Find time to BF twins?

mlkwmu

Curious as to how you found the time to BF twins.  DS feeds 40 min at times, and DD feeds 30 min.  If they feed every 2 hours, there's little down time.  Starting next week, I will be on my own and just don't see how I could continue at the same pace.  I've had a hard time getting them to latch on yet even try to feed them both at the same time.  Thinking about just pumping.  Any advice or words of wisdom?  I feel like a failure and want to do what's best for my little ones, yet I need to keep some sort of sanity.

 

gumiberg

it used to take my twins an hour to nurse.  needless to say, that is ALL we did.  but its easier, imo, than pumping.  puming and watching babies at the same time is soooo hard. 

do you have a breastfeeding pillow? I have the E2Nurse pillow and it makes nursing hands free.  This is critical if you have latching problems (as we did, and I needed my hands to help each one).  What I would do is make a snack, have the TV remote and laptop nearby and just enjoy relaxing.

If you can hang in there, I assure you it does get easier.   My twins were slow nurses for a really long time (3 months?) but it got shorter and shorter over time

gumiberg

and no matter what, do not feel like a failure.  breastfeeding is hard with ONE baby - its super hard with two!  i wouldnt want to redo those first 6-weeks if you paid me.  but just to reassure once again, it DOES get better.

TalulaSue

gumiberg:

and no matter what, do not feel like a failure.  breastfeeding is hard with ONE baby - its super hard with two!  i wouldnt want to redo those first 6-weeks if you paid me.  but just to reassure once again, it DOES get better.

This.  I felt like all I was doing was feeding, changing and trying to catch about 30 minutes of sleep, then feeding changing, etc.  Around 3 weeks I felt comfortable feeding both at the same time (on the EZ2 nurse pillow) and it started getting easier and easier.  Now each feeding only lasts about 10 to 15 minutes so I promise there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it comes quickly!  good luck

macchiatto

Ditto getting an EZ2Nurse pillow if you don't have one yet, and also contact an LC and see if you can get some help with latching and tandem nursing.

TinyTeacher

I had the same problem as you do with BF. Now I pump and bottle feed breastmilk.  Get a hands-free pump (I have the Medela Freestyle) and pumping is no big deal. I usually wash bottles or check emails and get on the bump while I'm pumping.  I do it when the babies are asleep or in their bouncy seats.

mdearrington

hang in there! it gets better. In the first few weeks for us it was nurse, change, sleep, and change again. I agree with PP Pumping imo is such a pain! You could have a set routine or time to pump then BOOM something comes up and you miss it. not to mention all of the cleaning. My plan was to pump and it just didnt work. But it could work for you, it just takes work.

Also, when they are nursing, are they falling asleep? When my boys would fall asleep I would take them off and set them down to wake up. As soon as they woke up I'd put them back on. Now the boys see nursing as business time. It's all business.

dtwmco

Patience...

My girls fed every two hours for the longest time.  Like some of the PPs, I would get comfy on the couch and just stay there forever with the tv remote.  They'd often fall asleep on the ez2nurse even if it didn't take them a long time to eat.  I think I wore out the couch cushion.

jalaiaa

I agree with pretty much everything said already. The main thing is to hang in there. It gets easier. Mine would nurse for an hour sleep for an hour then want to nurse again. It was SO hard. But it gets so much better. They become more efficient and eat less frequently. Pumping is a HUGE PITA for me. I have to do it when I go to work and a little extra to build my freezer stash. I hate it. BFing is so hard for the first couple of months but repeat over and over to yourself - it gets better...it gets better...it gets better.

RunnerGirl17

It's hard in the beginning but once they get the hang of latching, try tandem feeding them.  Try tandem feeding them even if you're not sure you can do it.  I tried it at 10 days and was really surprised that we all managed.  Once we got the tandem down, it cut down on our time SO much and now I think it's 10x more convenient than pumping.  And just keep in mind the time that pumping will take (the pumping itself, washing the parts, washing the bottles, worrying about temperature and milk going bad, etc.).  Good luck!

dulcinea03

RunnerGirl17:

It's hard in the beginning but once they get the hang of latching, try tandem feeding them.  Try tandem feeding them even if you're not sure you can do it.  I tried it at 10 days and was really surprised that we all managed.  Once we got the tandem down, it cut down on our time SO much and now I think it's 10x more convenient than pumping.  And just keep in mind the time that pumping will take (the pumping itself, washing the parts, washing the bottles, worrying about temperature and milk going bad, etc.).  Good luck!

This. It took 2.5 months, but my girls now are done in 10-15 minutes. I don't always tandem feed during the day now, but that was a real turning point for us at around 6 weeks old. That cut my time down, and was when I really started to believe BFing would work for us. Hang in there, it will get better! 

AlpacaBunny

You are doing an amazing job!  You are breastfeeding TWINS!  I also had a very hard time at first, Jack would not latch for the longest time, and like you said they were nursing for a long time each, so I would have like 30 minutes in between feedings.  It was pretty insane.  I kept at it when DH went back to work.  I did pump, and I would feed them a bottle sometimes, and we did some supplemeting with formula too.  But once they were  alittle bigger I could get them to latch at the same time and it was SO much better for me!  Once I got to that point I felt like it was doable.  I used the EZ2Nurse twin nursing pillow https://www.doubleblessings.com/servlet/Detail?no=271 and that was so much easier than a boppy or anything else I tried.  I felt like that pillow made a huge difference.  I also used the Udderly Yours breast pillows https://www.utterlyyours.com/ to prop my breasts so I did not have to hold them.  That made a huge difference for me too. 

 If you feel like pumping would work better then maybe try it.  But you also have to keep to a pretty strict every 2/3 hour schedule when exclusively pumping if you want to try to feed them mostly BM.  I felt like trying to stick it out with the nursing was more worth it.  I hated pumping. 

 Hang in there!  You are doing a great job! 

mlkwmu

Thanks for the words of wisdom and support.  It's just what I needed to give it another go around. I do have the twin brest friend pillow so I'll get that out tomorrow when the inlaws have left and there's no diversions around and try again. 

Thanks so much. You bumpies are the best.

na24

My advice is to try feeding them one after the other and then see how it goes before you decide to do it another way.  The easiest, most efficient way to feed the babies is to nurse them both.  Pumping instead of nursing is really a pain in the ass, and pumping in addition to nursing is even worse.  Trust me.  Seriously.  The easiest times we had were when both girls were finally getting nursing and I only pumped when I had "extra" time (ha ha).  You'll be spending pretty much all day feeding them at first, but then it'll get much, much easier and you'll be glad you stuck with it.  And eventually you'll all get good enough to tandem nurse, and that can be even easier and faster.