Multiples

"One up, both up"?

I was wondering how this works if you are not breastfeeding.  I am assuming this also means, one parent up, both parents up?  How would you feed two at once in the newborn phase?  You know, you have to have two hands to feed and support their head, etc.

 




image image
                  Ayden & Sydney
                                   

Re: "One up, both up"?

  • At night, I get myself hooked up to the pump and feed them both in boppies (can't leave them sleeping in there but can prop them up to feed them).  In the daytime, I generally either pump if it's time or just put them in bouncy seats on either side of me.  I'll stop about halfway in to burp/sometimes change again.  At night, my husband does the first feeding, I do the ones after and he gets up with them around 7 or so.  He's back to work on Monday, so theory is we'll both be up then and he'll head to work at that point.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • But it took us about 2 weeks before we could handle a feeding on our own.  And I couldn't pump and feed/burp until about week 3, I was pumping after feedings before that.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • Loading the player...
  • imageLottaLattes:
    At night, I get myself hooked up to the pump and feed them both in boppies (can't leave them sleeping in there but can prop them up to feed them).  In the daytime, I generally either pump if it's time or just put them in bouncy seats on either side of me.  I'll stop about halfway in to burp/sometimes change again.  At night, my husband does the first feeding, I do the ones after and he gets up with them around 7 or so.  He's back to work on Monday, so theory is we'll both be up then and he'll head to work at that point.

    I am assuming you have to do this once they have more head control?  When does that usually happen?




    image image
                      Ayden & Sydney
                                       
  • Boppies!  I was able to do this as earlier as two weeks old.  Take a small pillow and put it under the boppies to give it a tilt.  Sit between or in front of the babies and away you go.  
    IVF#1 May 2011 15 Eggs Retrieved, 11 Fertilized using ICSI + HPT on 6/9/11 Beta #1 420 Beta #2 2167 US 7/1 TWINS!! Due 2/18/2012 Brooke and Nora born at 35.6 weeks Jan 20th 2012
  • It depends how important it is to you to have them both on the same schedule. For us...it was the best thing ever. Once they get on the same eat/sleep schedule you actually have time to do something without a baby attached to you. But I know some MoM's say it wasn't so important to have them on a schedule.

    If we were doing a feeding with one parent, the babies were in boppies and it worked just fine. I would get one baby up and do a diaper change, set that baby in the boppy and repeat with the other baby. Then I would sit and feed (I was an EP'er so usually I was hooked up to a pump while feeding them). Then burp one baby, burp the other and move on.

    But as much as possible we were both up in the middle of the night, I know some families have a different agreement that works just fine for them, but but ours was that they are OUR babies...we shared the misery of the middle of the night feedings.

    It took us till they were 12 weeks old to get them on a schedule but that was just the best thing ever. I had time to take a nap, do laundry, make dinner, exercise, etc.

  • No it means one kid up, both kids up.  For us this meant both parents, lol.  You can also space it out 30 minutes -- so right after 1 kid eats, the other does.

     

    Boppies are great for feeding together before head control.  I used it a few times (before I could tandem nurse, which is very very recent). 

    Lilypie First Birthday tickers
  • For us it meant me up and both babies up...  Since I have been primarily the stay home parent, I let my DH sleep at night when they were newborns.  I was also BFing so there wasn't much for him to do any way.  After a couple weeks I got too exhausted because they were eating like every 3 hours and it took me over and hour to feed and change both so I was never getting more than 1.5 hours of continuous sleep.  At that point my DH took the 2 am feeding so I could get about 4-5 hours of rest.  You will just find what works best for your family.

  • MrsLntMrsLnt member

    For us it meant both babies up. I was only formula feeding, but, in the beginning I fed them one after the other. What I take "one up, both up" to mean is that if one wakes to eat, you feed the other one at the same time, or right afterward, to avoid going back to bed and then being awakened 45 minutes later by the other baby wanting to eat.

    That being said, we do kind of ascribe to "one up, both up" in terms of getting stuff done, especially once ours were a little older and we were out of the newborn days. If we're both doing something around the house - laundry, dishes, something, it gets done faster and then we can both rest at the same time :) 

    image
  • When we do feedings alone at night, we try to feed the one awake first, put them back to sleep, then wake the other. During the day we use boppies simultaneously. I pump after they eat, if they are sleeping/content. 

