Anyone want to share their cheat sheet?

[mustloveerica]

I like the lucies list twin registry for the multiple price range reviews. I haven't used it yet for quantities of things tho. I think my goal to begin with is to buy/register for single quantities of things (one swing, one set of bottles, etc). Then as I figure out what the twins like and what we can't live without I will go out and buy a second one.

[mustloveerica]

Oct 19, 2016 10:46:02 GMT -5 @wineandcupcakes said:

HeyMrsPotter and mustloveerica - yes! Ok, I feel like I'm doing something right because that's what I did. I went to Lucies List. I also went to a few other that I googled for a few additional things.

So maybe just getting a few bottles is the best way to start? I'm unsure what quantities but I guess we could run out and buy more easily and just do extra dishes for a few days...

I've also heard not to stock up on too many bottles/pacifiers/etc because lots of babies are picky about them. You might go thru a few brands before you find the sweet spot. I think I registered for one 3-pack of 3 different brands. And I'll just open them one at a time in the hopes I can return anything unopened and then build my bottle stash once I figure out what they like.

[mustloveerica]

Personally I'd rather do extra laundry and dishes for a few days or weeks then have a bunch of junk that we won't use. So I don't mind having to run out or send DH out to buy more bottles or whatever if we can figure out what they like.

[callmeKD]

Oct 19, 2016 10:49:26 GMT -5 mustloveerica said:

Oct 19, 2016 10:46:02 GMT -5 @wineandcupcakes said:

HeyMrsPotter and mustloveerica - yes! Ok, I feel like I'm doing something right because that's what I did. I went to Lucies List. I also went to a few other that I googled for a few additional things.

So maybe just getting a few bottles is the best way to start? I'm unsure what quantities but I guess we could run out and buy more easily and just do extra dishes for a few days...

I've also heard not to stock up on too many bottles/pacifiers/etc because lots of babies are picky about them. You might go thru a few brands before you find the sweet spot. I think I registered for one 3-pack of 3 different brands. And I'll just open them one at a time in the hopes I can return anything unopened and then build my bottle stash once I figure out what they like.

I agree with this! we registered for one type of bottle and pacifier and ended up exchanging them for the kind that DD used in the NICU.

[requiressnacks]

+1 to Lucie's List!

Speaking of bottles, I ordered a bunch of the Kiinde stuff (if BF-ing works out) and then I ordered a couple of the Dr. Brown's newborn starter kits (if we end up using formula). I'm not going to sterilize it all and hopefully return some of it, unopened.

[callmeKD]

my DD also loved (and still loves) the ad.en + an.ais swaddle blankets. she still sleeps with them. I think she has 4.

[callmeKD]

add books to your registry too! we loved getting books for our showers.

some favorite board books - anything by Sandra Boynton, Lucy Cousins "Maisy" series, Ladybug Girl series, plus any and all of the classics.

www.parenting.com/gallery/building-babys-first-library-25-must-have-books

[DVMmomma]

Ok so my 2 cents is primary this: Even after a baby is born, Target will still be open and available. For some reason I had it in my head that I couldn't leave the house once DD1 was here so I best have everything under the sun ready for her.

That said, I think most moms agree (and hospitals) the best newborn pacifier is the Philips Avent Soothies. Cicco natural fit was the other one we used as she grew (I think starting at 4m?). Either way - ONLY GET ONE PIECE PACIFIERS. Like not the ones that have the rubber and plastic. They are a PITA to clean and when you have a newborn and you boil the damn thing every time it touches a surface other than baby's body, you'll be grateful. The two piece ones harbor water and make you feel like they're dirty.

As far as bottles, I had one of those babies that took right to the first bottle we offered (Dr. Bronners). So not much advice there. I have heard some babies can be picky on this matter.

Agreed with callmeKD on books! Ask for a board book in lieu of cards. This was one thing that I think 'you can never have too many' is actually true.

As far as bouncers, I dont know how twins play into it but I loved our Fischer Price Rock n Play (get the fancy one that vibrates) and the Fischer Price Bouncer. The bouncer was a lifesaver for me. I'd bounce it with my foot while studying for my next exam. Yes, I had a baby in the middle of vet school. On purpose.

If you're looking into swings, it is my opinion to splurge on a mama roo. I left to go buy one of those at 9pm at night after a day of a damn baby who would NOT nap. Wish I would have bought it from go. But they're absurdly expensive so waiting to see what type of babies you have is probably wise. You might get that mythical kind that I hear about that sleeps anywhere at anytime. I did not get one of those the first time around.

