Adjust the carrier properly

The Minimonkey twin carrier can be used from birth (±3kg ~ 6.5 lbs) up to 12 kg ~ 26.5 lbs (per baby). The better you adjust the carrier in line with your body, the more effectively the carrier will support your babies and the lighter the carrier will feel. How long you can actually continue using the carrier will differ per individual. One person will think newborn twins are heavy to carry and someone else can easily carry a couple of large toddlers. One thing which will definitely help to continue for as long as possible is to adjust the carrier properly.

We would recommend paying particular attention to the following when adjusting the carrier:

1. Wear the waistband high (!) just under your breasts (see tip 3).
2. Position the loops on the waistband right below and in line with the baby’s bottom and head (see tip 4).
3. Tighten the shoulder straps on your back. You need to aim for the cross part on your back to be between your shoulder blades and the v on the front to be as far up as feels comfortable. Baby’s heads should be resting on the upper part of your chest. Baby’s heads should be close enough to kiss
4. Make sure the two small clips on the front of the carrier are hanging at armpit height. When you close and tighten the clips on the front, the top edges of the pockets level with the wearer’s armpits. The top edge is now horizontal and the neck/head will be well supported.
   

Wear the waist band high (!)

Wear the waistband high (on your lower ribcage level) and tighten it so the weight is effectively distributed across your entire upper body and your shoulders are not bearing all the weight.

The waistband is often incorrectly referred to as a hip band, which results in people having the tendency to wear it too low. It’s really important to wear this band high around your waist (on your lower ribcage level). The pockets will then hang further over the band, making sure the babies end up in a good M-position, with their knees nice and high and the fabric stretched tightly across their backs. Many users even opt to wear the band just below the breasts, as is shown on this photograph.

Carry the babies upright in the carrier

The two carrying sections of the carrier are secured to the waistband with loops. The babies are intended to be carried upright in the carrier, with the loops, bottom and head all in a straight line.

If the baby’s head tends to ‘fall’ too much towards the armpit, this can be resolved by:
– wearing the small buckles at the front on armpit height (right image)
– tightening the shoulder straps
– wear the waistband high around your waist, just below the breasts
– sliding the loops over the waistband either to the front or to the side. You can slide the loops that attach the pouches to the waistband, across the waistband, making sure the loop is directly below the head and bottom. The perfect position of the loops/pouches depend on the size of the babies and your posture (play around to find it). The loops are secured quite tightly around the strap and they are easiest to move when you are not wearing the carrier.

Use a neck roll

It’s important to make sure the fabric is folded tightly around the back and the head is optimally supported. It’s particularly important to prevent them slumping during those initial months, when the babies are still small and don’t yet have a good sitting balance.

Once you have positioned the baby in the carrier, you can pull the fabric up until this is tight around the back. Then roll up the top edge and only then close the clip. Any fabric which is still ‘loose’ on the sides can be folded away under the middle.

You can also use a neck roll – a small rolled up towel – to create even more support. This can be rolled into the top of the fabric.

Spread the shoulder piece

Your baby will sit higher up and more firmly against you if you spread out the straps across your shoulders and upper arms once the baby is in the carrier (!). This will also ensure the weight is more effectively distributed. Whether or not you like to spread your shoulders will differ per person. So this is simply a matter of trial and error…

You can easily spread out the shoulder strap by pushing the baby up by his bottom a little bit, whilst spreading the fabric across your shoulders at the same time.

The twin can also be used for (temporarily) carrying 1 baby, as shown on the photograph. Always make sure the shoulder piece is properly spread out across your shoulder and upper arm. This will ensure the baby is positioned more firmly against you and the shoulder strap won’t slide towards your neck.

Carry the babies in the M-position

We recommend carrying your baby ergonomically, in the so-called M-position, in order to ensure good development of the hips. This means the bottom is seated in the sling and the upper legs are supported. The bottom hangs lower than the upper legs.

Your baby may end up overstretching if he is not used to being carried in a carrier. This means he would be stretching his legs and back and will therefore ‘hang’ in the carrier, rather than taking on a relaxed ‘seated’ position with his bottom in the fabric. The fabric isn’t nice and tight around the back and bottom, which means the baby isn’t sufficiently supported. Fortunately this is easy to resolve by ensuring the waistband is worn high (see tip 1) and by ‘helping’ the baby a little bit:

• • grab hold of the hollow of the knees and ‘turn’ them upwards towards you until the baby relaxes. You may need to repeat this step a few times before the baby really starts to relax.
  • lift the baby up a little bit and pull the fabric underneath the bottom inwards and towards the hollow of the knees. The upper legs are now completely supported by the fabric and the baby is ‘seated’ in the carrier.

The legs should also be positioned outside of the carrier with a newborn baby. The legs will still be positioned very close together at this stage. The older they are, the more they will be able to spread their legs.

Use the carrier to feed

The Twin carrier can be perfectly used to feed both babies at the same time. You just have to adjust the length of the shoulder straps to lower the babies and position them at the right height.

—–

—–

This image has been shared in the ‘Tandem Babywearing’ group on Facebook.

Adjust shoulder straps

You can adjust the shoulder straps (only mesh version) to 3 different sizes, XS, S and M-XXXL. before use. For the sizes M – XXXL you don’t have to adjust anything, but if you have a smaller size, you can adjust the strap as on the drawing below. What length is most comfortable for you, depends on the size of your babies and your posture. Which size is best for you is something you just have to test.

The shoulder straps should be tightened. You need to aim for the cross part on your back to be between your shoulder blades and the v on the front to be as far up as feels comfortable. Baby’s heads should be resting on the upper part of your chest. Baby’s heads should be close enough to kiss.

Loading order ??

Always load the heavier baby in on the non dominant side first.

Use in cold weather

If you use the twin carrier in cold weather, we advise to dress the babies in snow suits. If it is extremely cold, also wrap a blanket around or use a ‘cape’ like on the picture.