How to Survive a Well Baby Checkup with Twins

Just like singleton babies, your twins’ pediatrician will want to see your twins on a regular schedule over the several months after birth.

These visits usually involve some vaccinations and checkups on the child’s physical and mental development.

How do you survive a well baby checkup with twins? It’s simple: have two adults go with the twins. Preferably this would be you and your wife but if you can’t go, then an extra pair of hands needs to be ready to fill in.

At our last visit to the doctor, I was late getting away from work and when I arrived at the office, my wife was alone in the exam room, holding both of our daughters on her lap, with both of them stripped down to diapers.

If you think a nurse or the doctor will be able to assist you with the twins during the entire well baby checkup, think again. You’ll spend a surprising amount of time alone with the kids or maneuvering them while the nurse readies a shot or the doctor writes some notes in the medical record.

So be prepared: be sure you have one adult per twin.

This enables you to:

• not have to worry about the other twin while you wrangle the one in your arms
• soothe and comfort the distraught baby that just got a shot
• get the babies undressed and dressed quickly
• distract a baby as needed while the sibling is evaluated by the doctor
• keep a baby warm (it seems doctor’s offices are always cold)

Bottom Line: Don’t go alone to a well-baby checkup with twins and please, don’t make your wife go alone.

Bonus: Many times when I’ve gone to a well baby check-up, I’ve thought of questions to ask the doctor that I hadn’t mentioned to my wife beforehand. So if you go, not only do you get your questions answered, but you both get an update on your twins at the same time.