Seven Tips to Help Prepare for Twins

It’s no secret that having a baby is one of the most significant life transitions a family will go through, so it makes sense that the idea of welcoming two babies home may feel daunting! Setting your family and yourself up for postpartum and adjusting to new additions at home can positively affect your entire postpartum experience and adjustment. Today we are here to offer you seven tips to help prepare for twins.

1. Create a solid support system ahead of time

We have said it before, and we will repeat it, support is crucial postpartum! Predermining a few people close to help after bringing your babies home will be hugely beneficial. If there are tasks like grocery shopping, picking up older kids, or errands that you find daunting to complete, consider delegating those to your support network for your initial postpartum period. Also, having a trusted friend or family member to call on in challenging moments can prevent you from feeling overwhelmed. Create your circle!

2. Have a lactation consultant on hand

If you choose to breastfeed or combination-feed your twins, consider finding a lactation consultant to work with before your twins are born. Feeding twins can feel overwhelming, and having an expert to troubleshoot with and ask for help if needed will help with a successful feeding relationship.

3. Have formula and bottles at home

We recommend this for every family regardless of their feeding preferences; however, it is crucial with twins! There may be a time where you would like to or need to give one or both of your babies formula, as producing milk for two babies is hard work. Having formula and bottles ready at home will save you stress if you want or need to bottle feed your babies. Remember, feeding twins is hard work! You are doing a great job regardless of the feeding method you use.

4. Talk to other parents of multiples

While everyone’s experience is individualized, talking to other parents who have also had twins can be extremely helpful and comforting. Parents who have already had twins may be able to offer inside tips and support on the experience of having newborn twins. Many Facebook groups are made explicitly for parents with twins; if you would like to consider joining one of those, a few popular ones are magnificent multiples and mother of twins.

5. Order the Twin Z Pillow

We tend to avoid recommending too many products, as there are so many different products on the market for baby care these days, and people’s personal preferences are different. However, the Twin Z pillow comes highly recommended by most parents with twins. This pillow is beneficial for both feeding and placing your babies on. You can order it directly from Amazon.

6. Consider hiring a postpartum doula

It truly takes a village, and having help from a trusted expert can be life-changing during your transition into life with twins. Postpartum doulas can help to ensure you are getting rest, help to answer questions, offer support, and also assist with tasks such as cooking, running errands, and light housework. The postpartum doula team at Bay City Doulas offers families individualized support, meaning we are there for YOU.

7. Try and remain flexible

With parenthood comes change, and often things don’t go exactly how we envision. During your journey parenting twins, your ideas, routines, and life will change. Try to remain flexible. You are in control here, and this is your individual experience. That means if you thought you were going to feed one way because you heard it was best from other twin parents, but there’s another way that works best for you, that’s okay. Or if your schedule changes because you’ve found a more manageable routine, that is okay too. Remaining flexible and gentle with yourself and your babies will help ease the more challenging parts of your journey.

Thank you for reading this week’s blog, “seven tips to help prepare for twins.” For more helpful tips on all things pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood visit our weekly blog.