Our Super 8 Twin Essentials

Our twins, Antonino and Audrey turned 5 months last week! It was also my first Mother's Day. So in honor of these milestones, I would like to share 8 items which helped us survive our first few months of twin parenting.

Swaddles

It's true that aside from providing warmth, swaddles really help calm crying babies. Also, during the twins' first few weeks at home, they were so tiny and fragile that Joey and I always swaddled them to add more protection/padding when carrying them.

Side tie shirts and snap front bodysuits

These made dressing the twins really easy as we were so afraid to break their necks if we put them in round neck onesies. They also provide easy access for diaper changes.

Double electric breast pump

The twins had to stay in the hospital's Intermediate Care Unit (IMCU) for three weeks. Having an efficient breastpump allowed me to pump milk for the twins which would be cup-fed to them by the IMCU nurses when we weren't at the hospital. Although we relied on milk donations from generous mommies, I was happy I was able to provide some of my own milk for the twins. When we got home, expressed breastmilk also allowed Joey to pitch in with feedings.

Bouncy chair

Whenever one parent is left with the twins and they end up crying and getting hungry at the same time, what we do is feed one twin quickly and strap him/her into the bouncy chair then feed the other twin. This allows us to tend to the other twin more quickly and prevents spit ups and reflux for the first twin.

Baby Tracker app

This is a free app which helped us keep track of the twins' feedings, nappy changes and vitamin intake. Using this app helped prevent mix ups and accidentally giving one twin a double dose of vitamins while totally forgetting the other. The best thing about it is that it syncs across devices so Joey and I are both notified when feedings and nappy changes are due.

Baby Sleep Sounds app

This is another free app which turned my iPad into an instant white noise machine. It has plenty of sound options but our twins love the car noise. It really helps calm then and put them to sleep which gives Joey and me time to finish other chores or catch a quick nap as well. It also means we don't have to make the shushing sounds ourselves.

Thermometer

Because we're first time parents and our twins are preemies, we became extra obsessive about their health. Other than crying, babies have no way of telling us if they're not feeling well. Our digital thermometer proved to be the best and most accurate way to tell if the babies are sick.

UV sterilizer with dryer

This is one of my favorite purchases. Having twins means double the number of bottles that we have to wash and sterilize. This appliance can hold around 12 bottles. With just one press of a button, it sterilizes and dries everything inside in just 30 minutes. This means we can just leave the twins' bottles in the sterilizer and they will be ready to use in half an hour. No need to transfer bottles in a rack and wait hours for them to dry!

While some of the items above may only be considered as nice-to-have's, they have really helped in making daily life with twins more manageable especially during the first two months when we didn't have any nannies. Do you have any twin essentials?