Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

BFing one baby was hard enough for me. How will I manage 2? Did you always BF them at the same time?

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

I tried, but it was nearly impossible for me. But you should FM Jenna and Lauren(cjmommy and Sweetooth) They both did tandem nursing I believe. I am lame and ended up pumping. My babies were preemies and I couldn't stand the stress because the Dr's make you so crazy about their weight-I just wanted to be sure I knew how much they were getting. If your babies do end up in NICU and you want to nurse make sure you ask for a pump and pump at least every 3 hrs around the clock while you are in the hospital

Def get the EZ to Nurse Pillow-its for tandem nursing and it works great

Message edited 5/24/2010 3:04:39 PM.

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

A friend of mine was just telling me that she did tandem feed until they got too big and then she had to feed one at a time. I am going to get a twins nursing pillow and give it a shot...I hope I can do it!
I am really nervous about it too and can see myself giving up and pumping!

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

At first, I nursed them one at a time. Once they got the hang of it, I tandem nursed, which saved SO much time!! Plus, they would both fall asleep at the same time after nursing!
When they got older- around 8 months or so, I went back to one at a time. They would literally nurse for 5 minutes and be done.

If you are going try tandem nursing, you must, must, must, get a nursing pillow. I used the E-Z to nurse pillow. If I can find it, you can have it, if you want it.
It puts both babies right where they need to be.

I'll admit, it does take a while to learn how to get them both to latch at the same time. I needed DH's help at first, but then it became routine.

Let me know if you have any questions!!

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

I pumped for 3 weeks because they had latching issues - but then they were strictly EBF after that. I was really determined to nurse and although it was a JOB full time I did it for a year. I truly feel I had such a great supply because they were never given bottles or supplemented. I used the ez to nurse pillow and would nurse them together at night only. During the day I'd just nurse on demand one after another, it was lot in the beginning but after a little while I was out and about nursing both of them, and it wasn't hard at all.

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

Thanks girls! I am not against pumping or supplementing with formula if I have to... I had a hard enough time BFing one baby... how will I do 2 and take care of a toddler? I am going to give it my best shot, thanks for the advice. Lauren, if you find the pillow let me know. If not, where did you get it?

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

Like you, I didnt succeed with my 1st. I felt I gave up too quickly...didnt know any btr.

This time I want to try and I figured that I would feed one, have DH feed other w/Formula and then next feeding would be other baby to be nursed and the other supplement w/formula.

Its a start and also a way of them getting some and I will take it from there.

All we can do is try!

Message edited 5/25/2010 9:41:10 AM.

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

i dont think ill be able to BF both either. DS was born tongue-tied so he wasnt able to latch on until we corrected it (@ 3 wks), so i started pumping right away. i ended up alternating btwn breast milk and formula for each feeding. im hoping these babies will transition easily btwn BM and formula also bc i cannot imagine producing enough milk for 2

Re: Any advice for breastfeeding twins?

I had a very hard time and I got really frustrated. I decided to pump exclusively. They are almost 8 months and I am still pumping away! They do get formula as well because I went back to work but I do pump at work.

Good Luck!