how in the F do you feed two newborns at once?

MADforever2009

Am i missing something? I mean technically these guys are -15 days old.

I am normally really good about grabbing one child as soon as he starts to stir, get him fed and changed before the other one demands my attention, but noooooo thats changing now. They are conspiring against me and fussing together and want to eat together.  Yesterday I ended up using both boppies but its scary cause they dont hold their heads well at all and dont fit in boppies. Not to mention they wont eat as well cause i cant stimulate them the same as i would if one had my complete attention.

Anyone have any suggestions?

MADforever2009

bottle feeding

Haven1

Double Boppy for sure!  I've been doing it ever since I switched from BF to pump+bottles around 3 weeks.  We still do it every morning even at 6 months. 

The boys were little, but they propped up pretty well.  Here's them about one month.  (I obviously didn't feed them swaddled up like that. )

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i used to put the boppy next to me on the couch and have Gibby lay in it - and i'd hold Gray in the crook of my leg bent up on the couch - so he'd be elevated a little (reflux).... this way i had both hands free, and them both right there... could easily feed at the same time.

i'd get them both to drink enough that i could stop feeding while i burped them both and the other would be OK waiting for more for a minute or two.

 

MrsLnt

I'd drape a blanket over the boppy for my DD.  It helped her not slide down as much because she was the smaller of my two. 

This is the method I use:

Place both babies in a boppy. Put burp cloth under their chins.  Put bottles in mouths. Have pacis at the ready (I usually use the ones I have attached to the clips and clip them on).  Like Goldie, I get them both to a point where they can be burped at the same time.  When I'm burping Baby A, Baby B gets the paci.  Swap and then keep feeding again.  It takes some practice but you'll get good at it. 

I was doing individual feedings at first and then one night, they both were starving so I tried the double boppy out of desperation.  I was doing it on the floor in their room but I have since transitioned to doing it on the couch which is MUCH more comfortable.

babya2010

Double boppy for sure. We still use them! Best purchases (well, shower gifts..) EVER!

caden

I couldn't tandem feed until my boys got decent at feeding --meaning, they didn't need a ton of work to keep awake/drinking. I did the double boppy method w/ receiving blankets when they were really small, then just boppies as they got more head control. Now their reflux is too bad to tandem feed so I wake one up early from his nap, then feed the other right after.

macchiatto

Two Boppys and when they were really little, we used rolled-up towels/receiving blankets for extra support and positioning. And yeah, paci for one baby while the other is getting burped.
Good luck! I know it's challenging.

CinemaGoddess

Another fan of the double boppy method.  We didn't discover it until I read a rec from someone on this board and it changed everything for us.  Middle-of-the night feedings became a breeze.   We didn't start until they were older (about 3-4 weeks) so the positioning wasn't as much of an issue for us. 

babydontforget

Yep. Double boppy.

AmberB711

The first few weeks I did 2 boppys cause they were so small. Then at about 3-4 weeks I would put 2 in bouncer seat or both in same boppy. Probably around 5 weeks I have a huge bed pillow I prop on couch and just lean them against it, learned to burp one with one arm and continue to feed the other.

 

kafunder

Also, don't feel bad if you don't master the tandem feed. I never mastered it. The babies just became too angry when I stopped to burp the other. Pacifiers didn't help. The screamed SCREAMED when I stopped, full on tears and everything. Also, DD needed to be burped at least every once, if not more often in the beginning and just couldnt' eat in a reclined position. We were all miserable. Finally, I just decided that tandem bottle feeding just wasn't right for our babies. We were all much happier from tha tpoint forward. It takes more time to feed them individually, but I consider it cuddle time. And, because we feed them individually and sit them up on our knee to feed them (rather than lay them int he crook of our arm, the pedi says they have excellent head control and ability to sit up, so it made me feel less bad about not being able to tandem feed them).

asgarrisi

I used the EZ 2 nurse pillow with the side for formula fed babies or when they were verrrrrrry little (like first couple of weeks), I would sit indian style on the floor or middle of my bed and lay each baby on a leg to feed. The hardest part was burping them since I didn't want either to throw up after eating if they had to wait a few minutes. We got the hang of it, but now I use two bouncers that have a leg to hold them steady while I feed both. That is a DREAM COME TRUE! Try it out and it will probably work great! I still use this every morning since I have no help at the early hour! Good luck

Rangergal9

If they need to eat at the same time then I feed them in the bouncy seats.  They do better in it than the boppys.  I started having to tandem feed once I was home alone so they were about 3 weeks old at that point.

jamie217

ditto double boppy.

amanda31H

Double Boppy User as well for bottles....

But I BF for the majority of their feedings for the first 6 months.  I had a twin nursing pillow - My Breast Friend, and I would bottle feed them on that.  I preferred that to the double boppy, especially early on, because I was closer to them and it felt more like nursing.

CruisingChica

I sit on the floor between their bouncy seats.  They have reflux so they are at least upright for the feeding.  They burp at the same time.  One just has to wait for theother to burp.

groovygrl

Sadly, I was never able to master it until they were much older & I could use the bouncy chairs and their heads were not flopping around. DD cried a lot during feedings due to reflux & it was no fun to try to do them both (and I read posts about it all the time on here ).  I do wish I'd bought bottle props earlier (I got 2 off etsy that were nice) but I was too late & they had full use of arms for swatting by then. 2 weeks is early for that but when they're older & can be propped more upright in a boppy or whatever, they can be helpful esp for the burp factor.