- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Multiples
Breastfeeding Twins
I have twins boys due in April and I?m planning on breastfeeding. I?ve had several people tell me this will be all but impossible and I?ll be completely exhausted. Can anyone give me some tips on how to make it work? I breastfed my daughter for a year and it was a breeze. However, it sounds like trying to keep it up with twins in much harder. Any suggestions?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Breastfeeding Twins
There are a number of MoMs here who successfully BFed theirs long term. I made it about 6 months, but there are many who did it longer than that.
You'll want a big nursing pillow; a boppy likely won't cut it. I used the EZ2Nurse, which is awesome. Arm yourself with a good LC, learn to tandem feed early on (I was tandem feeding before we left the hospital), and you'll likely get off to a good start. I found it easier simply because I had BFed DD1 and knew what to expect.
It is NOT impossible....why do people say that? Ugh.
If you've already nursed a baby successfully, than you're wayyy ahead of me and others on here that breastfed twins as our first BF baby(s).
Tandem feeding makes BF very achieveable. I couldn't get the hang of it until about Week 5, but I had never BF before, so everything was new to me.
Get the book Mothering Multiples. It has lots of tips on how to BF twins. But honestly, if you BF a singleton already, you don't have as much of a learning curve. Also, get a twin nursing pillow. I have the twin My Breast Friend. EZ2Nurse also makes one.
If your babies are born early (I don't know how many weeks you are), you may have to pump if they're too small/weak to suck (that happened to me). But the book covers all that.
You'll be great!
I exclusively breastfed until I went back to work at almost 4 months old, and now I breastfeed and supplement with formula (I'm not able to cover their daytime needs with the pump). If I hadn't gone back to work, I'm sure I would still be EBF. It is possible, and like PP said the fact that you have breastfed already puts you ahead of the game.
You will be able to do it! I too was worried and here we are almost a year later still breastfeeding. I couldn't imagine not tandem feeding with my EZ2Nurse twin pillow. I often call it my fourth child as it goes everywhere with me. The girls were a little harder to nurse in the beginning then my son was. Erica always fell asleep and needed to be undressed and tickled to keep eating. I needed my husband's help to keep her awake during the first couple of days. She also had a harder time latching correctly so I would get her set up first so that I could make sure she was on right and then latch Emily. Once we got through the first week we were in a good place. My girls have pretty much nursed together from the start and don't seem to nurse as well when the other one isn't nursing.
The second day that we were in the hospital (I had a c section) the pediatrician told me that I would probably have to supplement with formula because they would be "frantic" by the end of the day because they were so hungry. I wasn't opposed to the idea of supplementing but didn't see any signs from my girls that they needed to be supplemented. The ped. todl me that my girls looked really good and alert but still felt that I should have to supplement them. I was really frustrated because I felt that she wasn't very justified in her reasoning. Needless to say they were never frantic and while they lost weight and were jaundiced they weren't given a bottle and did just fine. Just remember to have faith in yourself and do what you feel is right, whatever that is.
Good luck!
i'm stubborn and refuse to give up, although it has been verrrrrry hard. between the initial latch issues, and resorting to a shield, to the cluster feeds that left me a sobbing mess, to the insane appetite and the feelings that i'm good for nothing other than milk, i've wanted to give up nearly every day. that being said, i would never give up the time i spend with my littles bonding in this manner. i tandem feed and can now feed them both in under 20 minutes. some days are better than others...but i promise you that it gets easier.
in the end, you have to do what is best for you and your littles, and that may or may not be BFing.
HTH
This question gets asked a lot so I put all my advice into one blog post. Hope it helps!
how to breastfeed twins
we need to make this a FAQ!
i breastfed twins for 14 months. mine were early (35 weeks) and although they did not need the nicu, they had standard issues that premies have (too weak to suck, unable to stay awake). it took us about 6 weeks before we could successfully nurse - and then, each session took an hour. it was very frustrating. but, a few more weeks and we had it down.
quitting was never an option for me - i never considered it for two reasons 1) the price of formula and 2) the amount of bottles that i would have to clean.
i did work outside the home part time and i did pump. i was not a good responder to the pump so i woke up every morning at 1am and pumped extra - i did this for almost 11 months. and you know what - i barely even remember it now - and my kids sure dont. not saying i would change anything, but it just goes to show that in the big picture, it really doesnt matter. some women feel horrible if they need to supplement or breastfeeding doesnt work out...i think a go-with-the-flow attitude is the best.
but anyway, its definitely not impossible and after a certain point (3 months, maybe?) its easier than formula feeding. there is no prep work, or clean up...just stick them on and relax.
and definitely get the E2Nurse pillow and tandem feed.