BF twins

lwatkins12

I had my twin boys 17 days ago and had planned to mostly pump. I never thought I'd be able to manage tandem feeding. BF my oldest DS was really stressful so I thought twins would send me over the edge. I'm happy to say that I started tandem feeding my first night in the hospital using 2 pillows. I bought the Twin Z pillow for nursing and I must say this is my favorite and most used item. I can nurse them both and still have hands free. My DH has taken 6 weeks off of work d my DS is now 19 so I don't have the challenges that a lot of MoMs have. I've had a long and very painful recovery from the c section and developed a seroma which requires packing twice a day and I'll be getting a wound pack today to wear 24/7 til it heals. In all of this I've still been able to BF. I do give them a bottle of formula once a night so I can get an extra hour or so of sleep. Just wanted to encourage you all to not give up on BF. I'm setting small goals like do it for 3 months or 6 months.

Stephanie2167

Thank you for posting this. I nursed DD for 7 months and when I found out I was pregnant again my goal was to go to a year. Then we found out it was twins. On the way out of the ultrasound the first thing I said to DH was "Well there goes my nursing plan." I'm going to do everything in my power to still try but I'm more nervous about it then I was the first time.

Great job!

carrotcake06

Tandem nursing for the first time was one of the best feelings ever. I even made H take a picture! I nursed my oldest for 20mo and it all came flooding back the moment I got them to latch.

BFing twins is hard work and I've definitely had my rough days, but at the end I really do love it. My goal is a year and then we'll go from there.

JodiAriel

My girls are a year old today and have never had a drop of formula.  I actually didn't start tandem feeding until they were like 7-8 mos old but now mostly feed tandem.  I pump twice a day so I have a stash when I am not around and so they can get a bottle of BM at bedtime so others can help with bedtime.  I now donate my excess milk to another set of twins.

jocie2581

I'm tandem feeding my 5 weeks old twins.  However, I can't do it alone.  I need a second person to help with burping..  I haven't figured out how I burp one while the other is still nursing.  Does anyone have advice?  A You-Tube link? I am so lucky to have my parents here to help with nursing while DH is at work.

SWA80

Jocie, are you using a twin nursing pillow? I use the Brest Friend and just leave one on while burping the other. It is nice to have another set of hands but doable without.

carrotcake06

SWA80 said:

Jocie, are you using a twin nursing pillow? I use the Brest Friend and just leave one on while burping the other. It is nice to have another set of hands but doable without.

When they were super teeny, this is how I did it. I could pull one up to "sitting" and burp him while his brother kept eating.

These days they're bigger and don't need to burp in the middle of a feeding anymore. When they finish, I pull them up and lean them against my chest and dual-burp.

The one thing I still haven't gotten the hang of is getting them both off of me when they're asleep and move them to their RNPs while staying asleep. I dreamfeed around 1030p and I need help with that.

jocie2581

carrotcake06 said:

SWA80 said:

Jocie, are you using a twin nursing pillow? I use the Brest Friend and just leave one on while burping the other. It is nice to have another set of hands but doable without.

When they were super teeny, this is how I did it. I could pull one up to "sitting" and burp him while his brother kept eating.

These days they're bigger and don't need to burp in the middle of a feeding anymore. When they finish, I pull them up and lean them against my chest and dual-burp.

The one thing I still haven't gotten the hang of is getting them both off of me when they're asleep and move them to their RNPs while staying asleep. I dreamfeed around 1030p and I need help with that.

Thanks for the advice.

I am using the twin z pillow. When I try burping one the other often loses his latch. Or I worry about him falling off the pillow.

Maybe I need to get more confident. And make a few mistakes before the three of us get the hang of it.

I was pretty discouraged when I did a google video search and most of the videos were about tandem bottle feeding.

bumpuser924057

I BF my twins and I do NOT tandem feed.  The logistics of two small babies + big floppy boobs just didn't work well for tandem.  I do one at a time and it works out fine, even if you do have to listen to more crying sometimes .  

ballygirl

Ugh- I am in the opposite position. I did tandem feed at the hospital but then my milk took a really long time to come in. We didn't realize it until the girls destroyed my nipples looking for milk that wasn't there. Everything is healed now and my milk is in but I don't know how long I'll last with bfing.

The girls are 3 weeks old. Right now I pump a lot and supplement at night but do try to get them on the breast at least once or twice a day. My nipples are too sore to do more than that and they don't seem to take very much. When I bottle feed, they'll take 3-4 oz and sleep 3 - 4 hours but when I bf, they want it every hour. I just can't keep up! I really wanted to make it 3 months with bfing but at this rate I'm not sure I'll make it. I feel like I'm really failing at it.

KatieGummow

Thank you for posting this.  I really would love to BF vs formula, and this makes me feel much better for 20 weeks down the road.  Congratulations!

24karat

I almost posted a similar thing two days ago...my boys are now 3.5 months old and I finally managed to get them tandem feeding! We had done it a few times early on, but C has major latching issues that had made it difficult for me to feed both at the same time. Also, I have a My Brest Friend twins pillow and it's the best thing. Ever.

Dragonfly1226

jocie2581 said:

I'm tandem feeding my 5 weeks old twins.  However, I can't do it alone.  I need a second person to help with burping..  I haven't figured out how I burp one while the other is still nursing.  Does anyone have advice?  A You-Tube link? I am so lucky to have my parents here to help with nursing while DH is at work.

I use the breast friend twin nursing pillow. I would just have the one who is done nursing wait to burp. When they were both done I would put them on the Boppies on either side if me and burp one at a time.

lwatkins12

I delivered at 38 weeks exactly and both left the hospital at 5lb3oz. They're now 6lb6oz & 6lb7oz. I can still lay them against my chest to lay them down together in their crib or pack n play. When I need to burp one, I just carefully place one against my chest to burp him. Sometime the other one loses his latch but usually gets right back on. It's definitely a challenge. Mine are sometimes snackers so I end up feeding 14 times a day. I told my DH today that this is why so many women don't breastfeed. Oh and Motherlove nipple cream at Whole Foods is amazing & heals really fast.

lwatkins12

I'm a 36DDD or maybe a little larger. I thought having large breasts would make it impossible but honestly this Twin Z pillow keeps them at the perfect height so that I don't have to use my hand to keep my breasts off their faces.

Stephanie2167

For those of you who feed one at a time, does your other boob leak while one baby is nursing on the other side?

Does one baby have one side and the other have the other? Or do you alternate each day?

24karat

Stephanie2167 said:

For those of you who feed one at a time, does your other boob leak while one baby is nursing on the other side?

Does one baby have one side and the other have the other? Or do you alternate each day?

Yes, especially at let down. Something that has worked well for me is to have a baby nurse one side and pump the other at the same time. DH likes being able to feed the boys (DD was EBF and hated bottles, so he feels like he missed out helping with her) and this way we each get one-on-one feeding time with the babies.

I try to alternate sides at each feeding. Both boys do have a "favorite" side that they latch better onto though...thankfully not the same one!

bumpuser924057

Stephanie2167 said:

For those of you who feed one at a time, does your other boob leak while one baby is nursing on the other side?

Does one baby have one side and the other have the other? Or do you alternate each day?

I only leak from the other side sometimes, mostly in the morning when everything's really full.  Most of the time it isn't an issue.  I do have to make sure they each get time on different sides throughout the day because my left boob produces waaaaay less than my right so the baby who gets that side doesn't get as much and is usually hungry sooner.  I don't keep track anymore, I just try to remember who was there last and switch.