Getting out with twins – especially when they are still babies, is a big concern to new parents.
From finding an affordable twin stroller to carrying around two car seats – it can all be quite intimidating and you may be tempted to just stay home. Here are some tips to help you transition out of the house once you feel you’re ready !
When your twin babies are tiny newborn infants, it’s tricky getting out with twins because you have to pack them and everything up, get them from the house to the car seats, and then into the stroller and then do it all over again. If you are doing it alone – it’s even more work !
One tip to help is to keep an extra diaper bag packed and ready with extra diapers, wipes, toys, blankets, clothing etc. That way if the opportunity to go out for a bit comes – you’re already packed!
While it’s a little tricky to get out with twin babies – they do sleep a lot when traveling, and they are fairly helpless at this stage. They can’t run in two different directions, they can’t hit each other in their car seats, or steal toys from each other. Each stage of development with twins certainly has it’s pros and cons.
A lot of new twin moms start to feel stir crazy after the first few weeks after giving birth to their twins and really want to just get out of the house for a while. At first – just a walk around the block may be a refreshing change of pace and depending on how that goes – you may be up for a longer trip!
Now it’s totally fine to stay home if you’re not ready to venture out into the world. If your babies were born at all premature or the weather is cold, there are very real dangers of RSV disease and other cold germs( and unwanted questions!) from strangers that will want to come and see the babies. You’ll need to decide if it’s important to you to show off your babies or if you’d rather people came to your home to visit.
Getting out with twins – grocery shopping
The logistics of getting out with twins and grocery shopping by yourself are really tricky. Generally shopping carts seem to be made for one child in the front – groceries in the back. Great. What’s a mom with twins to do ? First off – find a grocery store with the bigger, wider , two seater shopping carts if you can. If your local store doesn’t offer those – ask them why not? It’s not just twin mommies who need them – there are a lot of families with young children close in age that could benefit.
While your twins are still infants you can either wear one or both babies in a sling or back pack. You can wear one baby and put the other – carseat and all in the back of the cart. If you’re lucky you’ve found a great twin stroller that actually has some room somewhere on it to put your groceries!( Most don’t and to make it even more fun – some of the side by side models don’t fit through all doorways! Embarrassing and not practical – generally they will all fit through any door that is wheelchair accessible.
When your twin babies are able to sit up , you can then put them in the front of the cart and do your shopping. This gets tricky too – especially in the winter months ! I would lock the van – RUN into the store , find a big cart , wheel it back to the van, slide open the one door, get baby A belted in, then reach for baby B , hoping the cart doesn’t blow away in the wind and then run into the store. SIGH It was a LOT of work ! Then do it in reverse when you’re done shopping. And if you have other children in tow – like screaming toddlers, it can make for a very exhausting trip and you may decide to never leave the house again ( kidding!)
Getting out with twins to the doctor’s office
Expect a lot of crying, undressing, waiting etc here unless you have a particularly accommodating pediatrician. This is one case where having the support of another adult will make things so much easier. Consider bringing one single stroller carrying one twin and the diaper bag, and wearing the other in a soft baby carrier, backpack or infant sling.
As with everything twins and children, each stage is exactly that- a stage. And getting out with twins will be easier the more times you do it and the older your children get. Eventually
