help...how to tandem feed?

steidla · August 2013

My boys are 4 weeks, and baby B just got the hang of nursing a few days ago. I want to tandem feed to save time and keep the crying after or while waiting to a minimum. I can do it if my husband lays a baby on the MBF twins pillow after one is latched, but I can't figure out how to do it when he's not here. Any tips? Reaching over for one seems impossible while one is latched...

Ruthie04 · August 2013

There are a few good videos on YouTube that gave me some good ideas. It's tricky, but it gets easier. GL!!

SwetaV · August 2013

No advice just wanted to say I commend you and all moms who tandem feed. I did it for 2 weeks and it was tough! Good luck, hope PP are right and you get better and better at getting them both latched on your own.

carrotcake06 · August 2013

It was intimidating to tandem feed by myself in the beginning for sure. I still suck at getting both babies off me and keep them asleep.

Anyway, I nurse in bed so I have the babies on one side of the bed and sit cross legged with the pillow on the other side. I lay each baby on either side without latching either one. Then I latch one at a time.

HattieDornbush · August 2013

I put both babies on the mbf pillow first and then latch them one at a time.

megs2011 · August 2013

Getting them onto the pillow was easier for me than getting them off without waking them up. It gets easier the more you do it. When they get to the age where they like to roll like mine do (10 months), it gets hard again LOL. Get the first one on and while grabbing #2, #1 tries to roll off.

Anyways, what I would do was sitting on a bed or couch, have one baby in a boppy beside me. Grab other baby and put her on the MBF pillow without latching her. Quickly grab the next baby and put her on the pillow. Then, I would latch the easier baby then the other baby.

I usually had assistance but this is how I did it while I was alone. Good luck, I hope you figure it out.

brookith · August 2013

HattieDornbush said:

I put both babies on the mbf pillow first and then latch them one at a time.

This is what I did too

steidla · August 2013

Thanks for the helpful info. Now i have another question to you who mentioned not waking them up. Do you not burp them?

JennP03 · August 2013

I would set them both on the MBF pillow and then latch them one at a time. When I was first getting the hang of it I would do it in bed that way if one of them rolled, it wasn't a huge deal.

I would burp mine mid way through. If they fell asleep before they finished I would just let them sleep.

CNYBride05 · August 2013

steidla said:

Thanks for the helpful info. Now i have another question to you who mentioned not waking them up. Do you not burp them?

Breast fed babies don't need to be burped as often - they don't get as much air as bottle fed babies do. My girls don't need to be burped after nursing, only after bottles.

carrotcake06 · August 2013

steidla said:
Thanks for the helpful info. Now i have another question to you who mentioned not waking them up. Do you not burp them?

I burp them frequently. Whoever pulls off first gets burped while the other continues to nurse and then vice versa.

I'm fairly sure I have a forceful letdown [again, I did w my first] so mine tend to gulp a bunch, pull off and latch shallowly in the beginning to regulate the flow a bit. That's most of the reason I burp so much while nursing.

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