Tandem BF and overnight?

JodiAriel · May 2012

So the plan is to hopefully tandem BF but I was wondering how to handle overnight. I had originally planned on getting a cosleeper but it wont work with our platform bed. Then we considered the twin PNP but it got crappy reviews and I realized I am not going to be able to stay in bed (or at least not laying down) and tandem feed so I was considering just putting them in the crib from day 1 and getting up and nursing in their room or on the couch or getting 2 RNP (which were going to get anyway) and using them in our room but still having to get up to nurse.

Can anyone tell me real life experience? Will I be most comfortable on the couch or in the rocker (this one: https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11976035) or will actually be able to nurse in bed?

Is it worth trying to sidecar something to the bed or just use RNP or PNP since I have to get up anyway?

I know that I might not be able to make tandem feeding work which means I could potentially nurse laying down, but I am really hoping to make it work so I don't spend my whole night nursing one back to back only to start over again.

Thanks!

JEliseS · May 2012

For the first 2 months, we had the girls in RNPs, one on each side of the bed. So when they woke up to eat (or if one woke up first, we woke the other), I'd tandem feed. DH and I would first change their diapers side by side and then I'd set up the EZ2Nurse pillow and he'd hand them to me. After they were done eating, we'd each burp one, reswaddle and rock them back to sleep if they hadn't fallen asleep while nursing. If DH wasn't able to help me at night in those early months, I probably would have just fed them back to back.

I actually still tandem nurse using the pillow on our bed all day and when they wake up once a night to eat. Now that they are bigger, their legs rest in between the headboard slats, but it still works for now.

GeauxTigers82 · May 2012

I didn't BF, but I found that whoever was doing the feeding had to get up anyway to change diapers, etc., so we just took them out to the living room (and watched T.V. during the feed). I had to sit on the ground with my back to the couch to lay them both in the boppies. Seems like it would be just as easy to get up, and then you don't disturb the sleeping person (we alternated night feedings). But then again, IDK how people who BF do it. Do they just change the diaper, etc. in bed?

cleeksock · May 2012

We had the babies together in a pnp near the bed. It was close enough that I could peek at them from bed, but I couldn't reach out and touch them. They slept there for the first 6 weeks, then we moved them to their own cribs in their room.

As far as nursing, my giant EZ 2 Nurse pillow would never fit in my glider. I nurse them in bed at night, tandem. In the beginning they would take at least a half hour to nurse, so no way would I feed them back to back if I could help it. Now only one usually wakes up at night, but I still use the EZ 2 Nurse pillow because I like the height of it. I still bring him into my bedroom though because I don't want to wake up his brother by staying in the nursery.

Also, as pp said, in the beginning my husband and I would both get up to change diapers and he would help me get them situated on the nursing pillow. They were 5 weeks early, so we had to supplement with a bottle of pumped milk after every feeding, so the two of us did that together.

shaket83 · May 2012

First off...that chair looks great!!! I like that the arm rests are slanted a bit and not too high, that should make tandem nursing with a twin pillow a little easier. Good choice!

For the first 2-3 weeks both DH and I slept downstairs on the couch (we have a big sectional). The boys would ONLY sleep in their swings or in our arms and being downstairs was just a bit easier. They were getting up every hour to two at that point so it was just easier to be on the couch already, I would just sit up and DH would bring them to me. This did NOT work in bed for me because I couldn't get comfortable sitting up in bed for that long with my feet straight out and sitting cross legged kills my knees.

After that we transitioned them to Rock and Plays and had them in our bedroom. (I tried to put them in their cribs after we had the two weeks downstairs and that was an EPIC FAIL for us!!) They are waking up 2-3 times a night to feed I do get up every time, bring them in to the nursery and sit in my rocking chair to tandem BF them. They sleep better in the rock and plays than anything we have tried.

I know some moms aren't comfortable getting them on the pillow and getting into the chair by themselves because they are worried that the babies will roll off the side FYI. So, I think a lot of ladies prefer the couch for that reason.

leapgirl8 · May 2012

They sleep in their crib and we get up to feed them - she has a great chair from Ikea and the twin Brest Friend for nursing, then I supplement w/ formula in bottles while she pumps. (Pediatrician says we'll probably be able to ditch the formula in 3-5 weeks.) Tandem feeding in bed would be too hard on her back and it's just easier to get up.

Mrs. Alice · May 2012

It took until about 2-3 months adjusted age to successfully tandem feed without someone else assisting in the process. By that time my boys were mostly STTN so I always did one at a time for the overnight feedings. For the first 6 weeks they slept in RNPs in the living room right next to our bedroom and I would just get up and feed them on the couch so MH could sleep and I could watch TV or surf the internet since it took about an hour to feed and change both. Then once they started sleeping in the cribs, I just nursed one at a time on the glider in the nursery. My nursing pillow doesn't fit in the glider anyway.

The thing about nursing in bed is that you fall asleep easily and I wouldn't feel comfortable letting that happen with a newborn and another adult in the bed. Not to mention, then your feeding schedule gets off track. Trust me, you will find what works best for you when the time comes. Good luck!

ColleenS629 · May 2012

I tandem fed in bed overnight. DH would get up, change the babies and bring them to me. They did sleep in our room but DH took them into their room across the hall to change them on the changing table.

MangomamaFL · May 2012

During the day time I fed them one on each breast. I sometimes used pillows on both sides of me to extra support. Overnight I usually fed them one at a time. Because usually only one would wake up. As soon after one finishes the other one wakes up. Sometimes (overnight) when they both were demanding to be fed, just sit at the edge of my bed, with pillows for extra support, I tandem feed them. As soon as they fall asleep and fall off the breasts, I move them to their bed.

Tandem BF and overnight?

Re: Tandem BF and overnight?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards