When babies come two at a time the household finances are stretched considerably further than with the birth of a single baby. More than 60% of multiple birth families say they are financially worse off after their babies were born compared with 40% of other parents.*

Double trouble

Initially, the main expense with twins lies with buying double the equipment, but it’s important to remember you don’t always need two of everything, and in many cases you can skip items altogether.

In the very early days the twins can sleep together in one cot and if they have done this in hospital they may be happier sleeping this way. However as soon as they are big enough to roll over they should move to a cot of their own. See our sleep safety rules for twins to find out more.

Items like baby baths aren’t always necessary as the babies can be bathed in a sink when they’re newborns and then the normal bath as they get bigger. And in the early years at least, they can share toys rather than having two of everything.

Prioritise

If you're pregnant with twins and thinking about costs, the key is to think about what you really need, and prioritise. Speak to other mums of twins for advice. Check your local area for twin clubs, or visit Tamba’s message board where you’ll find lots of people selling second-hand equipment or even giving things away. The National Childbirth Trust’s nearly new sales also make good hunting grounds for second hand items.

Childcare costs

If you’re a working mum, the real expense comes when you have to think about childcare, which can be very expensive for two children. Look into all your options as early as possible and carefully work out your household expenses to determine what level of income is required.

The expert view

Professor Stephen McKay from the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham says: “Some things you do need two of which means a greater outlay initially as you can’t hand from one child to another. Where budgeting really gets affected is later because it’s more difficult for a mother to return to work because of the childcare costs. If you plan to get back into the labour force you have to budget for childcare being almost twice as expensive. It’s harder for family and friends to look after two as well, compared with one.

We found that fathers tend to end up working a lot longer hours; the average number of hours worked by fathers of twins is higher than those without as they tend to work more overtime. In practice you need the father around to help more but mothers find it harder to get back to work so fathers end up working longer.

“Where families have savings they are more likely to use them up with twins rather than a proportion of them. Most twins, just over 50%, are born to families that already have one child.”

A mum's view

Nancy Smith, mother of twins Joseph and Eva, says: “We looked ahead at the mortgage and worked out how long my husband, Andy, could pay the entire mortgage on his own but as he is self-employed we couldn’t be sure. So I knew that I’d be going back but I didn’t want to go back before nine months as I wanted time with the two of them.

“I went back part-time after nine months. My mum is retired and she could look after the kids; she wanted to do that and she’s a pretty exceptional mum because she moved to be nearer to me. Coming from the Caribbean she came over in the 60s with no family near and she was determined it wouldn’t be like that for us. In terms of budgeting that was a huge help and because Andy is self-employed that offered a lot of childcare flexibility too. I had to make a case for working for three days and luckily I work in a fairly female-orientated environment and they were willing.”

* According to a study by Professor Stephen McKay from The University of Birmingham and supported by Tamba.