Carrying Multiples - twins, or toddler and baby

If you have twins, or if your children are close together in age, you may find it useful to know how to carry more than one baby at a time. With my first two only 17 months apart, and the second two being 21 months apart, I've done a lot of carrying more than one child at a time. Even when they can walk, it's sometimes safer to just put a toddler on your back so they can't run onto the road or get tired legs on a long walk.

Sophia at two years old (back) and Juliet at 11 months (front) in mei tais.

Carrying two at once doesn't require super strength - I'm 5'4" and have no muscle. But it does help to use a good carrier. You need to spread the weight evenly across your back, try to put the weight onto your hips, keep the straps wide over your shoulders so they don't cut into your neck. And have a good comeback ready for trips to the mall. I've had people ask "can't you afford a pram?". To which I replied, "yes, but I can't afford the bribes to get my toddler to sit in it!".

To carry two at once in mei tais, put the smaller/lighter child on your front first, then put the larger/heavier child on your back. You may find you're less agile with one baby already in the carrier, so you'll want the second child to be co-operative - and that's usually easier with a larger child. It also helps to wear the front child slightly higher than usual, especially if the back child is in a soft structured carrier with padded waist (like the Ergo), so there's room for the back child's waist straps. This also means I can take the back child off without having to take off the front child - very useful when the front child is a sleeping baby and the back child is an active toddler.

When putting a small child on my back in a mei tai with another child already on my front, I find it easier to tie the waist straps, sit the child on the mei tai body on the couch, then bring the shoulder straps up around the child. It means I don't have to manoeuvre the hip scoot with a child already on my front, and I'm not comfortable with the Superman method (throwing them over your shoulder like putting on a cape) with a small child.

I've tried one on back in the Ergo and one on front in a pouch or ring sling, and it really drags on the shoulders. Best to keep the weight even by using two shouldered carriers on front AND back. An Ergo on back and mei tai on front, or two mei tais, is easiest. When carrying two newborns, you can even up the weight by using two ring slings or pouches - one on each shoulder.

If you have newborn twins, a stretchy wrap (like Hug-A-Bub) or long woven wrap (like Bundleboo) might be easiest. There's lots of advice on carrying newborn twins in one wrap at the Mamatoto website.