Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

I really really want to BF my twins, but right now the task seems so daunting. I nursed my DS until he was almost 13 months. He is now 2.5 and I feel like that added dimension is going to make it 100x harder. I want to go into this prepared, so if you could share any tips that would be great!!!

Did you nurse them both at the same time or one right after the other?

What nursing pillow did you use? I have 2 boppies that I used when I nursed my DS. How is the My Brest Friend double pillow?

Did you pump and bottle feed at all? Did that make it easier?

I'm sure there are questions that I've forgotten to include, so if you could think of anything else, please share!

Thank you so much!!!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

I did a whole bunch of things! Bf them alone, bf them together, bf one and gave the other pumped milk.

I only did it for 6 months.
IMO the double breastfriend pillow is a must to feed them together. It is very big though. I couldn't fit in the glider with it and I couldn't fit through a doorway with it on.

In the beginning I would bf them separate and since they were in the Nicu I would give them pumped milk after (as per the nurses request). This got me started on pumping after every feeding which I don't recommend...way to time consuming!

Once they latched better (dd was tinge tied) then I started feeding them together which made the process much faster.

I always supplemented their last bottle of the night with formula and pumped while dh fed them and used the milk for the next day if I needed to go out etc.

What made it difficult for me is I didn't feel comfortable bfing them together in public and I didn't see the point in going somewhere to just sit and bf them the whole time. That's just me though.

I wound up stopping because they were huge pukers. No reflux just happy spitters. I was constantly covered in spit up (I mean like change my shirt/ pants/ underwear 4 or 5 times a day). I though formula would maybe help.

If you have any questions I will gladly answer but I am def no expert!

Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

brestfriend double is a must

I had an almost 2 year old when my twins were born. I tried excusively nursing but I could not and my twins went back to the hospital for jaundice. So I started supplementing

For a while I did nurse one - bottle for other. But then I learned it was easier to nurse both together and bottle feed together at the same time - so I did every other feeding

I only pumped when I was at work - I never pumped just to give a bottle

you do what works for you but it is possible even with an older child around. the brest friend has pockets- so I would have toy or treat for my son, my phone and the remote always close by

Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

I nursed separately and I pumped. At around 6 months they stopped nursing and I pumped exclusively. I am SAHM and my DD turned 2 when I gave birth to the twins. If I breastfed my twins exclusively I felt like there was no time for her that's why I chose to pump also.

Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Just fyi - I wasn't able to breast feed so I have the double Brest friend pillow never taken out of package. If you're interested in it, send me fm. I don't think I can return it. I'll double check & if not, will give to you for a good price! I'm in SW Nassau.

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Thanks for all the feedback!!

I will absolutely pick up the MBF double since you all recommend it. I know how time consuming BF one newborn is, and the time away from my son is what's on my mind. I really want to try nursing them both at the same time... I feel like that will save time. Hopefully this works for me! I'm also willing to pump, but I feel like that would be even more time consuming between pumping, feeding, washing bottles, etc. As I get closer and closer to their birth, all the logistics of everything are really starting to feel real and I'm not sure how I'm going to do this!!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

I BF'd mine for 13+ months.

I actually HATED the MBF pillow. I personally preferred to nurse them separately. I wasn't a fan of doing it at the same time, plus they both became very efficient nursers and I could nurse both in the same time (sometimes less!) than it took me to nurse my oldest. I always let my oldest come on the bed/couch and snuggle with me, watch tv, read books, do puzzles, etc. so he didn't feel too left out.

I went back to work when they were 11 weeks so I had to pump 3x/day while I was at work. If I was a SAHM, I don't think I would have pumped at all.

In the beginning it can be a bit daunting, but mine got on a great schedule and kept it for a long time so it really was pretty easy!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

I BF for about 5 or 6 months. My twins were in the NICU for 30 days so i feel that it caused a little issue with actual BFing, so I mostly pumped and gave bottles. DD would not take to the breast at all. Maybe a few times but most of the time she'd rather of had a bottle. DS would breast feed though. The twin my breast friend is a MUST if you want to feed them at the same time. Like i said, DD only BF'd a few times and when she did I had them both on at the same time. I had to sit on the floor though with the my breast friend. When it was just DS feeding i used a regular boppy. When i was feedin DS, i would set DD up in her boppy next to me and prop the bottle while DS was feeding or i would hold her bottle for her while DS was feeding. It was definitely rough with the both of them. I felt like i was constantly pumping or nursing. But i knew it was the best thing for them so i kept doing it. After 6 months it got to be too much while working full time and pumping at work. You just have to find something that works for you. It'll take some time to get into a routine. good luck

Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Hi,

My name is Rebecca Kammerer. I am a parent coach. I offer a class in Breastfeeding Twins. It's important to have your partner join the class as it will take a team to get through the first few months of sleep deprivation that is inevitable with newborn twins. We cover everything that it will take to succeed in breastfeeding your twins.

For anyone on L.I. Families I will offer this class at $90 off, if you book before June 12th, 2013.

Check out our site...

http://www.parentsrtalking.com/Breastfeeding-Twins-Workshop.html

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

It's so great to hear all of your experiences. Thank you, this is so helpful!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

I breastfed my twins for 10 months. My girls were born at 4.5 and 5.5 and I have very large breasts. They were born at 35w6d and I had to pump for the first couple of months. I think twins definitely should be BF if possible and it is worth the time and sacrifice to do it as long as you can. It is probably a little bit more time consuming than formula but all those benefits are there, not having to warm and clean bottles, pay a ton of money for formula yadda yadda. I think with twins it is even more important because they are typically born smaller and earlier they really need the antibodies.

