Leaving the House with Twins

You. Can. Do. It!

I feel this every time we leave the house (with the girls at 22 months old), but I will admit, it does get easier because we get smarter. Here are my go-to tips to getting out of the house with twins:

Picture of our first solo trip to Target (Girls are 2 months):

1. Always have a diaper bag ready!

We have 4+ diaper bags in our house - all of which are always ready to go. We started with two early on, and have continued to upgrade as the girls got older. Here is the breakdown:

• (1) Backpack Diaper bag - NOT the look I was going for as a Mom, but once I transitioned from my nice Coach diaper bag, to a backpack one, I actually had 2 arms to use and could navigate holding both kids and smaller spaces. This is the FULLY STOCKED one, with two of everything, except diapers (4-5 sets), travel diaper cream, chapstick, hand lotion, tampons, snacks/formula, Gallon size ziplock bags, change of clothes, etc)

• (2) Daycare Backpack - Less-stocked, since it is the one we bring if we are dropping the girls off somewhere. It is lighter, with little/no toys, and just 2-3 sets of diapers

• (3) Nanny Diaper Bag - We want to make sure she has the items essential for her, but alway to make sure ours are always ready. She keeps her bag stocked

• (4) My nice, Coach Diaper Bag - RIP this one. I wished I carried it all the time, and tell myself I will when they are bigger. If we are going somewhere a bit more upscale (think: dinner) I try to take this one instead.

And I have forgone my purse. I have a larger wallet + cell phone that I grab when leaving the house.

2. Back the car out of the garage

Garages in Los Angeles are small - and carrying twins or twins in carseats in a tight space is challenging - that is why I recommend always backing the car out of the garage enough that you can open both doors all the way.

3. Clip in/out light-weight carseats for the first year

Getting the UppaBaby Vista travel set was one of the best things we did as twin parents and worth every penny. The ease of being able to get the girls ready inside the house in their carseats, carry them outside and clip was amazing. I wish I still had the ability to do-so with toddlers!

4. Load the kids, then your stuff

This is a bigger hack once we were in our convertible car seats and the girls were mobile. If we are leaving after naptime or in the morning, I try to load the car when they are sleeping, but that is not always the case.

We typically get the girls loaded (to keep them immobilized), then load the stroller, diaper bags, etc.

5. Time it Right

You know my motto, "live and die by the schedule" and we use this as much as possible when leaving the house. Ultimately, it sets you up for optimal success. Do you really need to go to the store or the doctor's office during naptime? Probably not.

It is hard to say goodbye to some spontaneity when you have kids, but, well, I think you are going to have to, if you want to be able to do it on a regular basis. The key to a successful outing, especially in the early days, is planning and timing.

In the first few months, it is so much easier to go right after you feed them and change them. Then you don't have to worry about packing bottles/pumping/nursing needs while you are out (but always have SOMETHING on hand in case of emergencies).

6. Keep the car stocked

Like most twin moms, we are prepared for (almost) anything most of the time. Our car has clorox wipes, a container of wipes, a few diapers, gallon-size ziplock bags, and swaddle blankets, just in case.

Lastly, as a twin mom, you've got to be ready for some attention. I don't know why everyone feels the need to impart their opinion on you or comment about twins...but they do. So just be ready for it....

Grocery Shopping? Don't use a cart! Way too much to juggle. Bring some reusable bags on your Mommy Hooks and load the stroller with the rest, so much easier than juggling a stroller + cart....unless you are at Costco - where they have carts that seat two kids!

What's the Worst that Could Happen?

But seriously, ask yourself, what is the worst thing that can happen? Your babies cry? Diaper blowout? Spit up everywhere? You forget why you went to the store in the first place (totally possible in the early days)?

Once you determine that worst that will happen you can plan for it. But ultimately, you can always go home. Yes, you might feel embaressed, but I promise you aren't the first mom who has experienced whatever hiccups may come your way. Learn from it. Be better prepared the next time.

FWIW, my most memorable first outing fail was going to my first Mommy & Me Class. The class was right during naptime (usually, a hard no - but it was the only option for my age group). Class was at 1:30pm. I was home alone, teaching a class at the gym at 12pm, and new I needed to get to the gym, drop the girls at Kids Club, teach class, shower, get the girls, feed them, and get to Mommy & Me....oh and I needed to pump and eat lunch too.

I was PREPARED! Packed myself a PB&J to take in the car, had bottles for the girls, and off we went. Gym drop off, no problem....picked them up and got to my car around 1pm....5 minutes away with 30 minutes to spare.

Drove to Mommy & Me and the sky opened. It was down-pouring rain...in LA. WHAT was I going to do?! My umbrella wasn't going to cover me at the stroller. Could I take one twin inside and then run to my car to get the second one? I had no freaking idea. Plus, I needed to feed them and pump but was planning to do that in the mother's room inside or ask the leader to help feed one baby. But here I was...stuck.

I waited to see if it would pass - but no luck....so, I climbed myself into the back seat of the car, hooked up my pump and fed both babies in the backseat, while pausing to take some bites of my lunch. Once we were all fed-ish...I climbed back to the front and embraced the rain, but my carseat cover over the strollers before removing them from the car, and strut myself inside....only to arrive looking like a drowned rat for our first session.

In the moment, I remember being mortified, flustered, and next-level stressed. But as I write this now, I am like, that's so not a big deal.

As the girls were older, we took one trip to Ralph's and whoever was in the front of the stroller (and my fault for poor navigation) we knocked an entire end-cap over of Oreo cookies. We had to have spilled 6 dozen of them all over the floor....queue the waterworks from the girls and a red face of embarrassment from me as I went to find someone who could help clean up the mess.

So remember:

You. Can. Do. It!