    Lately we have both getting up for their night feeding. It's goes so much faster and they have been harder to get back to sleep recently.  

    my blog

    Image and video hosting by TinyPic

    Boy/girl twins born at 37w1d and 37w2d

    Lilypie First Birthday tickers

    Lilypie First Birthday tickers

  • Two boppies. It sucks because, IMO, there is less of a bond than when you get to hold one, but it works.
    IUI #1 and #2 = BFN
    IVF#1 = BFN, no frosties

    IVF #2 = BFP!! TWINS!!! Born 3/9/12

    FET #1 = BFP!!!

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

     

    BabyFruit Ticker
  • jcathjcath member
    For us we both got up initially but we pretty quickly tried to do it with just one parent. It also meant one baby eating at a time.  So there was a little stagger but it worked out okay.  Eventually I could just prop both bottles while they were in the rock and play and they could eat at the same time.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • My twins club recommended we both get up and have them up at the same time for feedings. My husband is well aware this is a team effort. 
  • imagelmydogally:
    Boppies!  I was able to do this as earlier as two weeks old.  Take a small pillow and put it under the boppies to give it a tilt.  Sit between or in front of the babies and away you go.  

    This exactly.  If one woke up in the night the other usually did too so we just kept them on the same feeding schedule.  It worked out well.

    3/10 IVF #1 TWINS! Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • It doesn't have to mean both up at the same time and both parents up. I would feed the first one to wake, then wake the other to feed immediately after, as I don't like tandem bottle feeding. It kept them reasonably in sync, and hubby and I could trade off when they were waking every 3 hours at night. At about 2.5 mos, one of my girls started sleeping longer, so I just let her STTN and don't wake her when her sister wakes every 4-5 hours.

    Untitled

    Etta Jane and Claire Elaine are here! Born March 28, 2012.

    my blog

    What it's like to cloth diaper twins, Part I.

    Cloth diapering twins, Part II.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • I do the feedings by myself every night... I put them in Boppies with their bottles propped. I also used to sit indian style and put my daughter on my legs and my son in the Boppy. She was almost too small for the Boppy when we brought her home at 4lbs. It's worked for me <: That's how all their feeding are done and I get night feedings (only one now) done in 30 min. My kids do a 9pm, 3ish am and then a 7am now. My husband does work full time but again he could have been more help then he was. Not to toot my own horn but I will <: I work 20 hours a week, take care of the babies 98% of the time, and keep my house pretty decent... So go me! haha I do the feedings exactly like PP said above, one wakes up (I don't wake them anymore, it's now on -demand. My son usually wakes up I get him changed, heat a bottle and put him in the Boppy. Then I sometimes have to wake my daughter, I do the same and burp accordingly).
    Oct1201212 Twins born at 34w2d, Allison, 3lb,4oz-Ethan, 4lb7oz, both 16 1/2 inches. Out of Difficulties Grow Miracles BestBuddiesBoy AprilPosseMultiLilypie Premature Baby tickers
  • For us it was one up, both up until they were around 4 months old.  We had to wake them ever 3 hours to eat early on (preemies...the doctor said we had to).  Once they would STTN, if one woke up, we let the other sleep.  That being said, if we got them both up, both of us were up too.

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

    Visit My Twin Life 
  • We did one up both up until DD started sleeping longer at night (DH got up too though), and then DS quickly followed. When alone, I actually breastfed one in a boppy on my lap and bottlefed the other on a boppy in front of me. The boppies work best early on if you roll up a receiving blanket and put it in the opening to hold the baby's bum (which I learned from other MoMs on here!). Also, bottlefeeding two in bouncy seats works well. When it's time to burp, you can use a paci for the baby that is waiting (if they cry from having the bottle taken away).  It takes some work, and trial & error, but you figure out what works for you and get the hang of it since there is so much practice! :) Good luck!
    imageimage
  • We didn't do it at night, but once they were about 3 months I got them on the same schedule.

    If one needed a bottle, they both got feed.

    If one needed a nap, they both went down.

    If one got a diaper change, they both got changed (they poop in tandem anyway!)

     

    Our IVF Miracles! Lilypie Premature Baby tickers
  • We used the boppy newborn loungers for bottle feeding. You can do two at once that way.
    After 2 losses, IVF #2 brought us our little boys.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

    Now we're waiting on our miracle baby ... a little GIRL!!!

    BabyFruit Ticker
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"