the amount of backing. It was awesome for when the boys learned to sit. No head injuries.

[breezy8407]

Not necessarily multiples related, but I kept my two in the Halo Sleep Sack swaddles until they were busting out. My son needed a swaddle for sleep and they were the only ones that held tight.

Dr. Browns pitcher was nice, but once they started daycare, we didn't use it.

We use a fan for white noise.

I made the mistake of buying bottles before we knew what they would take. I ended up with Tommee Tippee.

[breezy8407]

Oh I loved the car seat covers from J.Cole. I got them on amazon, but they were fleecy and warm, so I didn't have to worry about them being cold.

And beyond that, my other most beloved possession is our BOB Duallie stroller. We use it almost daily in the summers!

[linz]

Aug 25, 2014 15:11:16 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

And beyond that, my other most beloved possession is our BOB Duallie stroller. We use it almost daily in the summers!

This is one item I told H I will splurge on. Since my babies are due in November I'm going to wait until we get our taxes back and have it for spring. I can't wait!

[abbypug19]

Lots of diapers, cream, wipes. A+A swaddles and burpy bibs.

[Deleted]

We love the Halo swaddle sleep sacks. I'm nursing so we use very few bottles at the moment but will use more when I'm back to work next week.I would buy a few different kinds so you have options. Some babies are particular.

If you do plan to nurse I would consider renting a hospital grade pump, like the Medela symohony, for at least the first few months. They are much more effective at building supply and are recommended for anyone with preemies. This time around I am just renting it for the year. It works so much better than my pump in style. I don't respond great to the pump (learned this with my son) and with two I need it to keep my supply up.

[origami]

So much of it is based on your own preferences and what your babies like. So what was a must-have for me may be useless for you. But mine were- white noise machine (still use it to this day), black out curtains/shades, 2 swings (I borrowed a 2nd), halo sleep sacks (used them until my kids were done with cribs), floor blankets (I didn't have to register for then because we just got a bunch as gifts. My kids were spitters so I had them on blankets for like 9m straight), 2 boppies, car seat insulated covers - the shower cap kind (for winter infants), some sort of a frame stroller your car seats can snap into.

[lauren9317]

I'm sure you've already registered for it but the snugabunny swing was awesome (by fisher price). I think it's the only one you can plug into the wall rather than needing to use batteries. A swing is such a must have until they are on an actual sleep/nap schedule, which wasn't until 5.5 months with mine.

Also, a large play mat is great. I have the Tiny Love Super Mat- www.amazon.com/Tiny-Love-834-003-Super-Mat/dp/B0034G61DC/ref=pd_ys_sf_s_rp_a1_10_p?ie=UTF8&refRID=0RFWWKQQ9G8C4M9G7SGE
Because once they outgrow their hanging toy play mat things, you will want a large play mat that they can roll around on that won't bunch up like a regular blanket will. This mat is so nice.

Oh... a good quality video monitor is worth it IMO. We have the Motorola with 2 cameras. I also agree on renting the Medela Symphony for pumping. And the Dr. Brown pitcher for formula.

The Boppy changing pad liners are great. When they are tiny, you can just put those in the crib and lay the baby right on top of one. If he/she has some sort of accident, it goes on the liner and you can just remove it, wash it and put a clean one down in its place. No having to wash and change the sheets. Of course once they are rolling around a lot, this goes out the window but it's good for the first 3 months or so!

I'll leave it at that for now... hope some of it is helpful

[cinnamoncox]

I don't know how your house is configured but we never used a monitor. They were loud enough without one

I figured I would use a video monitor (they didn't have those when ds was a baby 15 years ago so it was so fancy to me) then I realized we would need two, one to face each baby, and they were too much $ to justify two of them. I'm glad we didn't because we didn't even use the cheapo monitor we had.

[breezy8407]

Aug 26, 2014 6:15:25 GMT -5 cinnamoncox said:

I don't know how your house is configured but we never used a monitor. They were loud enough without one

I figured I would use a video monitor (they didn't have those when ds was a baby 15 years ago so it was so fancy to me) then I realized we would need two, one to face each baby, and they were too much $ to justify two of them. I'm glad we didn't because we didn't even use the cheapo monitor we had.

I find this so interesting because we still use our video monitor! I have a good friend who had one and also never used it - and we have the exact same house (true story - same suburb). Funny how everyone is so different. 

Their room is small enough that I can see both cribs. 

