Twins Carseats

camusoh2011

Hello everyone. We're expecting our twins at the end of Jan. and we're trying to cut costs anywhere we can. We have a great convertible car seat that DS uses right now, but we have another car seat that he can transition to. The convertible seat is rated for babies 4 lbs and up, so one of the twins would be prefectly fine to use it. While Christmas shopping we went ahead and bought one infant car seat rated for babies 4lbs and up as well, so technically we have seats for both of them. My question is, are we being unrealistic to think that keeping one in an infant carrier and wearing the other is a good option? Should we just suck it up and buy a second infant car seat so that we can keep them both in the seats and just leave the base in the car when we have to go places?

twinmom1121

For me, I thought leaving them in the infant seats and clicking them into my double stroller was the best thing ever! Especially if they are sleeping. I never did baby wear though so idk how easy it is to get baby in and out of a carrier!

WillyBean

I agree with @twinmom1121 We took their car seats out and snapped them into the stroller. It always seemed like they were sleeping so we didn't want to wake them up! However, no, I don't think your idea is unrealistic and I'm sure there are plenty of people who do this. Thinking back, there are several times this would have been helpful for me logistically when I was out with them alone.

hayleydeee

I lived with only one infant carrier seat, and it was fine  Maybe it would have been easier to have 2, but I guess I never knew what I was missing so it was okay!

Knottie1442268460

I had a preemie in a regular car seat & looked so uncomfortable since baby was tiny. If your twins are small id go for a 2nd seat. They have $50 ones!

camusoh2011

Baby'smom said:

I had a preemie in a regular car seat & looked so uncomfortable since baby was tiny. If your twins are small id go for a 2nd seat. They have $50 ones!

All the ones we found that were on the lower end cost wise were rated for 5+ lbs and my OB really suggested going for 4+ lbs for the safety rating. 

Knottie1442268460

I think around here you can't take baby home under 5 lbs. you can check with your hospital.

camusoh2011

Baby'smom said:

I think around here you can't take baby home under 5 lbs. you can check with your hospital.

Ah, yeah, my doc just said to make sure our carseat was rated for the smallest weight and as long as everything else is good we could take them home. She did say that they've had to hold babies longer because the seat wasn't rated for a low enough weight.

2.red.heads

I know I will want the ability to put both in a stroller (kept in their car seats, esp while snoozing). I bought my infant seats from a friend who had triplets. I was definitely glad to save some money.

suchaglencoco

We just had twins (one month old today!!!) so not a lot of experience yet, but we opted for the 2 carseats that'll snap into a stroller. We haven't ventured out too much as the second one just came out of the nicu 2 weeks ago and it's winter here with some cold weather and snow.
I cannot imagine waking one and throwing them in a baby wearer. Also, most of those state the child needs to be 8 lbs before being placed in one. We did speak with our pediatrician who gave us the ok to try to wear them around the house to see how they do (both are around 5-6 lbs now). Having them close to me and having 2 free hands is great but I cannot see constantly needing to wear one while I'm out and about and will definitely utilize the double stroller with our car seats.
Also, our car seats were the 4 lb minimum and as long as ours passed the nicu car seat test, they were able to come home. Our girl was just over 4 lbs when we got to bring her home.

auntjessy

My twins are 21 months and I can tell you - you WILL WANT the extra carrier carseat and a Double Snap N Go stroller.  I also babywear and did from the beginning, loved it, but you want it to be an option, not a necessity.  Do whatever will make it easier for you to leave the house with two babies so you're not a shut-in for the first 2 years of their lives.  
Also, I brought my daughter home when she was 6 days old (6 weeks premature) and weighed about 4 1/2 lbs.  Did the car seat test like a champ.  
If you live near Columbus, OH, I have a Double Snap N Go stroller you can have, but I'm pregnant with Baby C, so I still need the carseats.  

Tawny87

Go to safe kids (your state) they offer low cost car seats in exchange for a 1 hr safety class. I recieved two nice evenflo infant seats for 80$. 20$ for the first seat and the second seat I had to buy at cost from them because they are a charity and could only afford to do one seat at the discount rate.

tmk0325

Hi ladies, FTM here and I was searching these boards and are hoping for some input on car seats and double strollers.  I have been reading reviews and searching online and it looks like the best option for twins is to get two car seats that snap into a double stroller (as mentioned above).  Since I am due in August, I anticipate using the stroller right away if I can.  With that said, are there any brands or models that you can recommend?  I saw really good reviews on the graco duo glider classic double stroller, but I have no idea if it's practical or not.  Here is the amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AHVR4N8?colid=33QNUBMWM22MV&coliid=I15MNFRFYG2E39&redirect=true&ref_=br_it_dp_o_nS_ttl&vs=1

Any other thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

kde4

Hi @tmk0325 We love our setup for our twins. We have the Baby Jogger City Select stroller and the Chicco Keyfit 30 car seats. The car seats pop directly onto the stroller so it's really easy. We don't have to wake them up if they fall asleep in the car. We just put the car seats in the stroller and we're off! 

Anya Lynn

@kde4 so glad to hear that set up works well!  That's exactly what we have been looking at!  

camusoh2011

@tmk0325 what I wish we would have done is gone with two infant car seats and one of those strollers that is just the metal frame. Eventually, we would upgrade to convertible seats and a different double stroller. Our setup is working, but it would be easier if we had gone the other route.

beckyk9109

@tmk0325 that's the exact stroller I have for my twins (born May 2015). I like it, however i do wish that I would've gotten a stroller with a shoulder harness and not just a lap belt. The infant seats i had that lock into the stroller only went up to 22lbs and one of my girls hit that before she could completely sit up on her own. We survived without the shoulder harness, but I would've worried less about her falling forward if the stroller would've had them.

maybe check if there are infant seats you can use that go past the 22lb mark so you wouldn't have to worry. But as far as size of the stroller it fits in my Kia Soul by taking the one tray table off, so not a bad size!

tmk0325

Thanks @beckyk9109 !

suchaglencoco

Late to the party, but we also have the Chicco Key Fit 30 car seats and then we got the Contour Options Elite stroller. I love it. It was one of the more reasonably priced ones we saw. I wanted one that was not side by side that they can grow into. Our twins are only 3 months old so they haven't moved into the seats yet, but I love the stroller. It's really easy to get the car seats in and out and easily collapses with lots of storage underneath.