4 Tips for Apartment Living With Twins

Last updated on September 28th, 2021 at 01:58 pm

If you’re like me, when you found out you were having twins you turned to the internet for advice on everything from babyproofing to getting out the door. What you’re likely to have found is a lot of advice that assumes you’re living in a house, sometimes with outdoor space available. As an apartment dweller, I got very frustrated reading the well-meaning articles that spoke of taking the babies out for a stroller walk around the block every morning, or suggested activities that toddlers could do in the backyard. Ummm…no. Here is what getting the babies in the stroller for a walk looks like for me:

1. Put the girls into the double stroller upstairs
2. Take the elevator down to the parking garage
3. Manage to get through a heavy door (which for a long stroller like the Snap-n-Go Double involved buying a doorstop and carrying it around with me)
4. Get the kids into their car seats
5. Take two of the wheels off the stroller so it can fit in my compact car
6. Drive somewhere with wider sidewalks so that we can actually walk
7. Reassemble stroller and put girls back in
8. Enjoy walk!
9. Repeat all steps to get back home

Living in an apartment building has logistical challenges that you don’t think about until you have two babies to maneuver. I can only imagine what extra steps people without the benefit of an elevator have to go through. I did not take the girls out by myself until they were five months old. So all that frustration I felt, especially in the early days, has taught me a few things that I’d like to share. Here are my 4 tips for apartment living with twins.

1. Strollers

Make sure your double stroller fits through ALL the doors in the building, and that you can manage to get through the doors on your own. As I mentioned above, I had to carry a doorstop in my diaper bag so that I could get my Double Snap-n-Go in and out of the parking garage. Also, consider where you are going to store your double stroller. Even if we were allowed to store the stroller in the garage, until the kids could walk well and hold hands securely, how was I going to get the babies to and from the garage without it? That meant storing the stroller in the apartment. It seems like a minor thing, but even the most compact folding double strollers take up a lot of space and need to be safely kept away from the kids who can topple them over from standing. Finding a place for it early on will save you a lot of hassle later.

2. Making your space work for twins

Decorating the nursery to look like a Pinterest nursery is literally the least important thing to worry about when preparing for your babies’ arrival. Focus on making your apartment manageable and safe. When you’re renting, you can’t always make the changes and renovations that you would like to. However, there are a few things that your landlord should be okay with that will help immensely. We were allowed to replace our sliding shower doors with a curtain rod. This was a lifesaver for bath time, because it is SO much easier to reach both babies, and safely get them in and out of the tub without that door and metal track in the way. If you have a balcony, balcony safety locks are imperative, and if you’re able to further secure the balcony rails that’s even better. We found plastic mesh at Home Depot that we use as an extra layer of security with the balcony rails, even though the balcony stays locked when the girls are up and about. And finally, one word of advice about laundry. If you share a laundry room, don’t count on it being free when you need it. Make sure you have a lot of onesies and PJs at hand in the first year!

3. Noise

There are days when I wonder if everyone in the world is conspiring against me to wake up my babies. If you have a choice of which room to use as the nursery, consider what the windows look out onto in terms of noise. If you face a shared courtyard, be aware that people slamming doors, kids playing, and just daily conversations can be very loud when you’ve got two tiny humans trying to sleep. If you face the street, you could have traffic noise and leaf blowers to contend with.

What if you’ve set everything up, things are going great, and then new neighbors move in? What can you do about those noisy people waking the babies right after you FINALLY get them to bed? I’m still trying to figure this one out! I can tell you that white noise helps a lot. We run an air purifier in the nursery at naptime and bedtime just for that reason. Some neighbors will be understanding if you speak to them, especially if they have met your little cuties. By the same token, it pays to be aware of the noise that your little monkeys are making too. If you have people below you, it would probably be a good idea to find out if they can hear your Jumperoo.

4. Lack of outdoor space

One of those apartment dwelling challenges that you might not foresee right away is the lack of outdoor space for the kids. Toddlers do not want to be cooped up all day, so I try to take my girls out every day, even if it’s just to come run errands with Mama. I aim to have one place to go every day, like a long walk on Monday, park on Tuesday, shopping on Wednesday, storytime Thursday and playdate Friday. That is what keeps us sane!

There are days when getting out is just not feasible and you’re stuck in the apartment with two stir-crazy kids. Rotating activities and rooms is key. Most importantly, make sure they have a way to get that energy out. The girls and I have a dance party every afternoon. Sometimes it’s the Wiggles, sometimes it’s the Pet Shop Boys. You never know what they’re going to like!

Living in an apartment does have challenges (especially getting out the door in the early months), but it’s doable. All those steps to get out the door have become so routine that it now only takes me about 10 minutes. Unless there’s a tantrum. Or two.

Lakshmi Hutchinson lives in Glendale, CA with her husband, 2-year-old fraternal twin girls, and tuxedo cat. In her spare time she likes to go to concerts and her dream is to have time to read books again.