Preparing for Twins: Your Practical Guide to the First 12 Weeks
Preparing for twins is a different kind of preparation. The questions come fast, like what do I actually need two of, how does feeding work, how on earth do I get two babies on a routine — and the internet gives you twenty conflicting answers for every one you need.
That’s why I wrote the Twin Guide. It’s your all-in-one resource for all things twins. This post covers exactly what's inside The Two: Twin Guide — and gives you the foundations you actually need before your babies arrive.
What do newborn twins actually need?
This is the question I get asked more than anything, and the honest answer is: less than you think, but a few things you really can't skip.
The things you genuinely need two of: a safe sleep space for each baby (this can be a bassinet, bedside sleeper, or cot — they can share in early weeks), a baby carrier or wrap, and enough feeding gear for both.
The things that make life significantly easier: a white noise machine, blackout blinds, and a good swaddle system. For twins, these aren't luxuries — they're infrastructure.
The Twin Guide covers a full essentials breakdown including which items genuinely multitask, what to skip, and a room setup to simply everything.
Do I really need two of everything?
No. And buying two of everything is one of the fastest ways to blow your budget before the babies even arrive.
The items worth doubling: sleep spaces, car seats, bottles and formula if you're bottle feeding, swaddles, face cloths, nappies and wipes.. Everything else? Start with one, see how you go.
The items people panic-buy that they won't use: two bouncers, two swings, two complete sets of every clothing size. Twins often arrive early and can be different sizes, so buy a small amount in each size and top up as they grow.
How to feed twins. All of your options.
Feeding twins is one of the most-searched topics for expecting twin parents — and for good reason. You have more options than you might realise.
Breastfeeding twins is possible, and many parents do it, but it takes real support and a good latch from the start. A twin nursing pillow (like the Twin Z or similar) makes tandem feeding far more manageable. Tandem feeding means feeding both babies at the same time — worth learning early, because feeding them sequentially in the newborn weeks means you're essentially feeding around the clock.
Combination feeding is what I did from day one. I breastfed and topped up with formula, which helped me sync the twins' hunger cues and start building a routine earlier. It also meant my partner could help with night feeds, which kept me sane. There's no shame in this — it's a tool, not a compromise.
Bottle feeding works just as well and gives you full flexibility over who feeds when. If you go this route, invest in a good prep machine or a system that makes bottle prep fast — at 3am, efficiency matters more than anything.
Whatever you choose, the most important thing is getting both babies feeding at the same time as early as possible. That's the foundation of a twin routine.
Setting up sleep for twins
You don't need to be a sleep expert to set up a good sleep environment. You just need consistency from the start.
The basics that made the biggest difference:
Same sleep cues for both babies. White noise on, curtains closed, same wrap or sleep sack. When you repeat the same sequence every time, both babies start associating those cues with sleep faster.
Darkness matters. Even for newborns. A proper blackout blind helps keep naps consistent and signals night versus day earlier.
Feed, then sleep. In the early weeks, a simple feed-activity-sleep rhythm is enough. You don't need a strict schedule yet — you need a repeated pattern.
The Twin Guide walks through how I set up our sleep environment, what I changed as they grew, and the exact twin routines I used from hospital through to 12 months.
How to start a twin routine (even in hospital)
The word "routine" can feel impossible when you're sitting in the NICU or the maternity ward with two tiny humans and not enough hands. But routine doesn't mean a strict schedule — it means doing things in the same order, consistently.
The single most important thing I'd tell any new twin parent: aim to feed both babies at or near the same time. Wake the sleeping twin when the first one wakes to feed. It feels counterintuitive — who wakes a sleeping baby? — but it is the single biggest thing you can do to eventually get them sleeping at the same time.
From there, you build out. The Twin Guide includes the actual schedules I used from hospital to 12 months, including how I adapted them through growth spurts, regressions, and the fourth trimester.
Building your support as a twin parent
Becoming a twin parent changes your relationship with asking for help. You will need to outsource things you never thought you would — meals, cleaning, school pick-ups if you have older kids. This is not a failure. It is a logistics problem with practical solutions.
A few things worth doing before your babies arrive:
Set up a meal train. Apps like Meal Train make it easy for friends and family to sign up to bring food. Do this before they're born, not after.
Connect with other twin parents. The Australian Multiple Birth Association (AMBA) has local groups all over the country and they are practically, genuinely helpful. There are also strong online communities — look for Australian twin parent Facebook groups, which tend to be more useful than US-based content.
Tell people specifically what you need. When someone says "let me know if you need anything," take them up on it. "Could you come around on Tuesday afternoon when I have the big kids as well?" is a perfectly acceptable answer.
What’s inside The Twin Guide
The Two: Twin Guide is the resource I built after going through all of this myself — twins plus a toddler, in the thick of it, figuring it out in real time.
It covers a full newborn twin essentials list, every feeding option with a practical overview of each, sleep essentials and environment setup, twin routines from hospital through to 12 months, and a full chapter on building your support village. There is also a section that includes NICU and special care are printable templates like meal plans, baby feeding tracker and notes.
It's written for parents, in plain language, without the fluff. Whether you're 20 weeks pregnant and planning ahead, or three days in and wondering what you've gotten yourself into — it's designed to give you a starting point and a bit of calm.
Frequently asked questions about preparing for twins
When should I start preparing for twins?
Start preparing from around 20 weeks if you can. Twins often arrive earlier than singletons — the average is around 36 weeks — so having your essentials sorted, your feeding plan considered, and your support network in place by 30–32 weeks gives you a comfortable buffer.
Do I need two of everything for twins?
No. The items you need two of are: safe sleep spaces, car seats, and feeding equipment. Most other items — prams, change tables, baby baths, swings — you only need one of. Start lean and add what you need once you've seen how your babies actually feed and sleep.
How do you get twins on the same schedule?
The key is to feed both babies at the same time from the start, even if one has to be woken. Most twin parents use a feed-activity-sleep rhythm in the early weeks rather than a rigid clock-based schedule. Syncing feeds first naturally leads to synced sleep. Genuine synchrony usually comes around weeks 8–12.
What is tandem feeding and do I need a nursing pillow?
Tandem feeding means breastfeeding both twins simultaneously. A twin nursing pillow supports both babies at the same time and takes pressure off your arms and back. If you plan to breastfeed twins — even partially — it's worth having before birth rather than waiting to see if you need it.