Swings. We had a travel one which is smaller in the beginning, which was GREAT and we definitly needed it when we went places. But, that one has since stopped swinging my chunky babies and I am SO thankful someone graciously donated a large, full size papasan swing. The Papasan swings are great because they are super comfy, plus the one we have has a snap on and off toy bar which they love. I had no idea when I registered that I would need a big one as well, but they have a higher weight limit and YOU WILL NEED IT! I promise. And then stock up on batteries for all this stuff!
Two cribs if you have twins. They would bug each other endlessly if they didn’t have separate cribs. 
Pack n’ Play. (For twins, get two). In the beginning, we used the bassinet feature on ours and they slept together in it in our room for about 3 weeks. Then they moved into their room in their own cribs. It sucked for a while to have to get up and go into another room every two hours at night, but they got used to sleeping in their own room and so we never had a battle with that. It’s much easier to train them when they are littler! Now we use them for naps away from home, and traveling. I may use them as a cage,errrr, playpen, if I need to contain them when they start crawling.
Boppy. For twins GET TWO. Don’t even consider not having two for twins! I couldn’t have survived without them. I fed them both in their boppies by myself. When they were tiny, they loved hanging out in their boppies, doing tummy time in them, etc. It just helps prop them up. After eating, they liked being in their boppies and then they wouldn’t spit up much if I kept them upright for a while.
Bumbo seat. Now, some say they don’t like them, but I think they are great. Now that they are into playing with each other I scoot the Bumbos right up facing each other and put a toy in between them. They love sitting up ! If you only have one baby, I’d get the tray that snaps on since there isn’t another baby for entertainment. Or, a box works too that is cut out for their feet.
Space Saver High Chairs. If you don’t have a ton of room (or even if you do and don’t want a HUMONGO high chair taking up all that room!) I highly recommend getting these. Plus, they are much easier to port around – if you get a full size high chair you are going to have to buy something else to port around to feed them in so why not have it all in one?? Less stuff = sane Mommy!
Monitor. This seems self explanatory except I would recommend getting a good quality one so you don’t have weird feedback and static. I don’t see the point of having a video one but to each their own. I’ve never wished I could see my baby on a tv screen. You’ll know when you have to go in to check on them!
Fisher Price Aquarium Bubbler AND/OR Glow Seahorse. The point is to have something in their crib that will distract them from fussing long enough to fall asleep. We call the aquarium “Baby TV.” The aquarium also comes in a model that has a remote to turn it on/off. I’ve never thought to myself that I wish ours had that. They love love love those aquariums!! They have the glow seahorses too; the nice thing about those is that they are portable so you can take them along places where you want them to fall asleep.
Bouncer. We have the Baby Einstein one and they have so much fun in it -- I highly recommend that one! If I had the money, I’d probably buy another one or an exersaucer.
Jack in the bouncer, Aiden in the Bumbo seat.
For a winter baby, the JJ Cole Bundle Me is a great invention! It’s a cover that goes in your infant carseat and keeps them snuggly and warm without having to bundle them in coat, sweater, etc. Whoever finally thought of this great idea, I’d like to hug. I have one I’m willing to sell now in grey if anyone is interested. They retail for about $40 new but worth every penny for the convenience.
Aiden snuggled into his BundleMe in his Graco Snugride infant seat
A high quality ROCKING CHAIR GLIDER. If there was a way to measure how many miles I’ve rocked in that chair, I’ve gone around the world and back. Don’t get a flimsy cheap one from Babies R Us even if it does match your nursery furniture. Invest in a great one from a furniture store that has padded armrests and an ottoman. It’s worth every extra penny. The padding is so much better than the ones in the baby stores, trust me, I’ve tested them all.
Homedics Soundspa Lullaby Sound Machine. I got this as a gift at a baby shower and we LOVE IT! We have the heartbeat going all the time when they sleep for white noise. It also plays lullabies, nature sounds, etc. Plus, it has a projector that projects fish, stars, and animals onto their ceiling. Way fun!
