Double the Dirty: Managing the Mess of Twins

Last updated on October 31st, 2023 at 10:02 pm

Twins are definitely double the love, but they are also double the dirty. I used to consider myself a fairly neat, tidy person. Then, I had twins. Managing the mess of twins is a lot of work. Yesterday alone, I washed 18 bottles, did 3 loads of laundry, and changed about 16 diapers. For those keeping track, I clean approximately 84 bottles, change 112 diapers, and wash 8 loads of laundry a week. My twins are exclusively formula fed now, along with solids and all the utensils that entails, so we have more bottles than a family who is breastfeeding. However, even you breastfeeding moms have pumps & pieces to clean, so it really is about the same. There is almost always a laundry list (pun intended) of things that need to be cleaned when you have 2 infants around, and that doesn’t even include the messes we parents make. For someone like myself who is a stay-at-home mom with no hired help, here are some tips I have found helpful for managing the mess of twins.

Make It Fun

Now that my twins are six months old and in more of a routine, I am able to plan a little better and carve out time to keep things clean. Every morning after I give the boys their breakfast, they are usually in a great mood. I am able to set them up in bouncy chairs or on activity mats to play for a bit (usually where they can watch me) while I spend 15 minutes or so cleaning all the bottles from the night before so we are starting the day fresh. I always like to put on some fun music and dance and sing around the kitchen (much to the delight of the babies) while I’m cleaning. I decided to turn that time into a small dance party, and it makes the process go by much quicker.

Involve Your Babies

When we’re not having a dance party during a cleaning session, I talk to my boys about what I’m doing. I try to narrate everything to help their vocabulary and keep them entertained. Hopefully, this will subconsciously brainwash them into thinking cleaning is fun when they are bigger. (A girl can dream…)

Let Some Things Go

As a self-proclaimed perfectionist, it was really difficult for me at first to let go of certain aspects of housekeeping, but it quickly became clear that was the only way to maintain some resemblance of sanity. If by some miracle I get both twins to nap at the same time, do you really think I am going to use that time to dust? Nope. Sleep or eating always wins. I didn’t have many visitors at first since my babies were born in flu season and I was a paranoid new mom. I knew no one other than my parents, in-laws, and closest friends would see my messy house, and that they would understand. After that period, I was just too tired to care. As long as my house is clean enough to keep us all healthy and be somewhat presentable, that will have to be good enough for now.

Do a Little at a Time

When the babies are in a good mood and entertained by toys, bouncy chairs, etc. I try to take a few minutes to do little cleaning tasks as quickly as possible. Whether that’s throwing in a load of laundry, wiping down toys, cleaning bottles (always necessary), or other similar little things, at least I feel like I can chip away at the mess whenever possible. This keeps things from getting out of hand. Occasionally, I can set the boys up on a blanket for tummy time or some other safe contraption if I need to do a big task, but I try to only do those when my husband is home. Or, ya know, they’ll get done when the kids are 10.

Remember It’s Only Temporary

While I’m pretty sure a messy(ish) house is a given with two boys, no matter what age they are, I keep telling myself it will get better. Once they are bigger, maybe I can even trick them into helping me clean, just like Mary Poppins. Right now, while they are still so little, and need me for literally everything, some things just have to be put on hold. If a messy house is the worst thing we have to deal with, we are very blessed.

The moral of the story is that it’s far more important to care for / love on / make memories with our babies than to keep a spotless house. As long as everything is a healthy level of clean, I have to remind myself that no one expects my house to look like a showroom. I have two pretty awesome excuses for the mess. Managing the mess of twins takes a lot of hard work and time. If anyone does care, I will gladly hand them a Swiffer and allow them to bring their vision of my perfectly clean house to life.  

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