I’m a sucker for a good life hack. Discover a trick to organizing shoes (to make more room for me to buy more)? I’m all ears. Uncover a ground-breaking way to make the laundry process more efficient? Lay it on me. Have a clever technique to fold the tortilla with all its contents perfectly? Let me hear it (ps–I tried it, it works).

Ya know what’s like winning the lottery though: hacks for kids. Really, anything to make parents’ lives easier is a win in my book. But, finding ones that are twin-specific is like hitting the jackpot.

In the spirit of sharing–sharing is caring after all–here are the biggest hacks that have worked for us…so far…2.5 years in.

Two Beds, One Room

Jack and Nick have slept in the same room since they were born. Literally. We were lucky to score a double room in the NICU, and they’ve been rooming together ever since.

Logistically, this just makes sense, especially when they’re babies–you go in to check on one, and you can just peek on the other, too. Plus, you only have to buy one monitor!

After rooming together in the NICU, and then in bassinets in our bedroom, the transition to their cribs seemed relatively smooth. They were already accustomed to each other’s noises, too. I’d venture to say 90% of the time, they sleep through one another’s cries (which is basically like 100%). Plus, as an anxiety-ridden new mom, it was comforting to know they each had their bestie just one crib over.

Now that they’ve been roomies for almost 3 years, they don’t like to go to bed unless their PIC (partner-in-crime) is heading up too. Who knows what they’ll decide to do when they get older, but for the time being, they’re #roomies4lyfe.

Two Babies, One Schedule

This one is just for your sanity, my friends. Keep them on the same schedule. Trust me. Your day will still teeter on the edge of a shit show, but you’ll at least have a (sometimes small) chunk of time when you’re not holding a bottle or wiping someone’s butt. If you’re flying solo for feedings, either feed them at the same time or one right after the other.

Keep this mindset for the night feedings too.

I’m inwardly panicking just thinking about when one wants to nap but the other doesn’t. Then what do I do? How do I live without them being on the same schedule? Is it possible for me, or am I too far gone at this point? I guess we’ll see.

You Get a Color! You Get a Color!

Jack is blue and Nick is green…for almost everything–water bottles, utensils, toothbrushes, and coats. They know their color too. So if you’re not aware, they’ll be sure to let you know.

Once my father-in-law tried to put Nick’s green coat on Jack, and Jack emphatically stated “No, that Nonnie’s coat!” He could not wrap his mind around putting his arm in a green coat.

Assigned colors eliminates (generally speaking) meltdowns over who wants what plate/fork/spoon, makes getting dressed easier (as easy as it can be with toddlers), and helps keep water bottles and toothbrushes with their rightful owner.

Double Up and You’ll Double the Fun

This one may be a personal preference. As in, do you prefer to constantly break up fights or set timers? If so, this tip is not for you. If not, buy two of basically everything. I know you want a variety, but sometimes it’s just not worth the tantrums because they haven’t totally subscribed to “sharing is caring.”

Don’t panic, though. Here’s how you can provide a little variety, at least with boys:

-two of the same style of monster truck, but in different characters (do they call the people [ie Grave Digger or Megalodon] on monster trucks characters? Probably not. Omg why do I know their names–who am I??)

-the same TRex, but in slightly different shades of green, or ever so subtle differences in stripes

You get the drift…the same, but just a little different. But not so different that it constantly prompts a fight. Just different enough to keep everything fresh. When in doubt though, just double up.

So, these hacks aren’t as mind blowing as the tortilla trend on TikTok, but they work. And they’re practical.

And if you really do have a hack to organize shoes in such a way that makes more room so I can buy more, and Ryan won’t notice…send it my way.