Also- most registries will allow you to put a gift card as an option. Until you know what type of babies you have, this might work out great for you.

I'm rambling now. So, that is all

[mustloveerica]

DVMmomma I've heard mixed thoughts on the mamaroo. H wants one because they look cool. But I don't know I want to fork over that kind of money if Baby won't like it!

[schmella]

Take baby to BBB and test out the mamaroo before buying it. I've known too many people with babies who HATED it.
Register for 3 packs of a few different types of bottles.
Generally, don't open things until you need them, return what you don't need.
Re the books instead of cards thing, although super cute and awesome in theory, I've witnessed too many showers where they end up with 4 copies of the same book, all signed and thus unreturnable. I sign a piece of paper and slip it into the book for this reason.
YOU NEED A LOUD WHITE NOISE MACHINE. Just do it. Ditto video monitors- its hard to be a ninja mommy in the MOTN if you can't map out your stealthy ninja attack plan before entering the room.

[DVMmomma]

I put the books on my registry so people knew which ones were still up for "purchase" and which ones had been snagged already. I think I got one set of duplicates.

I agree on the Mama Roo, it's definitely only something I'd suggest when the other things don't cut it. It's not my first choice to jump to, the other things I mentioned are- mostly because of their cost and ease of use

[DVMmomma]

So I just read about a $1200 crib called the SNOO. I vote you ask for that

[piccyami]

We originally planned to just use the swing we were borrowing from my sister and get a second only if both babies liked it, but wound up getting a second before they were born with gift cards. It has been totally with it because both babies love their swings.

With bottles, make sure that the ones you offer are ones you can deal with. We're using munchkin latch bottles, but have a few Avent bottles that my sister gave us. Z and W don't care which ones we use. I hate the Avent bottles because W is ridiculously messy with them and they don't fit in our dishwasher well.

[requiressnacks]

Oct 19, 2016 16:23:51 GMT -5 DVMmomma said:

So I just read about a $1200 crib called the SNOO. I vote you ask for that

A crib that expensive better change diapers too! Haha

[housecarder]

Oct 19, 2016 10:50:55 GMT -5 mustloveerica said:

Personally I'd rather do extra laundry and dishes for a few days or weeks then have a bunch of junk that we won't use. So I don't mind having to run out or send DH out to buy more bottles or whatever if we can figure out what they like.

See I'm the opposite. We only bought 9 small bottles because I knew they wouldn't use them long and it was such a PITA to wash them constantly and only manageable because we both were on leave.

Now that they have the bigger bottles we have 20 and I still sometimes wish we had more after coming off a 12 hour shift and seeing them all dirty. DNW to wash bottles while exhausted.

[housecarder]

Oct 19, 2016 20:51:47 GMT -5 @wineandcupcakes said:

Oct 19, 2016 20:43:13 GMT -5 housecarder said:

See I'm the opposite. We only bought 9 small bottles because I knew they wouldn't use them long and it was such a PITA to wash them constantly and only manageable because we both were on leave.

Now that they have the bigger bottles we have 20 and I still sometimes wish we had more after coming off a 12 hour shift and seeing them all dirty. DNW to wash bottles while exhausted.

How long until they need to switch from small to bigger bottles?

Our small bottles were 4oz which I think they out grew after a month or so. I never registered for those because I figured I could easily put 4oz or less in the bigger 9oz bottles but got some anyway. You would just need slower sized nipples if you just started with big bottles.

[schmella]

Oct 19, 2016 20:56:31 GMT -5 housecarder said:

Oct 19, 2016 20:51:47 GMT -5 @wineandcupcakes said:

How long until they need to switch from small to bigger bottles?

Our small bottles were 4oz which I think they out grew after a month or so. I never registered for those because I figured I could easily put 4oz or less in the bigger 9oz bottles but got some anyway. You would just need slower sized nipples if you just started with big bottles.

Yeah we skipped the small bottles.  Our large Dr. Browns' came with the slow nipples though, so NBD.  

ETA:  We had 12 bottles.  DH didn't want to buy more so it was his job to wash.  At least most of the time.  We brought babies home to a construction zone, so we were washing in the bathroom sink.. ugh.  

Umm, we put everything in the dishwasher now.  I LOOOOOOOOVE Dapple dishwasher pods.  

[requiressnacks]

My bugaboo bottle holders arrived last night! Thank you for the recommendation POM.

