Talk to me about breastfeeding twins

[Eaghoul]

So we've just found out that we're expecting twins.

I'm still BFing DS who is almost 13 months although I plan to wean him shortly.

Curious to hear other people's experiences of BFing twins.

Did each twin have their "own" breast or did you swap?

Was it difficult to BF exclusively if you had a toddler at home too? DS will be about 19mo when the DTs arrive, all being well.

Any other tips for BFing twins?

All advice/experiences welcome

[Eaghoul]

Oh and this is a separate twin question but did your twins sleep in the same cot?

[Doublethecuddles]

Congratulations!
I had a breast for each twin, and never managed tandem feeding. I think I felt uncomfortable sitting fully exposed, even in the house. After the first 2 weeks I swapped the 6.00 pm feed for a bottle of formula. I was struggling to produce enough milk, and found I was feeding all evening. Swapping this one feed allowed me to relax in the evening to build up the supplies again, and eat an evening meal with a screaming baby! It also meant my DH could help.
My DT were are my only children, so I can't help with the question of toddler.
I had Moses baskets when mine were little. during the day I lifted one basket downstairs and they shared that. When they were tiny I rolled a blanket up and put in in the basket with them, as they were used to being squashed!

[ireallydontlikemonday]

Congratulations!

Can't help with the bf question, mine were early and milk never came in. They did sleep in the same cot in our room until they were about 22 weeks. We had a small cot so we could fit it in and they were tiny so it worked well. You can buy cot dividers for the bigger cot beds.

[BlueGreenHazelGreen]

Congratulations! Twins are hard work but great. Go find yourself a local twins group for support.

I ebf until 16 months.

I started off tandem feeding but after 9 weeks I just couldn't get them latched on together and switched to feeding one at a time. We had bouncy chairs which allowed me to talk/rock/sing to the baby not being fed. As they got bigger I also kept a pile of toys beside me and gave them one every so often.

I had one who was a much more voracious feeder than the other so I swapped breasts each feed to even things out. There's an excellent book called 'Mothering Multiples' by Karen Kerkoff Gromada which I highly recommend.

Don't let anyone tell you that ebf twin isn't possible, it absolutely is possible, hard work but possible.

I only have two so I can't help re the toddler, but the other families at your local twins club will be able to advise - look in the TAMBA website.

[BlueGreenHazelGreen]

Oh, separate Cots (next to each other) as my DS is very wriggly and kept disturbing my DD.

[Twicethehugs]

Congratulations! I breastfed mine for over a year. They're my only children - I imagine it helps to have experience of breastfeeding but if anyone can help out with your toddler, I'm sure that will be invaluable. A friend of mine who had a toddler then twins quite soon after did alternate days breastfeeding and bottle feeding each twin, I think quite a lot of people do a mix one way or another but it is possible to ebf if that's what you want to do. I mixed fed at the start as it took a while for my milk to come in and they were on the small side so was advised they needed formula at the start. By 6 weeks was ebf which was easier than doing both breast and bottle feeding but pretty intense. I mostly tandem fed and found a tandem feeding cushion helped - picked up second hand. I swapped breasts as heard that one breast often produces more milk than the other. I also co-slept with them for quite a while as it was that worked best for us to get the most sleep and to carry on breastfeeding them. At first they did share a cot though.

[Eaghoul]

Thanks for all the replies and experiences ladies!

I was lucky with DS that I had a good milk supply and we never had weight gain issues. However he was pretty much attached to me 24/7 for the first few months (which I didn't mind at all) but I can't imagine being able to do that with twins and a 19 mo

We still co-sleep a bit so Heaven knows where the twins will fit in

That book looks great bluegreen - my local LLL is fab, they may have that book in their library to borrow.

Interesting and exciting times ahead I think!

[Twicethehugs]

If you co-sleep and want plan to breastfeed twins, you might be interested in the website below. There's a linked Facebook group too, which I've found really helpful to ask advice from mums who face similar challenges. All the best.

naturallyparentingtwins.net/wp/

[BlueGreenHazelGreen]

Happy to recommend it OP my DH found it on Amazon when our DTs were about 8 weeks old and I was struggling. I read it with tears running down my face wishing I'd had it all along.

I always recommend three things to new twin mums, find a twins club, buy the Gromada book, use reins.

[parallax80]

I'm currently EBF 4 week old twins and have a 21 month old (who I EBF for a year).

I'm doing a bit of tandem feeding and a bit of single feeding depending on what else I'm trying to do - if it's a feed to top them up to get out of the house for playgroup tandem is quicker, if I'm also playing with trains etc it's useful to have an arm free as well.

I started picking up little toys or sticker packs etc that were going cheap while I was pregnant and stashing them for when I need a novelty to entertain DS1, and have a bunch of iPad apps that he's quite into (can PM you list if you like) as well as a new series of Thomas & Friends which are things we can all do together while feeding. (I love play dough as minimal mess! Also The Works do 10 books for £10 so got some sticker books from there, and use the library a lot).

Sometimes the babies don't get fed instantly they cry as I'm in the middle of something else (eg nappy change / attempting to halt toddler destruction of house) but that would be the case even if mixed or formula fed. They are piling on weight so obviously doing ok. I do feel a bit "fed out" at times, especially in the evenings but the advantages for me massively outweigh that. too lazy to sterilise

PM if I can be of any further help. Good luck!

[parallax80]

Also, I have been very lucky as toddler has been great at going to bed at 7 so I can then sit around cluster feeding in the evenings. It is possible to tandem feed in such a way that you have hands free to text / MN (in fact, I'm doing it right now in the park!) which definitely helps

[Eaghoul]

Thank you parallax! At the moment I can't imagine DS entertaining himself in any way but I suppose he will be a bit more independent when the twin arrive.

