Childcare for Twins: How it Panned Out For Other Twin Families

Getting to the end of parental leave and trying to decide about who to have help watch your infant or toddler twins during the day. Or just needing an extra set of hands to care for your dynamic duo? Thinking about childcare for twins may feel overwhelming, so here’s a quick look at what other twin parents decided on and how it worked out!

One of the more challenging decisions (don’t they all feel challenging though?) you’ll have to make as a twin parent is figuring out a childcare option that feels right for you. 

So if you’re feeling a bit frazzled by this doubly stressful situation, know that you’re not alone! And keep reading for a look at what other twin parents did and how it worked out for them. 

We recently asked our twin parent community:

What was your experience with your initial daycare option for your twins? Did it work out great? Did you have to pivot?

Here’s what twin parents had to say:

We had to pivot…

“Currently going through it. We’ve been on a waitlist since December (twins born in April) and found out last week that the daycare might not have a space for them after all. I go back to work next week and we are touring two new daycares later this week! SMH! Luckily we have lots of help, but we thought we had this all figured out!” — vamirasolo

“My mom is our main support, but got a nanny from 12 months to 15 months. My twins are now 3 years old and I’m considering hiring help again.” — mahinour

“We started out at a nursery 2 days a week but had to pivot to a childminder due to cost (we’re in the UK).” — Lillouwho2

“Had to drop to only 3 days a week because the cost for 5 was more than I ever imagined.” — defranco 

“Pivoted and I quit my job.” — mrs.carriejohnson

“Fail. Daycare for 2 months then quit my job. I was miserable missing them and it was expensive.” — karenmgilbert 

“Not so great. A month in, we had to find a new daycare, but it worked out better. The kids love this one!” — Zaheedavirani

It worked out great!

“Nanny at 4 months till 2 1/2. It was the most economical for us. We had an amazing nanny!” — kylez_vrussel

“Not sure if this counts, but when my twins were 18 months old I started taking them to the gym daycare so that I could get back into the gym. They’re now 25 months old.” — leannaivic

“It [daycare] was a hard no. Found a nanny ASAP!” – ajacks_244

“It worked, but it was mind-boggingly expensive. We poached a caregiver as a nanny.” — robinofspring 

“We hired a nanny. It was for affordable for us and they are thriving!” — orangespoken

“Couldn’t afford two in daycare at once so I stayed home with them!” — sam.campanaro 

“Kindergarten. In Austria it’s free. Till they go to the first school. But we waited as long as possible. Our twins were almost 3 years old before they went. The experience was great!” – PaCo

One twin mom’s childcare for twins saga

We live in the U.S. and unfortunately my school did not offer disability insurance or any sort of paid leave. So our first tough decision was to extend my maternity leave and go with reduced pay. 

This meant that I got to be home with the babies until they were 6 months (since part of the leave was during our summer break from school). Yet, we were definitely in a bit of a financial pinch. 

Then from 7 months through almost 2 years, we ended up qualifying for a homecare nurse since both of our twins came home with feeding tubes and required a great deal of medical care on top of typical newborn care. Once they no longer qualified for that care though by age 2, we had to figure out a new daycare plan. 

At that point in time, paying for full-time daycare for two toddlers didn’t feel like the right option for us. So after only 1 year back in the classroom after having the twins, I left my job as a teacher and became self-employed as a freelance copywriter. 

This meant that I was home with the babies full time and trying to fit in freelance work during nap times and after bedtime (very tiring! but mostly worth it). 

But by the time they were about 28 months, it no longer felt manageable to watch them on my own. Most nights I had little energy left to devote to my fledgling business (which we needed to support some of our family’s bills). So we tried out having a babysitter (who we found through Care.com) come over to help three days a week for a few hours over the summer. That worked out okay, but we wanted the kids to be able to get out of the house more and interact with other toddlers in a more structured setting.

Personally, my journey with this was a little all over the place. I was a high school teacher when I became pregnant with the twins. As the pregnancy progressed, and we developed some complications and then eventually landed ourselves a 3-month NICU stay, I realized we were going to need to be flexible (and creative) when it came to childcare options. 

By the time they turned 2.5, we decided to officially enroll them in part-time daycare three mornings a week at a Montessori daycare. While this still felt like a bit of a stretch, we ended up loving the daycare! (Thank goodness!) Looking back, the journey of twin daycare options was really wonky for us, but I feel like it all worked out in the end. 

Now, our twins are 3.5, and they will be going back to the same daycare Monday through Friday (just in the mornings still). This will give me plenty of time to work on my business in the mornings and then give me all afternoon to hang out with them–win, win!

Final thoughts on childcare for twins 

When it comes to daycare for twins, of course there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Especially since different countries and different states have such varying policies and levels of support for parental leave and child-rearing. 

So here are my biggest two pieces of advice:

• Do your research to consider all your options (including the less-obvious options)
• Be flexible in case your first option doesn’t quite go as expected

Craving more guidance on figuring out childcare for twins? See our goldmine of twin childcare articles and resources below!

• To Stay Home or Work? The Twin Parent Dilemma
• Daycare for Twins: Finding the Best Center for Your Twins
• How Hiring a Nanny Saved Our Sanity and Our Budget
• What’s the Best Childcare Option for Your Twins?
• Childcare Costs for Twins
• The Ups and Downs of Daycare

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