[pbandj714]

So I guess I'm the only one who just makes sure there's no dog hair stuck to the pacifier before putting it back in the kid's mouth? Eh. They've seen no ill effects.

Also, gasp, we only have two sets of bottles. I didn't want a shit-ton of stuff sitting around and needing to be stored and it's worked well for us. Plus we don't generate enough dishes to run the dishwasher daily, so we didn't want to have to run that daily just for bottles if the rest wasn't full. It keeps us on top of washing them, and literally takes 2 minutes. Their babysitter also just keeps one set of bottles at her house for them. I guess I'm a minimalist.

[schmella]

Oct 20, 2016 7:53:38 GMT -5 pbandj714 said:

So I guess I'm the only one who just makes sure there's no dog hair stuck to the pacifier before putting it back in the kid's mouth? Eh. They've seen no ill effects.

I mean, I pick off obvious dog hair. But currently my childrens' favorite activities include licking painted toenails, chewing on shoes and kissing the dogs on their feet, so.... I figure a dusty pacifier is the least of our worries.

FWIW, my son wouldn't take a soothie, we think it had to do with his generally weak suck. Tommee tippee pacifiers were easier for him to keep in his mouth.

[pbandj714]

Oct 20, 2016 8:46:39 GMT -5 schmella said:

Oct 20, 2016 7:53:38 GMT -5 pbandj714 said:

So I guess I'm the only one who just makes sure there's no dog hair stuck to the pacifier before putting it back in the kid's mouth? Eh. They've seen no ill effects.

I mean, I pick off obvious dog hair. But currently my childrens' favorite activities include licking painted toenails, chewing on shoes and kissing the dogs on their feet, so.... I figure a dusty pacifier is the least of our worries.

FWIW, my son wouldn't take a soothie, we think it had to do with his generally weak suck. Tommee tippee pacifiers were easier for him to keep in his mouth.

Ha! That's what I mean. When people talk about boiling pacis every time they get dropped...#aintnobodygottimeforthat

My kids only like the MAM pacifiers. The soothies were way too big and heavy for them, too, when they were tiny. MAM is what the hospital gave us, so that's what they had first and it stuck.

[hollyberry]

Every kid is so different. Baby girl only takes soothies. Baby boy doesn't seem to have any preference but we use just the normal avent ones for him. We also use the avent natural bottles and only bought a few until we knew we needed them. We now have 14 enough for a day and a few. We also just bought the big ones and bought smaller nipples for them.

We have one swing. And both babies dont love it. They will go in it for about 15 mins at a time and have never fallen asleep there. We pretty much just got one of things and they share. But I do have 2 breastfeeding pillows, the kind with the little beads in it. They both take naps in there. They love to be cozy. And they mold to how you need them. That is really the only thing I have 2 of. And I only bought one to start.

[schmella]

Oct 19, 2016 10:39:24 GMT -5 mustloveerica said:

I like the lucies list twin registry for the multiple price range reviews. I haven't used it yet for quantities of things tho. I think my goal to begin with is to buy/register for single quantities of things (one swing, one set of bottles, etc). Then as I figure out what the twins like and what we can't live without I will go out and buy a second one.

So we tried just one of things and people decided we needed 2 of things anyway. And then since that didn't track right on the registry, we ended up with 3 of some things.

It was nice to HAVE 2 and return what we didn't want to keep, but we have the space for all that crap and I know that wouldn't work for everyone

[nerdykitten]

We bought the Mama roo because they had one in the NICU and Laurel loved it.

What type of bottle you use may end up being determined if your baby has reflux. We went through like six different bottles until we found the one that made them spit up the least.

[requiressnacks]

Deal Alert! Dr. Brown's feeding set is 1/2 price on Amazon right now ($12, usually $24)

www.amazon.com/Dr-Browns-Natural-Feeding-Packaging/dp/B001IXYOD2/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?th=1&_encoding=UTF8&tag=wwwhip2saveco-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=932a846a47105d8e608c5ba688b6f5b4&camp=1789&creative=9325

[mrsf0831]

Lol this made me laugh, chop chop . I loved my twin z pillow for single feedings before bed or in the middle of the night. Then for downstairs i sat on the couch between boppy loungers. Swings we had 2 diff ones, a mama roo and then a papisan starry night fisher price swing. Boys liked both. Jumpers I had 2 diff ones (bought 1,the other was an old hand me down but it worked!). For sitting and playing we used a sit me up chair and then a traveling high chair that has a toy tray. My boys liked both of those as well.