A mom of twins has recalled the highs and lows of living with two newborn babies in a one-bedroom San Francisco apartment.
Allie Sweeney took to TikTok, posting under the handle @allieandthegalz, to give a tour of the apartment that twin daughters Emma and Savannah lived in when they were first born. Sweeney and her husband lived in a cozy apartment in the iconic Fontana Towers over Aquatic Park and were happy to stay there, even after Sweeney found out they were expecting.
She told Newsweek: “We always joked we could maybe fit one baby in it [the apartment]. So, when we found out I was pregnant and it was twins in April 2024, it was a little shocking, but we decided to stay since we loved the place so much.”
Living in crowded or cramped conditions can impact parents and children alike negatively. A 2012 study published in the journal Social Science Research found children in crowded homes showed higher rates of depression and lower academic performance while parents experienced greater stress and reduced sleep.
Sweeney always knew them all living together in a one-bedroom apartment would be a temporary situation. They just needed to get to grips with the basics of being new parents, get their kids mobile, and then they would find a new place.
In the meantime, it was about making the best of what the family had: a happy, loving, if slightly cramped, home. The first challenge was making it slightly less cramped. It wasn’t easy. “Trying to become minimalists while bringing two humans into our home was wild,” Sweeney said. “We had to be super-intentional with everything we bought or put on the registry, only getting what we needed for that week and that stage of baby because we had nowhere to put anything.”
Buying diapers in bulk, for example, was “not an option,” according to Sweeney, despite the fact they were easily getting through anywhere up to 20 a day. “We had to focus on what they needed developmentally month by month and couldn’t jump to the next phase,” Sweeney said. Noise and light were both avoided as much as possible when the twins were sleeping. “We were always on edge about waking them up, doing half of our life in the dark since our space was their space,” she added.
Despite the challenges posed, Sweeney believes living in this kind of space is “definitely doable” with young infants and, if anything, encouraged her to spend more time outside. “We had just enough clothes, blankets, and toys. We spent more of the time outside of the apartment which was intentional,” she said. “I loved being on maternity leave in a city and showing my babies city life since I knew it wasn’t forever. We could walk out our door and have the beach, parks, shops and restaurants within five minutes.”
Looking back now, Sweeney can definitely see the pros and cons of their setup. Having everything “close and convenient” was one definite plus-point for her. “My walk from our bedroom to the fridge to grab their milk bottles took about one second,” she said. “My clothes, their clothes, diapers, milk all in the same room was extremely convenient. I could always see them—knowing they were safe, happy, and right there with me all the time.”
There were obviously downsides, though, not least when it came to “seeing the mess” that enveloped their lives during that time. “There was no escaping it,” Sweeney said. “I couldn’t let laundry or bottles pile up because it was right in front of us at all times, no matter where we were in the tiny apartment.”
Ultimately, however, she always knew a move away from the situation was on the horizon. When Emma and Savannah were 7 months old, the family upped sticks and moved out to the San Francisco suburbs. “We’re now in a two-bedroom house, which is double the square footage,” she said. “Their room alone feels like the size of our entire old apartment!”
Though she was sad to leave the city, Sweeney believes it was the right thing to do. She has no regrets about the months they spent living together in that apartment, though. “I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said.
