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Multiples
Tandem Nursing q's
How many of you tandem nurse your twins? I have watched a couple of youtube videos on how to do it, and I have read that it is a big time saver.
My question is, when did you start? Did you feed them individually at the very beginning? These are our first babies, and I must say the first months are frightening for me (although we still have a ways to get there). I have also read that it may be better to try to get them on the same schedule early on.
How did you figure out what to do? Do you have any stories/schedules/strategies for a soon to be FTM of twins? I am hoping to breastfeed, but am wondering how the middle of the night stuff works, and where my husband can help. Any info is appreciated!
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Re: Tandem Nursing q's
I did try from Day 1, but I couldn't tandem feed until 5 weeks. Lots of women have been able to do it much earlier though, so it's worth a shot!
For me, my girls had a terrible latch and weren't strong. So we struggled with nursing a lot in the beginning b/c I had to keep them awake and pay attention to what I was doing. As a FTM, I knew nothing about BF. Once I was comfortable and the girls knew what they were doing, it was amazing. We started trying tandem a couple times a day around 5 weeks, quickly turned into every time and by 6 weeks we were all experts and never looked back
My suggestion is from Day 1, pump after each nursing session to build your supply. I really think if I'd done that I wouldn't have had supply issues.
Watching videos on you tube is great - get the book Mothering Multiples and read the section on nursing preemies. I had 36 weekers, but had I been more educated on nursing preemies I would have been more successful.
As far as a schedule, we followed Baby Wise. We fed them about every 3 hours (they were on this schedule in the hospital b/c they were in the NICU). If one was up, both were up - ALWAYS. The first few weeks are really hard. For me, the first 6 weeks were REALLY hard. By 12 weeks we felt more comfy with our new life.
I am a FTM of twins and like PPs have said, it's totally doable to tandem nurse. I started doing it in the hospital the day that we were discharged and have tandem fed non-stop ever since. Lactation consultants helped a lot with it, so be sure to meet with them often and get their help. My babies are on the same schedule. They were not in the NICU, but the nurses got us started on every three hours, and we still do that during the day. At night we let them sleep as long as they want - usually 4-5 hours only.
Like PPs said, it's difficult at first. I constantly wanted to quit and just sleep and have someone else feed them. I pumped after every single feed (they got me started doing this in the hospital) and did that for about a month. I got no sleep
We had to supplement each baby with 10 mils of formula (by dropper feeding) after each nursing session for about the first week or so, but I think all the pumping paid off and I have no supply issues now. I still pump after the first morning feed and after the bedtime feed in order to build a stash- I freeze 10-12 oz a day. I'm glad I stuck with it now even though I wanted to quit. I'm glad they are EBF'd because of the health benefits, and plus it saves a ton of money.
DH gets up for almost every feed with me. I change a diaper, start feeding, and he changes the other baby's diaper, waits while I nurse (sometimes sleeps on the floor, lol) and then burps one and puts him/her down. He also washes pump parts. I can do it alone, but it's a lot nicer with his help. I'm on my own during the day. My nursing pillow is invaluable. I have the My Brest Friend twin pillow and take it everywhere I have to nurse. I can use a Boppy, but it's much easier and the babies are more stable on the twin pillow. I'm actually nursing them right now- once they're loaded on the pillow I'm hands free.
Good luck! It's hard, but it's worth at least attempting, in my opinion.
I fed them individually for the first two weeks because we were all still learning and one of them refused the breast at almost all feedings so I'd end up pumping and bottlefeeding too (DH would usually give a bottle of previously pumped milk while I pumped when he was home). At the two week point, I had an LC get them both on the breast and tandem feeding for every feeding. The main thing in the beginning is getting them latched on and supporting their heads which is hard to do without 4 hands. When someone was here, I would latch the first baby and then have DH or whoever hold that baby's head while I latched the other baby, then I would hold both of their heads. When I was alone, I couldn't do all that. I used nipple shields so they could latch on by themselves while I held their heads.
My biggest piece of advice about nursing is don't let anyone discourage you and educate yourself. Their pedis told me every day in the hospital "I know you want to BF but with twins you'll probably have to supplement." At their second weight check, A had gained 7 oz in a week and R had only gained 4. They told me to supplement him after every other feeding. I knew that his weight gain was within the acceptable range, though, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (.5-1oz/day). I saw an LC and did a weighed feeding and he was getting enough. Based on my research, my gut, and the advice of the LC, I didn't supplement. By his next check a week later, he had gained 8 oz. If I had started supplementing, that would have told my body I didn't need to make as much as he was eating and I would have ended up with supply issues.
As far as schedules, you'll have to wake to feed them every 3 hours. If they're hungry earlier, feed them earlier. The first couple of weeks they pretty much just eat, sleep, and poop. Once they get around their due date, they start to wake up more and get crankier.
