BFing Twins and dealing with toddler

lynnyrd80

I have a question for those ladies who are BFing twins and have older kids too.  I'm currently having a decent amount of success BF'ing my twins with a little bit of supplementation.  It's sort of surprising to me because I really struggled with all sorts of issues with DS.  I just have a lot of help right now with my mom here for the summer and my DH having a good amount of time off of work.  I'm just worried that it is going to be really difficult when my help leaves and my DH starts traveling for work again.  For those of you that have BF twins and have a toddler, how did you do it?  What did you do with your toddler, especially a young toddler?  Do you mostly tandem?  When does tandem feeding get easier to do by yourself?  Any other insight?  I just want to be realistic in my expectations and keep my sanity at the same time.  

MrsP419

Following!  I am tandem feeding my twins and have a 2 yo and 4 yo.

bumpuser924057

My older kiddo watched a positively insane amount of TV for the first 4-5 months, and we put him in preschool two full days a week to help him get some activity and interaction. I very seldom tandem feed my kids - there was a small stretch of time where I could do it comfortably, and then they got mobile and it was impossible again, and now that they can sit up in my lap I will do it if they're both cranky.

jeephappygirl

I had issues getting them to latch so I EP but was still hard with a 2.5 yr old DD. Before I sit to pump, I set her up with snacks or activities. TV too. Now at 8 mo, she knows how it is going to be.

carrotcake06

My oldest stayed in FT daycare, so I didn't have to do it often but I would set him up w an iPad before tandem feeding the babies. When everyone got a little older, I could just leave him w an activity and know the house wouldn't come down during the 10-15min a feeding took.

The iPad was heavily overused in the early months. But it's not forever and it does get easier. This shit is hard and do what you gotta do to make it through the tough months. It does get easier.

basil2

Tandem feeding does get a lot easier. It's nice to have help moving them on/off but I can now move them to/from the sofa and then position each on a pillow by myself.
Having an older child makes it much more difficult. No specific advice (DH and I are both still home) but I'm not sure bottle feeding would make it much easier (I'm imagining trying to chase DS around the backyard and feed 2 babies their bottles at the same time- it doesn't seem like it would go well).

whitehousem

We only made it 6weeks BFing/pumping (for various reasons) but I had a special basket I made for DD that only came out during feeding time. Or id set her up in her high chair with crayons and paper... Then I knew she couldn't go anywhere. If I was pumping id use I hands free bra and I could color with her while I pumped.