For me it was very hard to get them to latch, it took almost 2 months but I kept at it. I think the burping took more out of me than the time it took to breast feed. It was so hard to burp them! LOL

For me I always supplemented with formula because I couldn't make enough to satisfy one of my girls and I never had any to store. I couldn't get ahead. Mostly i nursed one at a time and I always used regular (standard sized) pillows. My tempurpedic pillows were my pillow of choice. I had a breast friend pillow but didn't like it at all. I had one of the upholstered chairs (try to get a nice big chair with thick arms) and would wedge the pillow under me and a little on the arm. The biggest problem is how to get the second baby set up and hold on to the first baby. So I did nurse one at a time most of the time. I nursed a lot on my couch or in my bed as well. If I was tandem nursing I preferred to be in my bed with pillows under each arm. Then you can grab the second baby easier.

Don't feel bad if you need to supplement. Just basic survival with all the sleep deprivation is more important LOL

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

i did a few different things too....

first i always supplemented with formula due to their weight loss while in the hospital and then my supply seemed to take forever to come in.

i BF separately until they were both good at latching on then i BF at the same time. I did that until they got too long for me to easily hold them in place! I have some long babies
I went back to one at a time and i find i like it that way better. Its like our one on one time. I used bobby pillows...those were in constant use for everything the first few months!

When i went back to work i started pumping twice a day. i would use the pumped milk to send to the babysitter's along with formula. While at home they only breastfeed.

Now at 6 months i am still BF but i'm only pumping once a day because of how busy i am at work.

it definitely takes commitment to BF twins but it can be done!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Ahh- we are one and the same! I nursed my older son for 14 months and then had my twins when he was 2.5 years old. So I have been through it- please let me know if you have any questions when your going through it.

I am going on 10 months nursing my twins- I hoped we could make it to a year but never really thought that would happen. I've been through latch issues, low weight gain, gas issues, nusring strikes, bottle strikes, you name it!

Here's what I did:
- In the beginning, I nursed them every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 at night.
- I nursed them both at the same time using the breast friend pillow- BEST thing ever! I still use it every morning to tandem nurse them and my chubba 22 lbs boys actually still fit! I stopped using it for every feeding though @ 6 months
- I started out exclusively nursing and pumped 3 times a day to get a good supply going. I had ALOT of milk pumped. But my little guy did not gain any weight the 1st 3 weeks, so I had to start giving bottles of pumped BM after almost every feeding. I really did not want to do this because I knew my supply would take a hit and I would eventually run out of pumped milk. This all happened- I did have to start giving formula supplements, but not for a few months thankfully.
- When I was home alone I would lock down the house- lock all doors, make sure the stair gate was closed, tied up the fridge and freezer and sit down to nurse both twins while my son hopefully watched a show. This was the hardest- yelling at my son to stop something while not trying to mess with my nursing session haha, but we got through it
- eventually I only had to supplement the day time feedings
- I still pump every night after they go to bed

My biggest advice is to just go with the flow- figure out what works and go with it. I really wanted them to have all BM but once I introduced formula and they started gaining like mad I was so much happier. They have always gotten 70-80% of the milk from BM, so I felt really good about that. And its every changing- at 8 months I could no longer nurse them during the day bc they were so distracted- so I started pumping for those feedings and have been nursing just morning and night since then. They tandem nurse in the morning and I individually nurse them to bed every night- I LOVE this time with them individually each night.

I also work FT and pump at work. I still get @ 20 oz. a day pumping at work so I'm just going to keep going now till a year. I can't believe I made it this far.

Good luck- it is sooooo hard in the beginning, but by 8-10 weeks and then again at 4 months it all gets sooo much better!!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Oh and this video taught me everything I needed to know about tandem nursing- if it wasn't for this chic I don't think I would have been able to do it!

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

In the beginning I used to nurse them separately. DS wasn't good at it and was a lot of work to get him to latch. DD got it right from the start. Once they both got the hang of it, I tried tandem nursing. At first it was a challenge to get the second baby on the pillow once the first was on, and I'd have to have DH hand me a baby. But after awhile I was able to get them both on and latched. It was the best thing ever, cut the nursing time in half, I felt like a new woman! We were able to go out because it wouldn't be time to feed the next one a half an hour after the first was finished.
When they got a little older and were faster, around 6 months or so, I would do them separately sometimes too, especially if we were out. I breastfed until they self-weaned, at 15 months.
The twin pillow is definitely a must.

Re: Breastfeeding Twins - Please share your tips.

By the time my twins were born I had already EBFd DS for 15 months.

Initially my girls were Bfing champs. I would let the nursery keep them in the middle of the night for a feeding of formula so I could get a little extra rest. Plus, I was in a bit of pain from the incision and had a really hard time getting up and out of bed to get them in and out of their bassinets.

When we came home I moved to EBF. Both girls were born tiny but Katelyn was the smaller one at just 4lbs8oz when discharged. Her mouth was so little she was having a very hard time latching. For the middle of the night feedings I gave her bottles of pumped BM.

My biggest advice to new BFing moms is always try to stay ahead of their hunger. In the beginning nurse them every hour and a half instead of waiting for them to show hunger signs. If you get to them ahead of the hunger pains they are more likely to have patience while trying to latch.

By 8 weeks in both girls were nursing champs. I would tandem nurse whenever we were home and while we were out and about I'd nurse them individually.

By 4 months old we were on a solid nursing schedule (including the girls STTN).

I may not have answered all of your questions, but feel free to FM me any concerns or questions you may have.

I wound up nursing the girls a little past their 1st birthday. I would have done 15 months like I did with DS only DH and I were going away and I wanted to wean them before we left so my parents would have an easier time.