ETA: After reading some other responses I realized I left stuff out. Like PPs said, definitely do one up, both up/ feed one, feed both. DH was also in charge of diaper duty when he was home. He would change each baby then bring him to me to feed. When they were done, he'd take the babies from me and put them back to bed.
Mothering Multiples was a great book... I read it during my twice weekly NSTs haha.
I would caution you against letting others bottlefeed while you sleep, though, especially in the beginning. Sleep deprivation sucks but if you are really determined to EBF, you really need to work at establishing your supply. If the babies get a bottle of pumped milk or formula while you sleep, your body will think it doesn't need to make that milk. It's really important in the beginning to BF or pump at least every 3 hours. When they eat more frequently, they are telling your body to make more milk so it's important to just keep nursing them as much as they want and power through.
Dx: MFI- 3% morph
IUIs: Gonal-F + Ovidrel + b2b IUI= BFNs
IVF with ICSI= BFP! EDD 11/25/11
3/18- Beta #1 452! 3/20- Beta #2 1,026!! 3/27- First u/s- TWINS!
Our twin boys arrived at 36w5d due to IUGR and a growth discordance
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
I wasn't planning on tandem nursing them from the start because I didn't want to overwhelm myself and put too much pressure on me...crazy hormones, recovering from surgery, tired, etc. I had breastfed my son before so I did have the experience with latching, etc.. My girls were great at latching from birth so we decided to start tandem feeding when they were 1 1/2 days old and we never looked back. They only nursed alone a handful of times until they were 11 months old and then I switched to nursing them alone. My advice to you would be to see how well everyone gets the hang of nursing. Once you feel comfortable with latching begin trying to tandem feed but don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work. You'll have plenty opportunities to try again if it doesn't work! In the beginning I would latch Erica on first because she was the one who wasn't the best at it, get her started and then my husband would hand me Emily. It was helpful to have my husband available for every feeding that first week because Erica would tire out easily and fall asleep so he helped me try to keep her awake. Then we'd burp and do diaper changes together. He went back to work when the girls were a week old but continued to help me at night until they were close to a month old.
We followed the one up, both up rule in our house. When they went through their growth spurts their schedules were a little messed up but we got back on track in a couple days.
I assigned a baby to a breast each day, so Monday Emily was on the right and Erica was on the left, Tuesday they switched, etc. It was easier for me to keep track that way. I tried switching at each feeding and it was too much for me to keep track of!
As far as pumping goes, you don't have to pump to build your supply. If you have the energy and the time go for it, but don't feel like you must do it. I didn't pick up a pump for at least the first month because I just couldn't figure out how to fit it in to my already tight schedule. I'm not saying that it's a bad idea but just don't feel like you have to do it. I was able to pump enough to get a freezer stash when I was away from the babies but I didn't pump daily. I hated pumping!
Just be prepared to take it one day at a time. Those first days are long and can be frustrating but you can do it. Good luck!
I don't want to discourage you but just wanted to share my experience so you know it's a possibility. I desperately wanted to exclusively breastfeed my twins. I worked on tandem BF'ing at the hospital with a great LC, and then when I got home. My babies were a little early (36 weeks, 6 days) but not tiny (5 lbs 1 oz and 6 lbs), and had no NICU time at first.
After we got home, they each lost about a pound before our first pediatrician appt. instead of gaining. It turns out they were trying to nurse, but weren't actually getting much to eat. They were "fake nursing" and since I had never nursed before, I didn't know the difference (they were latching, just not sucking hard enough). So we ended up going from the ped. office to the NICU in an ambulance because they were dehydrated and had very low body temperatures. In the NICU, I was allowed to nurse one twin at each feeding and the other one got formula or pumped BM. I would nurse a twin with one breast and then go pump both breasts afterwards.
The wimpier kid got used to the bottles and never would really nurse again. I used a breast shield, supplemental nurser, had several home visits with a LC, but he would just scream and scream on the breast. When he did occasionally latch on, he wasn't actually eating, he was just suckling (I found this out because he stopped having wet diapers when I thought he was finally nursing again and stopped the bottles). My pediatrician was so worried about him that he told me to bottle feed him until we got him out of the woods (breast milk when I could pump it). Breastfeeding takes more energy than bottle feeding, and if the baby is struggling, you have to do what's best so that he can get the nutrition he needs. I didn't want to end up back in the NICU, so I gave up on breastfeeding.
I would never disregard your pediatrician's advice about feeding your baby. Breastfeeding is great, but babies that come early may have different needs than healthy, full term babies, and it's very dangerous to refuse to supplement with formula or give bottles of pumped milk because you think you know better than your doctor.
Tandem nursing is GREAT once the babies figure it out. It's challenging at first because they and you are still figuring out the latch. The my brest friend twin pillow is a lifesaver! Also, as PP have said, having DH get up with you to do diaper changes makes the whole process quicker. I would highly recommend, BEFORE your babies come, finding a LC who will do home visits (our hospital-based ones don't). This will be invaluable if you struggle early on and need help.