Tandem BF Questions

jroady

Hi Ladies,

 My boys will be five weeks on Thursday, and I'm still struggling to tandem feed them.  If did it successfully, could you give me some tips--such as what to do when one needs to burp but the other is still nursing...I have one who is very efficient and finishes quickly but he also struggles with gas. If I don't burp him quickly, it gets ugly fast.  

 I guess I'm just looking for any tricks that will make this work for us...the nursing one after another is making me crazy!

 

Thanks in advance! 

MamaCrystal

I always used the E-Z 2 Nurse pillow, so this might be specific to that.  Whenever one finished eating and needed to burp, I'd just slide my hand under their back/head and sit them up until they were leaning on my shoulder, then I had that hand free to pat their back.  This was while the other baby was still nursing.

Are you okay with getting into position with them?  I'd recommend making sure that the first baby has a good latch before trying to latch the 2nd baby.  If you don't, you'll end up trying to wrestle with 2 babies at the same time to get a latch ; )

Just a side note - Make sure that you're always sitting up nice and straight before bringing the babies to breast.  Sometimes I would start slouching to make it easier to get them started, but I'd end up with sore shoulders and back.  It makes a world of difference to take the extra minute to make sure you're comfortable!

Our day will come

I use a Boppy pillow and sit up comfortably with one or two pillows first.  I try to make sure one has a very good latch first then bring the second to breast.  If I'm solo, it's a little bit of an adventure/comedy of errors to burp one while the other continues to nurse.  Many times during the process the second DD looses the latch and we start back when the burping is finished.

 

Good luck! 

jalaiaa

First, do you have a tandem nursing pillow? That was a lifesaver. Now that they're older I still use it but don't really need it.  Early on I did. I would use lots of blankets to hold their heads in place. I'd roll them and push it behind their shoulder/back to keep them close to me and I'd use some under their heads too. I'd get set up with one on either side of me on the couch and lots of blankets nearby. Then pick one up and latch him on and pick up the other and latch on.  When one needed to burp I'd just burp him on one shoulder while the other was still latched on. It was always awkward, but doable. If someone else was around, DH or my mom, I'd have them do the burping because it was easier that way. My boys would eat for 45 minutes early on so I would have gone crazy if I didn't tandem feed.