Choosing a gift for twins is easy, right? Matching outfits, of course!
As a mom of boy girl twins, I do love coordinating outfits. But, maybe I wouldn’t if they were identical. Some parents prefer to encourage their twins’ individuality from the beginning, or would rather not have their closets overflowing with double outfits!
If you love twin clothing, I don’t blame you, so I’m including a few of my favorite items. But the categories below will also give you ideas for some really practical gifts that are requested, tested, and loved by lots of other twin parents! Many of them are great ideas for new parents of single babies as well.
This post contains affiliate links, like the picture above. Great gift ideas at NO extra cost to you, and a few cents towards supporting this blog for me–win/win!
All the Food!
Food in almost any form is an awesome gift for new parents; breastfeeding moms or twin moms even more so. Did you know that it is estimated that a breastfeeding mom burns an extra 600 calories per day (per baby!) while breastfeeding? Having the time and energy to prepare something filling and somewhat healthy isn’t easy in those early days with a fussy little one!
So go ahead and make that hospital bouquet a fruit bouquet. Make them some freezer meals as a gift. Pre-made meals are VERY useful even in the months before babies’ arrival, especially if bed rest is involved. Offer to bring dinner, or get a gift card from their favorite restaurant. Breakfast food, any-time snacks, or easy fruit and veggie options would be greatly appreciated. Get them a crock pot slow cooker if they don’t already have one.
Meal Train & Food Delivery
Meal Train is a really great free website that allows nearby friends and family to easily arrange bringing meals to the little family. Deliver sign-up frequency is adjustable (sometimes daily deliveries are too much) and you can even include notes on delivery time and instructions, food preferences or diet restrictions, etc.
If you don’t live close, you can try searching for meal delivery services or apps. However, in my experience it is difficult to find any that are ready-to-cook or eat that fit the bill. Please let me know if you find any. You can always call a few nearby restaurants to see if they have delivery.
Door Dash restaurant delivery app may be an option if the new parents live in any of these cities. It is designed to order your own food, but I have used it successfully to have food brought to a friend out of state. Just make sure they don’t mind a random delivery person showing up at their door, and are expecting it. The delivery people are not associated with the restaurant–it’s kind of like Uber for food.
For parents who have more help or whose babies are a little older (and allow them a little more kitchen time) a meal kit delivery service like Hello Fresh could be a helpful option. I would suggest checking first to see if dad is comfortable enough in the kitchen to follow basic recipes or if they have any food preferences or issues.
Diapers.
Definitely not glamorous, but to be honest this is the absolute number one thing that twins and their parents will use. During those early months with are twins, my counts estimated that we changed approximately one diaper for every hour of the day… more than twenty diapers per day! Even the biggest packs still get used up pretty quickly by my toddlers.
Diapers are such a practical gift in themselves that you really don’t need to add anything else. But if you want to dress it up a bit, you can add in some cute coordinating hats, hair bows, booties, burp cloths or some other accessory or outfits. Or, try your hand at making diaper art like a diaper cake, diaper bouquet, or other diaper “sculpture” that will be the talk of the baby shower!`
Amazon Prime/Mom Subscription
Amazon Prime subscription is another one that may not be traditional or cutesy, but gets top points for being incredibly useful. If you like the diaper idea but want to take it up a notch and save the new parents money on diapers for an entire year (or 3 months), this is the perfect gift.
Unless your twin mom is a super couponing wizard, Amazon Prime subscribe & save is pretty much the cheapest diaper option there is, even compared to buying off-brand or store-brand diapers (yes, even Costco included). Where I live in California, at least, Huggies on Amazon subscribe-and-save were a cent or two cheaper per diaper than the biggest box of Dollar General store brand. Coupons are great, but as a new twin Mom I had a hard enough time keeping my babies straight (yes, they are different genders) let alone my coupons.
Plus, what might be even better than cheap diapers? Having them delivered to your door or mailbox… Along with just about any other item a new baby or parent can need, for free, two-day shipping (sometimes even one-day). Especially living in a smaller town, this has been a lifesaver for me many times. It doesn’t get much better! You can give a gift membership here.