Changing table. I was skeptical when I was pregnant and debated long and hard on whether to buy one or not. I figured I could change them on the floor or on the changing table attachment on the Pack N Play. We decided to buy one and I am so glad we did! It saved our backs! They also love laying there (no idea why) and when they are up there, they are much less likely to roll around while you are changing them. Plus, a well organized changing table is very helpful when you have everything you need at your fingertips. I hung a diaper caddy right next to it, and clean outfits were within reach. Stock it with wipes, creams (I like Boudroux's Butt Cream & Desitin), lotion (Aveeno unscented is our fave), etc. Having everything in once place is great. Downstairs, I have a basket set up with a mini-changing station in case I don’t want to go upstairs. I have a changing mat, diapers, and wipes all set to go.
Extra covers for the pad on the changing table.
Diaper Genie. We only use it for dirty diapers - wet diapers just go in a plastic bag that we take out every night. Otherwise, the refills get too expensive. It does a really good job of keeping their room icky smell free.Diaper bag. Everyone has their own preference on this one. If you are having twins, get a big one! Many twin moms prefer a backpack. I prefer being woefully underprepared and hoping for the best. :)
Infant carseat. I have to admit, I’ve only tried two brands (the Chicco & Graco SnugRide) but I would totally go with the Graco SnugRide (as shown with the stroller below). It’s lighter than the Chicco, and SO easy to use. And much much cheaper. Now we will be moving to the Britax Boulevard. They are the safest ones out there, so that’s why I picked it, in addition to friend’s and other mom’s recommendations.
Pacifier options. Our babies like the Gerber Nuks and the Soothies they got in the hospital. They rejected all others. They used the Soothies for a while, then I switched them to the Nuks as they are better for their mouth. But I had a bunch of other brands that I tried that they never liked. I guess all babies are different. And pacifier clips (wait to see what brand they take to, as all clips are made for different brands).
Clothes:
I won’t go into much detail on clothes, as most babies end up with more than enough and it also depends on the season, but I would suggest newborn sleepers with ZIPPERS (nothing sucks more at 2AM than fiddling away with snaps). When they get a little older and don’t need to be changed as often, the snaps are fine. But trust me, on the zippers. You’ll thank me later. The Carter’s stretchy pants in every size. And I love BabyLegs. They make changing a breeze, and easy to transition from a cool morning to a warm day.
Aiden in baby legs
Smaller items:
Hooded bath towels
Baby washcloths
Baby thermometer.
They will give you a bulb aspirator in the hospital, and they gave us thermometers as well. I don’t know if every hospital does that.
Extra sheets + mattress protector (I like the Gerber sheets best and the Sealy sheet protector)
Baby shampoo/wash (Aveeno is nice)
Baby lotion (again, Aveeno is my fave)
Baby bath stuff. I am not sure what to call it, but we add the nighttime stuff with lavender etc (Johnson & Johnson's Sleepytime) to their bathwater every night because it’s supposed to help them relax and sleep. Having a routine at night and doing it every night has made bedtime much easier. As soon as that bath is over, they know they get a bottle and then go to bed. It triggers their little brains that it is sleepytime!
A book on baby sleep. Heathy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby is a good one. I had no idea you have to train babies to sleep. Who knew. And read it before they are born (a mistake of ours!).
Baby bath tub ( we have the Fisher Price Rainforest one but haven't tested any others -- I would guess they are all quite similar).
Square receiving blankets (easier to swaddle them in). I have some I’d gladly give to someone who can use them.
Toys you can hang from their infant carseat handle + package of links to link toys to carseat, stroller, etc. The Vulli Sophie the Giraffe (great for teething and grabbing). A crinkly cloth book. Rattles that are skinny for their little hands to grab. Other than that, I won’t go much farther into toys as most babies don’t suffer from a lack of toys.
Burp cloths. The cute ones are a-dorable but you can never have too many burp cloths so in addition to the cute ones people give you as gifts, buy yourself a package of cloth diapers (they come in a pack of like 6 at Target). They rock as burp cloths, and if you are Jack, you adopt the cloth diapers as your blankie.
Bibs, bibs, and MORE bibs! The drool monsters go through I bet 10 a day!!!
