Too Much Stuff- a Twins Dilemma

SpinelliSmith

So we just found out that we're having twins this week. This is my first pregnancy, first time being a mom and I feel totally overwhelmed and out of my league. Every time people start asking us what we're going to do I feel a panic attack coming on and I have to change the subject. I haven't even gotten used to the idea of growing one human, much less TWO! Our home is tiny- less than 800 sq ft. We have a cat and a dog. How on earth are we going to fit all of this stuff??? I'm thinking about moving one of our dressers out of our bedroom and into the nursery and using that as the babies' dresser/changing table. I wanted to replace where our dresser was in our bedroom with a twins bassinet (It sort of looks like a pack n play with two bassinets on top) and then have the babies share a crib when it comes time. Everyone keeps telling us we need rockers and swins and all kinds of things that we just don't have the space for and I can't even imagine using yet and it's stressing me the f*** out! Anyone with Twins experience able to help me out? Am I crazy for not wanting too much stuff?

momthatlifts

You house is just going to look like it's been taken over my kids. Which it has. I'm picturing it now and it makes me smile. You're about to be mom to two babies. It's going to be baby swings and toys everywhere , but that's the glory of it. I think your idea with the dresser is great. They have changing table a lot smaller than dressers that also have drawers that you could use as a dresser or for diapers/wipes/ointment/powder ect. Won't take up as much room in the nursery. You don't need two swings... Maybe just get one if you have to. The babies don't really have to do the same exact thing at the same time, even though they are twins . Good luck. You will be fine. I'm a FTM myself. But I'm very organized so I see your problem as a project!!

momthatlifts

Here is one I was talking about for a reasonable price. I'm sure you could find cheaper ones else where, but I just looked for the best match. You could even fit clothes in those drawers and diapers in the cubbies. The point I am trying to make is that it will take up less room. This way you can fit more things, like a crib when you move to one, with much more ease!
https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2599313&cp=2255957.2273443.2255986.2256272&parentPage=family

24karat

No, you're not crazy. The dresser idea is good...that's what we've gone with to save room. Our house is a bit bigger than yours but only 2 bedrooms and we already had a young toddler when the twins arrived. You don't need double of everything and few things are true necessities. They can share a crib till they start rolling around. We had considered mini cribs until we were gifted a second full sized one.

All we have double of are swings, car seats, cribs, high chairs, and bouncers. Nearly all of our "doubles" are second hand. Our swings are travel ones without all the fancy stuff so they're pretty compact. The Fisher Price space saver high chairs do just that and I love them!

Stuff like swings, play mats or bouncers aren't really needs, but they can definitely make your life easier. Pick out a few things that you can see fitting into your house. Many twin moms swear by rock n plays for the first months instead of bassinets or swings. They are VERY compact and may be a great option for your situation. Graco also makes a swing frame that you can just snap your infant car seat into. There are lots of items that have multiple purposes so that saves space and money.

Bottom line, not everything registry checklists or people tell you are "needs" are. Your babies need food, a safe place to sleep, diapers, and clothes. Beyond that, figure out what fits with your lifestyle (and house) and go with it.

kalette

It's gonna be great! Don't worry!

JenniCollins

First of all take a deep breath.  You don't need anything right not except for a place for them to sleep, diapers/wipes, clothes, food, and love.  I highly suggest joining a mother of twins or mother of multiples club.  My friend is a mother of twins and she says it was a life saver in the beginning.  They partner every expectant mom with a mom of multiples for guidance. 

Good luck!  You got this!

tbmadeamistake

At the end of the day, babies need a place to sleep and food, as well as diapers and stuff.  The dresser sounds like a great idea!  Forget all the other stuff.  I got a swing and my daughter hated it.  Maybe a bouncy seat to hold one while you have the other.  Wait and see what their personalities are and go from there.  A set of bassinets like you mentioned, a crib that can hold them both, you'll do great!  Google small twin nurseries, or organized nurseries, or twin cribs and browse through the images.  You'll find ideas that will work great for you.  They also sell half-sized cribs, so you may want to look into those.  GL!

HFrizzle

Move to a bigger house, cause it sounds like you're living in a closet. You are probably already running out of room with you, DH & the pets.

