Hospital Bag Checklist for Twins

Finding out that my husband Mal and I were expecting twins was 100% the biggest surprise of my life. We had a viability scan at 9 weeks, and up until then we had told our family and a few close friends that we had a baby on the way. So when we went in for the scan, saw a strange looking image on the screen and were told that Baby A’s heartbeat was strong, as was Baby B’s, I nearly fell off the bed! The technician even had to make sure there wasn’t a third baby in there that he had missed. After letting the news sink in for a while, we started trying to organise our lives and homes for the arrival of two babies. We were lucky enough to receive lots of great hand me downs from family and friends, so I only had to hunt for a few twin-specific things on Marketplace, like a twin pram, pram adapter and feeding pillow.

When it came to thinking about what to take to the hospital, I didn’t really know where to begin. We had a small list from the hospital which was useful, but I felt it was missing some of the more practical and modern-day things. I was very fortunate that I was asked to design some infographics for OiOi based on my friend Bee’s very thorough checklists - the timing couldn’t have been better. My obstetrician told us to be prepared to go to the hospital any time from 34 weeks on, and that full-term for twins is considered to be 37 weeks, so we knew we were going to have to be ready early. In the end, I was booked in for an induction at 36 weeks and 5 days, so we had the luxury of a bit more time than lots of other twin parents.

We were in hospital for a week, so keep that in mind when you are packing - you may need a bit more than what a singleton birth would. You also probably won’t be able to do washing, unless someone is going home. We were in hospital during a Covid lockdown, so my husband only left once to go home, and was not allowed to go to any shops for supplies, so we had to be extra prepared with things like baby clothes and nappies.

For Mum

• PJs
• 12 pairs of high-waisted black underpants. I got mine from Kmart, a few sizes up from what I usually wear.
• Nursing Bras
• Loose tops
• Loose socks & slippers - my feet and ankles were very swollen and took a long time to go back to normal, so loose fitting socks and slippers were a must.
• Loose leg pants, again for swollen ankles
• Moisturiser - a week in the hospital gave me very dry skin
• Your other usual toiletries - take in things that make you feel comfortable and at home, as you will be there for a while
• Jars for flowers! Our hospital had run out of vases, so a couple of jars would have been handy
• Wireless speaker
• iPad for watching shows between feeds
• A nice hot drink to have has a treat - I had a lactation hot chocolate called Milky Norks, which was a lovely thing to have in the middle of the night
• Feeding pillow - if you are planning to try to breastfeed, having your feeding pillow that you are going to use at home is great so that the midwives and lactation consultant can help you with positioning. It’s also good to get you more comfortable and confident with feeding - feeding 2 fragile newborn babies at once is really challenging, so any assistance you can get with this is valuable)
• Pads (more than you would expect!)
• Ice packs for putting in your underwear after delivery - our hospital supplied some, but pack some in case as they are very soothing
• Car capsules (we didn’t do this but should have - trying to load brand new baby twins into capsules before heading home was very hard and stressful! Having a practice run in the hospital would have been a good idea)
• Breast Pump - again, I didn’t do this but wish I had as I found the hospital pumps hard to use. I had been gifted a wonderful Spectra pump, and it would have been good to get to know how to use it while in the hospital.
• Chargers for everything
• Pens for doing paperwork
• Laptop - as you will be in hospital for a while, it is good to get a start on Centrelink paperwork. It takes longer than I realised for payments to start, so good to get your application in ASAP!
• Pillow and blankets - the hospital pillows are all plastic coated, so take a comfy one from home. We also found that the hospital was pretty cold, so having a nice snuggly blanket is good for getting cosy instead of the hospital ones.
• Eye mask and ear plugs. I found it really hard to switch off, even when the babies were sleeping - a lot has just happened in your life, and it can be hard to relax!
• Wet bag
• Nipple Cream - the early feeding days are painful! It doesn’t take long for your nipples to get used to it, but for the first few days a lanolin ointment helps. Also rubbing breast milk over cracked nipples after feeds is magic!
• Expressed colostrum - in the week or so leading up to the birth, try to express some colostrum and freeze it. It is really great to have on hand for the first few days, helping your babies get a start on their feeding which takes the pressure off you a little bit
• Water bottle with a straw - I saw this on Bee’s list, and this was an absolute must have for when feeding twins, you don’t have a spare hand!

For Dad/Partner

• Comfy pillow
• Blankets
• PJs
• Snacks
• Wet bag
• Slippers
• Eye mask and ear plugs
• A few changes of clothes ​​

For Babies

• Onesies size 00000 x 12 (all zip - easier to use than buttons!)
• Singlets size 00000 x 12
• Swaddles x 10
• Pack of wipes
• Tiny nappies x 2 packs
• Wet bag
• Going home outfits
• Premmie socks
• Premmie beanies

Hospital bag checklist template

Click here for your free digital checklist - keep it on your phone or print it off!

Nothing will ever come close to the life-changing surprise finding out we were having twins was for us. Being prepared with a hospital bag was great, and something we were lucky to have been able to do as our babies were not premature so we had the time to get organised. We were also so well cared for at our hospital, St John of God in Bendigo, that even if we hadn’t have been so prepared everything would have been fine, so if you are a twin parent who finds yourself in the position of going to hospital without having your bags fully packed, don’t stress! I absolutely love my OiOi Nappy Backpack, and it was the perfect bag for taking to hospital to put all of the babies’ things in to have them ready to grab when we needed them.

We hope that you enjoyed reading this blog article. Special thanks to Julz for writing her wonderful guide. OiOi is a family run Melbourne business who have built a strong reputation over 25 years for designing Australia's best nappy bags, stroller organisers & pram liners. We also now have a beautiful range of bamboo baby clothing in unique textiles, perfect for your next baby shower gift. Follow us on Instagram @oioi_global for daily inspiration or subscribe to our newsletter for beautiful fortnightly emails.

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