breastfeeding twins

ebrooke

So I've recently been getting questions on how to breastfeed twins. I think this is funny b/c I barely made it happen. In fact, I posted on here in February that I was going to give it all up. But somebody responded that they wished they had kept trying... so I kept trying. I just stopped pumping & nursing a week ago. Yay!

Will y'all shoot me your suggestions on how to breastfeed twins (or more)? I wrote a blog post on it, but I know I'm missing stuff. Thanks!

SoldiersGreenBean

Congrats on making it so far!

My advice, which I learned from a good friend while nursing my singleton, is to set baby goals.  Sure, you may want to do it for 6 months, or a year.  But when you're just starting out, learning, and in pain, it's easy to think "gosh, that's a looong time from now.  I can't make it, so I might as well quit now."

Setting baby goals make the time more manageable.  As you get better at it, your goals can increase in time.  For example, I used to tell myself that I made it 1 day, so I can make it 2.  I made it 2, so I can make it 3.  I made it 1 week, so I can make it 2.  By the time I got to 4 months with DD1, I told myself I could make it 6.

It's the only way I made it through, and I still do the same thing with the twins.

MawrtyrB

I don't know. I just do it. I think it's just sheer determination not to fail. In the beginning we'd use the EZ-2-nurse twin pillow but really that only worked if you had the time to set everyone up in advance which is hard to do at 3 am when everyone is screaming. We went to just nursing one right after the other. I have fast milk and my kids usually nurse pretty quick. We used the Arm's reach co-sleeper for the first few months. Then kept a PNP in the room and just rotated babies in and out of our bed to nurse throughout the night. I coudl never stay awake to nurse them in the rocker. I just take them to bed with me and everyone gets a little more sleep. I put a pillow on the outside of the bed if a baby is nursing on that side but my arm is usually around them and we've never had any problems.

Now that the twins are almost 8 months they attack me when I get home from work and want to nurse at the same time again. Attack being the word here. I don't get much choice in position. It's more of a free for all. Mostly where they are kneeling or sitting either on my legs or on the side of me. They get mad that the other one is there and they push each other the whole time. It's not really pleasant for anyone.

Drink a ton of fluid, however you can. I'm a green tea addict so I just keep making it all day. There's some caffeine there but whatever,  its a lower level than coffee/soda and it's getting diluted and distributed between 3 people anyway. And you have to eat. ALOT. If I don't eat, my milk supply drops. I try to remember my vitamins. Extra Calcium, C, Mg, B complex, and folic acid on top of my OTC prenatal.

mdearrington

I agree with PP, mini goals. Looking at the big picture is over whelming. Set mini goals, I wanted one month, then two then three months. Now we are almost at 5months and I keep thinking one more month so who knows when we will stop at this point. (teething maybe) anyway-

Lots of nutrition through out the day and lots of fluids. I never imagined I'd still be eating like I was pregnant 4 months Post pregnancy. I also keep reminding myself BFing is easier than pumping and formula feeding (IMO.)

Also it takes a lot of support from your loved ones. My husband has been trooper! He encourages me all the time and praises me for my determination. He helps at night when they nurse and any time he is home.

Shannonlea

My biggest suggestion is to be flexible on how your babies get breastmilk.  I had to use my pump alot, especially when I went back to work and ended up switching to EP for the last 2 months.  I also started pumping early on and let my husband help with bottle feeding and these helped me keep my sanity.

gumiberg

patience.

it gets pretty easy as they get older...so just patience in the beginning.

plus the ez2nurse pillow...we're almost a year in and we still use the pillow every time we nurse at home.