That would be my first priority!

lauralou3x3

I don't have experience. But....I believe that you are never given more than you can handle. Sounds corny but I think it's true. I wish you the best of luck and you will be an amazing mommy!

SpinelliSmith

I wish moving out was an option.  While there are many affordable homes out there we'd first have to sell ours and still have to figure out the other half of a downpayment on a new house.  It's just not in the cards right now.  The plan (and you know what they say- when you make plans, God laughs!) right now is to sell/buy when the babies are closer to a year.

 

Thank you all for not just the suggestions but the support.  I find that I mostly freak out when other people get me going.  My husband is a police officer and also goes to law school at night.  I've already accepted that my career is over (I transitioned from sales to teaching two years ago and never landed my own classroom) at least for the next few years.  I don't make enough to cover the cost of daycare so it just doesn't make sense.  Once our families start to get us going over what to do, what to buy and all that we both start this tailspin of worry.  We still feel twice as blessed but man, it's like a living game of Tetris up in here! 

We started to figure out some things that work for us and will continue to get used to the idea of two new babies.  I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks I don't absolutely need a swing!  I'm beginning to think that some of our friends/family work for the people that make this stuff! 

Nicolewinsbingo

Just wanted to give you a heads up about the double pack and play thing. I know what you're taking about, I was going to buy a twin pnp for a friend but they get poor reviews. You may want to just read reviews on those before you buy. Two small bassinets would take up the same space but you'd avoid the problem of them both rolling to the middle (the biggest complaint I saw for the pnp).

Nicolewinsbingo

Ikea makes an affordable, simple smaller crib. I think you will need two. You can use one for awhile but before long you'll need the second one. I think you can definitely skip doubles (or skip altogether) swings, bouncers, playmats etc but I think you'll really need two separate beds, two carseats (obv) and two high chairs actually.

(I base this on my nanny experience with twins and my mothering experience with one).

Nicolewinsbingo

**two highchairs eventually

spinsoffresonance

I dont have twins but we live in a 700 sqft 2 bed condo and I'm pregnant with LO2. We have 1 closet in the whole place. When I was expecting DD we spent 2-3 months sorting/purging all of our stuff to make room for baby. We took a ton of stuff to goodwill and rearranged/sold a lot of our furniture. DD slept in a cosleeper in our room the first 7 months, so we didn't even own a crib until then ( we thought better keep the 2nd bedroom as a guest room the first few months for our parents to come visit.) we tried to get the minimum amount of baby stuff. Most of the "must haves" are really not necessary. We don't have a PackNPlay, swing, diaper pail, play gym, baby bath tub, nursing pillow, bottle warmer, bottle sanitizer, wipe warmer, or a stroller. What we had for DD when she was born was a cosleeper, a rocker, a changing pad on top of our desk, a baby bjorn carrier , a car seat, clothes, blankets, bath and diaper supplies and a couple bottles. As long as you have a place for the babies to sleep and change diapers that's really all the gear you need at first. It is nice to have a place where you can safely put baby down, we realized that after DD came home and got her a bouncer seat, no way we could fit a swing in our place. She hated it at first and we couldn't use it for the first 2 months. The only place we could set her down was the carseat. So my advice is wait until the babies are born, you can use the carseat at first to put them down until you figure out if they will even go into a swing or bouncer. I didn't buy DD a high chair until we started solids at 6 months, but turns out a lot of highchairs recline to accommodate newborns so that could also be an option instead of a bouncer. I have one from First Years that attaches on top of a regular dining chair and it has 5 recline position.

HailsMom

You should check out the book Baby Bargains - it really helps with figuring out what you need and what brands are good values. There is a lot of great information in it about all the baby gear that is out there.

SpinelliSmith

Thank you to everyone and especially Nicolewinsbingo and HailsMom for the particualrly excellent information. 

I had no idea about the twins bassinet/pack n play thing.  Plus I just discovered that a Rock N Play is not the same thing (apparently everyone else knew this).  That might be a cheaper option anyway.  So right now we're torn between those two items for the first few months. 

We are going to go with mini cribs.  We do want the babies to establish as much sleeping on their own as they can and especially when it comes time to sharing germs we want to try and prevent that as much as possible. 

I didn't know about the Baby Bargains book.  That sounds perfect for what we're looking for. 

Again, thanks everyone!