Pullover large bibs for baby food time. My neighbor also has this bib (for when they are a little bigger) and it’s GENIOUS! Baby Bjorn. I'll be looking for a good deal on these so I can get two -- one for each boy!
Baby spoons.
Sippy cups (we aren’t experienced on this yet but the Nuby brand comes highly recommended as the silicone spout is the same material as their bottles and makes for an easy transition).
Snack cups that have a catcher/grabber thingy on top. It’s like a rubbery trap that keeps the food from falling out. (Munchkin)
Nightlight. You don’t want to turn on a light when you are feeding/changing in the night or they will wake up too much and you’ll have a heck of a time getting them back to sleep. Extra bulbs.
Optional but very nice:
Playmat (with the bars that hang over the baby). They like ours (Baby Einstien)a lot but we could have survived without it.
Snap N Go stroller. (WITH TWINS THIS IS A MUST HAVE). With a singleton, this is optional but really nice. It’s a stroller frame that the carseats snap into. And makes getting out with them so.much.easier. It’s lighter, easier to push. And with twins, I don’t think you could move a full size/weight stroller with carseats snapped in. It would weigh a ton!! My boys are almost outgrowing ours at 6 months and I think I will cry when I am forced to retire that thing. We have the Baby Trend Snap N Go.
Diaper Pod. This is a teeny tiny changing bag that snaps to anything (stroller, carseat, etc). All it holds is wipes, like two diapers, and a changing mat. This is great when you don’t want to lug a giant diaper bag in somewhere. I love mine -- it's JJ Cole -- shown below!
My Own Preferences (this means I realize this is totally based on my own opinions and babies, and may not be the same for others!)
Target Diapers.I can’t say enough good things about them but mainly, you cannot beat the price for the quality! I also like Pampers (especially the Swaddlers when they are newborns!), but they would bleed us dry financially if we used them all the time. Huggies are decent. I hated Luvs and Seventh Generation.
All Free & Clear Laundry Detergent. In the beginning, pediatricians say to use something sensitive to baby skin. So, save yourself some serious $$$ and don’t buy Dreft. Just get the All Free and Clear which serves the same purpose. Then, I would add a little regular detergent to the All Free& Clear until I was sure they tolerated it fine.
I didn’t breastfeed (well, for more than a week) so I can’t offer much advice on this. It’s my biggest regret – I wish that I had been able to and that I had gotten better advice at the hospital. I think they were uneducated on how to teach a twin new mom on how to succeed at it, so it’s not entirely their fault either. I wish I had done more reading about twin breastfeeding, but I had no idea what I was in for. As a mom, you want to do right by your kids and I am sad I couldn’t do that for them. However, I made the best choice I could under the circumstances – they were losing weight, getting jaundiced, and sometimes, you have to be grateful for the great advances formula has taken over the years and know you gave it your very best shot.
Having said that, if I had to do it over again and knowing now what I didn’t know then, I would invest in a high grade hospital stype pump (like a Medela 2-300 $). It will help with your supply and let you get ahead so you can stay sane and produce enough. Seriously, these things could suck paint off walls. I would also insist on a lactation consultant to visit you SEVERAL TIMES when in the hospital. And get formula just in case you have to supplement when the baby comes home so you aren’t stressing that they aren’t getting enough food.
I am, however, well versed in the art of formula feeding. Here’s what you need: If you can afford it, get enough bottles to last a whole day. (we have 8 total so we wash during the day but if we had money to splurge, I would have gotten more!). I LOVE the Avent BPA Free bottles. They do leak occasionally and you have to re-put them together, but I didn’t have any colic problems or much gas/fussiness, so for that, I can tolerate a little leakiness. There is a trick to getting them to not leak (find it HERE). You’ll need nipples in all the different stages (I think it was newborn, 1,3,6 months).
Then, get the Munchkin compartment formula cups. (we had 3 so we had enough for all the bottles). Then you don’t have to be measuring in the middle of the night. We’d fill them with the right amount of water, pre-measure all the formula, and it worked great. I was to sleepy to count out scoops of formula in the middle of the night.Dishwasher basket for bottle parts. We have the Munchkin one.
A can-do, great attitude. :)