Anything Delivered
As a twin mom, I have a whole new appreciation for ANYTHING that I can get delivered to my door, mailbox, or car window. Drive throughs are my new best friend, and I find myself wishing that every business in my small town had a drive-up option.
Baby Formula (for those who plan to use it)
Of course, twins go through a TON of formula. Several moms highly recommended either one of the items below to save lots of time and effort making bottles around the clock! The first one is a formula-mixing pitcher so there’s always some ready-to-pour.
The second one is, can you believe it, like a baby Keurig–a machine similar to a cofee maker that automatically mixes formula powder and water to the perfect temperature and all! A bit pricy, but what a brilliant invention for middle of the night feeds! I didn’t use formula, but several other twin moms have told me this was “the BEST gift” and “a lifesaver.”
Relaxation / Pampering (or sleep!)
….and with that any twin parents or new parents reading this either started laughing or crying (or both). The chance to relax or sleep might be the greatest desires of any new parent, but it’s not always easy.
If you want to give new parents a break from the responsibilities, make sure it is in a way that they are comfortable with. As a friend of mine brilliantly put it, “nothing is more stressful than being with your kids, except being away from them.” Let them do what they want to do, especially if it is napping.
I don’t know how to design this math problem, but no one told me how much the probability of getting good stretches of sleep decreases when you have TWO babies to wake you up instead of one. All I know is, it’s often less than half.
More Traditional Baby Gifts
Swings
Automatic baby swings are definitely one of those things that many parents feel they can’t live without. There are plenty of different styles and price points (the one above is on sale for $40). Some babies do prefer one swing over the other (side to side vs back & forth–the one below does both). But in general, it’s hard to go wrong with the gift of a swing, because really, it’s the gift of a few moments’ (or hours’!) peace and calm!
Rock n Plays
To the untrained eye of a new parent Rock n plays may seem like just “one more thing to put your baby in.” That’s what my husband thought at first. Until one night when my first son just wouldn’t sleep, and we ripped open that package and put it together, willing to try anything.
He loved it, and so did my twin daughter. The woman that gifted this on the recommendation of another mom gave us the gift of better sleep for months! Not all babies like it (my twin son preferred flat sleep) but when they do, they LOVE it!
Twin-specific gifts
Double Snap n Go Stroller Frame
If you ask me (and many other twin moms) this affordable stroller is something that every twin mom should have. This style of stroller is unique because it is made to only hold a car seat–there is no other seat.
But wait, shouldn’t you buy a stroller that has a toddler seat in it and also holds car seats? Sure, you can if you want. But for one, that’s going to get really heavy really quickly. And if you get one of the more expensive strollers strollers that are made to adapt to multiple seats, really, just getting the adapters will cost you just about as much as one of these strollers.
Both the Baby Trend model and the Twin Roo version are pretty comparable and well liked. I went with the Baby Trend. Whichever one you choose, I suggest checking the Amazon reviews or other online info to find out which car seats fit best (both are pretty universal) or if there is a reasonably-priced adapter.
Twin Nursing Pillow
If mom has any plans of breastfeeding, a nursing pillow made specifically for twins is so essential. As many moms know, it’s much trickier to nurse a single newborn without a pillow. It’s pretty much impossible to tandem nurse baby twins without one! But with this pillow, I managed to feed both babies, and even eat my own dinner at the same time! It’s a lifesaver!
The Twin Z pillow is more expensive but is well loved by many twin parents since it also can be used as a pregnancy pillow, bottle feeding pillow (to bottle feed two babies at once), support for tummy playtime or learning to sit up, or a reclined spot for babies with colic or reflux. With so many uses from one pillow, you know this gift will be a big hit. Every twin mom I’ve known who has one loves it!
Can you think of any great twins gifts I missed? Let me know in the comments!
And if you can’t decide… Just go with the matching onesies and food! 😉
