Some of Our Favorite Things

I've seen a lot of lists of baby must-haves, but not as many twin versions, so I thought I'd chime in with some of Bobby's and James's favorite things, in no particular order.  Some of these are things we've used from birth and continue to use, some were just used as little babies, and some are more recent additions.

The Mamaroo

 

The mamaroo chair (or "magic chair" as my friend Ginger calls it) was a lifesaver during our first few months.  We registered for two after Ginger's rave reviews (her son is 22 months older than our boys) and were lucky enough to receive one as a shower gift.  We bought the second one after we were sure the boys liked it using gift cards we'd received - yes, it's expensive, but worth every penny!  It moves in several different directions/patterns (tree swing, ocean wave, etc.) and can make white noise.  You can also plug your iPod in to the speakers.  This was often the only place the boys would sleep for the first few months.  They loved it!

Fisher-Price Newborn Rock 'n Play Sleeper

 

My mom got two of these to have at her house, and as soon as I saw them in action, I got them for our house.  They weigh next to nothing and fold up, so they're easy to move around (unlike the mamaroo), and the back is at a nice angle for the baby to be able to look around.  When they were very small, it was a good place to park them.  Now, they give themselves their bottles in them and sometimes take naps in them during the day.  I'm dreading the day when Bobby hits the 25 pound weight limit!

Summer Infant Swaddleme

  

 

The boys both needed to be swaddled to sleep well (Bobby especially startled a lot), and doing an actual swaddle with a receiving blanket with a wriggling baby is a pain in the neck.  These swaddleme wraps are fabulous and pretty foolproof.  I would say we used them for the first four or five months, and they were a life-saver.

Miracle Blanket

 

Bobby figured out how to get his arms out of the swaddleme, so we switched him to this.  It's much more complicated to use (Peter almost always had to the wrapping, because I could never get it tight enough), but it kept Bobby well-swaddled once we figured it out.  We used it until he got to be about five months, and at that point he was starting to get too long for it.

Boppy Newborn Lounger

 

We didn't actually register for these but received two as a shower gift, and I would say they were one of our most-used items.  The boys slept on them from day one, whether on the sofa, in the co-sleeper, or once they moved to their cribs.  They stayed on them in their cribs until they were literally too long for them.  It kept their heads a little bit elevated, and I think it helped with any reflux they might have had as well as helped their breathing, what with the constant respiratory infections the first four months.

And now the babies are crying... stay tuned for part 2!

All images via amazon.