Lately it was more to watch them at nap. They were soooo naughty together, so I had to watch to see when it was time to intervene. 

[julez]

We still use a video monitor for our 4.5 year old, and we have a camera in the babies' room, too, of course. I am in the video monitors are a "must" camp.

Do you have any other children? If you do, I find our minivan to be indispensible. I never, ever thought I'd be talking up minivans, but man... I love our Odyssey.

[josieposy]

I had two swings and loved every minute that we had them. If you can fit two in your house and can get someone to buy them, do it!

We never used a video monitor either, but we have a house that didn't really require one. The audio placed between the cribs was enough.

I also recommend a large play yard. You won't use it now but when they start crawling its a godsend.

[lauren9317]

I also agree that a minivan is awesome. We have the Odyssey. People love to hate on minivans but I don't get why... they are pretty much the best when you have kids.

[egishere]

I love my odyssey too! I said I would never drive a minivan but with three kids it's awesome! I love the sliding doors. I figure eventually I can get another SUV but for now this is a great option.

[kershnic]

It's funny he way different people consider different things to be necessary. We did not have a swing or a white noise machine, and don't have a video monitor yet although we may still get one of those. I've also had no problem pumping with the regular medela pump.

Great success with the rnp, miracle blanket, swaddle mes, and zillions of waterproof pads. In the beginning we swaddled with blankets, but as they got bigger the fancy sleep thingies were nice. We almost skipped a mobile but it turned out to be amazing. Oh, I don't think we could have survived newborns without two comfortable baby carriers (our favorites are the ergo and the lillebaby complete. )

[persa]

Aug 26, 2014 14:13:19 GMT -5 julez said:

We still use a video monitor for our 4.5 year old, and we have a camera in the babies' room, too, of course. I am in the video monitors are a "must" camp.

Do you have any other children? If you do, I find our minivan to be indispensible. I never, ever thought I'd be talking up minivans, but man... I love our Odyssey.

This is on my "list", lol. I just feel like it will be so much easier with a 4 yo old and the twins. Did you get yours when your twins were newborns?

[julez]

Aug 29, 2014 9:28:44 GMT -5 persa said:

Aug 26, 2014 14:13:19 GMT -5 julez said:

We still use a video monitor for our 4.5 year old, and we have a camera in the babies' room, too, of course. I am in the video monitors are a "must" camp.

Do you have any other children? If you do, I find our minivan to be indispensable. I never, ever thought I'd be talking up minivans, but man... I love our Odyssey.

This is on my "list", lol. I just feel like it will be so much easier with a 4 yo old and the twins. Did you get yours when your twins were newborns?

The van or the monitor?  

We got the van a few weeks before the babies were born.  The preschooler is in the middle of the third row and the twins are in the captains chairs in the second row.  We removed the middle seat and slid the other two together to create an aisle for ease of getting everyone in/out, especially DD in the third row.

We had a video monitor for DD since she was born.  It crapped out, conveniently, right after the babies were born, so we bought a new one with two cameras.  We were going to put both in the babies' room, one on each baby, but the way we have the cribs set up (in an "L" shape) the camera catches both babies, so we put the other camera in DD's room.  The monitor cycles so we can see/hear both rooms all night. 

[persa]

julez, the van

We haven't gone looking yet, probably around Halloween. My brother has been a SAHD for years and he's now thinking about getting a car salesman job and I'm all "Honda or Toyota!!", lol. Or a good brand that makes an SUV my H will drive.

[linz]

Aug 29, 2014 9:54:41 GMT -5 julez said:

Aug 29, 2014 9:28:44 GMT -5 persa said:

We had a video monitor for DD since she was born.  It crapped out, conveniently, right after the babies were born, so we bought a new one with two cameras.  We were going to put both in the babies' room, one on each baby, but the way we have the cribs set up (in an "L" shape) the camera catches both babies, so we put the other camera in DD's room.  The monitor cycles so we can see/hear both rooms all night. 

Which one do you have? I'm still debating monitors. Originally our cribs were going to be in the L shape but I moved them to 2 separate walls so our layout is better.

[julez]

linz, we have this one...

www.toysrus.com/buy/health-safety/motorola-video-monitor-mbp43-2-mbp43-2-20616906

[autumnfire]

Not a MoM but I have to say we used A+A blankets and LOVED them for swaddling. They have a lot of room to grow, DD was still being swaddled by the time she was 6 months old and we didn't need to buy more sacks. They're very useful now as lighter blankets for her.