Did you use soothers with your twins? I never used one with DS (I tried at about 10 weeks but he refused) but am considering them with the twins.

I am super impressed that you were out and about feeding twins, minding a toddler and MNing Do you use a feeding cushion? I'll probably be having an ELCS as DS was born by EMCS and I used a cushion with him for about 11 weeks to save my incision.

Funny you mention reins bluegreen - my best friend has twins and she was always saying that reins were her saviour! The lady who wrote that book has an interesting website too, I'll def check it out.

[Eaghoul]

Oh and huge congratulations on the twins parallax!

[flossieflower]

Karen kerkhoff gromada is brilliant- she gave me loads of advice via email when my twins were tiny and once in person when she was in the UK and even advised again four years later when I had a singleton. She's on Facebook if you need to contact her directly and has a mothering multiples group on there too.

I fully breast fed mine and swapped which was on each breast at each feed. They slept in a bedside cot together initially. Feeding them with one under each arm was much easier for me. I used dummies when they were older but only for naps/ nighttime.

Good luck- having twins is really hard work but brilliant!

[parallax80]

I never managed to get DS1 to take a dummy (or a bottle, for that matter - I wasn't a particulArly evangelical breastfeeder, I just couldn't be bothered to work at making him accept it.) I would try again with these two but not optimistic!

I had an ELCS with these, and I haven't needed a feeding cushion although I know many swear by them. I would find it a bit of a faff to be carting about and luckily my scar hasn't been too painful. In fact, now it's not really painful as such just that funny tingly sunburny sensation and tbh it's quite nice to have little feet scrabbling at it (I realise that sounds a bit odd!)

There's a huge difference between 13m and 19/20m so you will almost certainly find the entertaining easier than you think. I had a list of things I wanted DS to be able to do by the time the twins arrived and then massively incentivised them (much praise and many dinosaur stickers) - things like crawling upstairs without needing carried, climbing up into his chair / sofa, fetching his shoes, using fork / spoon reliably. Obviously there's no guarantee his development will fit nicely into your plan but if you can work on some things with him that will make your life easier when heavily pregnant the size of a continent and post-section. I also taught him to rub cream into my feet!

[Doublethecuddles]

I had an EMCS and didn't use a breast feeding pillow. I tried and never got the hang of it, I did find it useful for propping up babies!
My EMCS didn't stop me from doing things, and got out most days for a walk from about 4 weeks.
I tried reins twice and both times for DS got down on the pavement and tried to bang his head off it!
If you can start putting some food in the freezer. I made a pile of soup for lunches and lots of meals which could be put in the oven and required no attention.
My daft tip is if you are having a boy and a girl, get a pile of white baby grows. There is nothing worse that in the middle of the night trying to find the right colour!

[parallax80]

Or if you're as lazy as me just put on whatever colour comes out of the drawer next and sort it out in the morning or not

[Eaghoul]

I love all these tips - I may need to start writing things down

We won't find out whether we're having boys or girls (although DH is convinced it's 2 boys for his army of boys) so they'll be in white/cream for the first while anyway!!!!

Do you find it easy to be discreet when feeding? I found that a challenge with DS because I have really big boobs and his latch was a bit rubbish at the beginning. I can't imagine handling 2 in public

[littleomar]

Congratulations! I EBF mine for six months and after the first 8 weeks or so it wasn't much harder than feeding one (and the early days were hard because of the constant feeding - no latch or supply problems). I attempted to start mix feeding at 12 weeks but they refused bottles until they were on solids. I've just stopped feeding them at 51 weeks because I'm going back to work.

I never tandem fed out (couldn't manage it without getting everything out) and rarely at home - they got to be efficient feeders pretty fast and I would feed one while rocking the other on my free shoulder. I found normal pillows easier to manoeuvre than a feeding cushion although I did have an inflatable tandem cushion for emergencies (getting home with both of them in hysterics). We tried soothers but they weren't having any of it.

Can't help you with toddler distraction as my older ones were 3 and 6 when their sisters turned up haven't you got a TV?

[BlueGreenHazelGreen]

Eag I was a big fan of the vest down t-shirt up approach when feeding. This means that as the babies head is covering the actual breast then nothing else (eg mid rift) is exposed. A cardi can give you a wee but extra coverage if you need it. Tbh although I'm pretty modest usually feeding with twins I got over any worries fairly quickly - babies need fed!

I used a twin breast feeding cushion to start with and found it really helpful.

My advice with reins is start using them as soon as the children start to walk. My two were always excited when we got the reins out as they knew we we walking rather than using the pram. It honestly makes it considerably easier in shops (you can hold two kids with one hand) and getting them in the car (hook one set of reins round your leg so they can't run away while you strap the other one in).

[FreeButtonBee]

I EBF my twins for a year. Found a breastfeeding pillow with one baby under each arm really useful and did most feeds tandem as it helped to keep them on a roughly similar sleep pattern. Mine were also VERY slow feeders until 5 months - often up to 40 mins. Also left me hands free to balance my ipad on the arm of the chair/eat my dinner! Multi-tasking!

I only once BF tandem when I was out of the house (sat cross legged on the floor of the health centre waiting for jabs, using the changing bag as a prop for one baby!) but out and about, I just did one at a time.

Also recommend the mothering multiples book - it was the only book that I read that said it was possible and positive and great for us all.

Co-sleeping - I mainly did it with my DTD who was a worse sleeper overnight so only one baby in the bed. If they were both teething or going through a bad sleeping patch then DH had to get kicked out, I put pillows down each edge of the bed and babies slept in the middle. Then when they woke to fed, I got out of bed and moved beside the crying baby.

They shared a cot until 3 months - then they started to disturb each other so I separated them but it was useful not to have the extra cot cluttering up the house for a few months.