Let me just start by saying this – I LOVE babywearing. I would do it all day if I could (and if my back would let me). With twins on the way, I had every intention to make babywearing work. I was excited by the twin baby carriers on the market and couldn’t wait to try them. When my older daughter was a baby I wore her ALL THE TIME. I didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t make babywearing work with twins too. As an advocate of attachment parenting, it was important to me that the twins got the same experience that my oldest got to have as an infant.
I still have so many baby carriers from those days with my firstborn. The Moby, the K’Tan, an Ergo Baby, a Chicco, a Tula, and more. There are so many reasons why I love babywearing. I was truly sad when my daughter got too big for me to wear her anymore. Nothing is sweeter than having a cuddly infant snuggled against your chest. Carrying your baby around all day can be hard on your back. Babywearing makes it easier by distributing the baby’s weight better, not to mention freeing up your hands for other tasks.
Naturally, as someone who had a great experience with it, I had every intention to make babywearing work for my twins as well. I did lots of research while I was pregnant, and found some twin baby carriers that I liked. I was hopeful (perhaps foolishly) that it would work out as well as it had with my daughter.
Twin babywearing is completely different from wearing a single baby.
I learned this right away. For one thing – twin baby carriers are more difficult to get the babies into, especially if you are doing it alone. You have to get one baby in position and settled, then awkwardly try to get the second baby in, which involves a lot of leaning back so as not to drop them. It’s not a pretty sight, and frankly, kind of embarrassing when you have to do it in public!
Still, it’s better than trying to hold two babies at once. There are times with twins that you are going to have to pick them both up. Carrying them around together is pretty near impossible unless your arms are super strong.
Another problem I have with babywearing twins, especially as they get older and aren’t as sleepy, is that you can’t really take just one out. Say you finally have them both settled in and comfortable, and one suddenly decides they want out, or needs a diaper change. No matter which type of twin wrap or carrier you are using, none that I have tried really work that well with just one baby, without at least having to readjust. Some actually advise against it.
You will also notice that there aren’t that many options for newborn twin baby carriers. Either you buy one of the few actually designed for this, use a wrap carrier designed for one baby to carry your twins even though the manufacturer advises against it, or use a woven wrap (something I will admit I did not try and probably should have.)
Best twin baby carriers if you want to try babywearing with twins?
One thing I have done is to just wear one twin at a time. Rather than use a twin baby carrier, I just use the same baby carriers that I used and loved with my older daughter (the Moby Wrap is still my favorite for the newborn stage, even though I know there are many other options now than there were even five years ago). It turns out that one of my twins loves being worn around while the other doesn’t like it quite as much. This makes wearing them together a bit harder, but it doesn’t mean I can’t just wear the twin that loves it.
This works well as long as my husband is home to take care of the other twin, or if one twin is asleep and the other is fussy. It also works well for taking walks when my husband is here and we can each take one. We went for a nice hike a few weeks ago and this worked out well for us.
When it’s just me though, wearing one at a time doesn’t always work. I can’t tell you how many times one baby was asleep and I thought, let me put the other twin in a carrier and get some housework done. No sooner did I get the second twin settled in the carrier than the first twin woke up and wanted to nurse. Definitely not an ideal situation.
Using a baby carrier for twins
The other option is to use a twin baby carrier specifically designed for babywearing twins. I bought two of these, hopeful that they would get a lot of use. You will notice there aren’t that many designed specifically for newborn twins. Once the twins get bigger and one can be worn on the back, there are a few more options out there. I have even seen people just using two single soft structured carriers and wearing one on the back and one on the front. I plan to try this as soon as the twins are big enough.
The first twin baby carrier I bought was the Vija Twin Skin-To-Skin Cami & Bandeau Set. This one allows you to do skin to skin while wearing the twins. It is a nice quality made product, and you will be able to get in a lot of skin to skin time with both twins at once. Here is a picture of me wearing it with my twins.
Just don’t expect to be getting anything done while wearing this twin baby carrier. There really isn’t any back support so you won’t want to be walking around much in it, especially when the twins get bigger. I also found it difficult to get the twins into without help. On the other hand, it is one of the few products that does not advise against wearing it with just one twin. So if one has to come out, you can keep the other twin in the carrier without having to re-position them.
The material is very soft and comfortable. It’s a very nice product and I definitely wish I had taken the time to use it more.
The Best Twin Baby Carrier for Newborn Twins
The other carrier I bought is the Weego Twin baby carrier. This is a pricey carrier, but the quality is evident. Think of it as having two soft structured carriers in one. The babies are kept entirely separate in their own little pouches, and getting one in at a time is a little easier with this one. My twins LOVE it, once I get them settled in it. They would probably stay in it all day.
There are drawbacks to this carrier too though, which I found out pretty quickly. For one, if you are petite like me, you are never going to get it tight enough to provide good back support. Even with tiny infants, I found it starts to hurt my back a lot sooner than I would have expected.
It’s also hard to sit down with once your babies get taller and start stretching their legs. This might also not be as much of a problem for someone taller. With a single baby carrier, your babies legs naturally go around you and you can sit. With twins this isn’t the same. Also, as nice as it is, I still feel absolutely ridiculous wearing it in public!
The best time I found to wear this is when you have to take your twins somewhere but you aren’t yet ready to let people start passing them around. I wore this to a family Christmas party when the twins were 2 months old. Nobody even asked about holding them when they saw me wearing them in this contraption!
A Different Option for Babywearing Older Twins
Recently I came across the Minimonkey twin baby carrier. This one is a little bit different in that it is a structured carrier that is designed so that you wear your twins in the hip carry position, one on each side. Since my twins are now too big for the Weego Twin baby carrier, this seemed like a great option to try.
Here is a picture of me wearing it with my twins (they are now 9 months old and about 15lbs each).
This carrier ships from Norway, and it came in a matter of days which I was really impressed by. It is well made and the design is simple. However, even the manufacturer advises that you really need to take the time to adjust it to get the right fit. I will admit I haven’t had luck finding that perfect fit yet. I have also found it difficult to get the second twin in without help. It really started to hurt my shoulder after awhile, but I chalk that up to me being lazy and not taking enough time to adjust it. I plan to keep trying.
Accepting the fact that babywearing with twins just isn’t the same as with one baby.
Now that my twins are older, I have had to give myself permission not to babywear if it isn’t working. I want it to work, but with twins, EVERYTHING is different. My older daughter was almost never in a stroller, but I find it easier to go for a walk with twins in the stroller. They don’t seem to mind.
At home, I have had to let a lot of the housework take a backseat. This isn’t easy for me, but I am trying. I spend more time relaxing with everyone on the couch, getting some stuff done while they nap or when someone else is here to watch them, and just not stressing about it as much.
As much as I love babywearing, with my twins it just hasn’t worked out the way I planned. I am learning to be ok with that. I do it when it makes sense, and if that isn’t as often as I would like, that’s ok too.
Do you wear your twins? I would love to hear what works for you!
