Breastfeeding twins - possible?!

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

I am end of 2nd tri with twins and as so many are prem, I am trying to think about the practicalities!

I bf DD for around 9 mos, ebf till nearly 6 mos then returned to work but managed to keep 3ish feeds in 24h till 9mos.

But it was HARD. She clusterfed like a champ for hours as a newborn, my back hurt so so much, she put on weight slowly and I was pressured to top up with formula - compromised by expressing and adding to her feeds with a syringe.

I would really like to ebf the twins but how possible is it? I am searching for twin nursing pillows tonight and the vast majority are clearly intended for ff mums so I am getting the sense it is not that common.

[MrsPestilence]

Yes, it is possible. Hard work but possible.
Helped if you can have someone to offer you room service and do all the housekeeping for you.

[Myview2]

I have twins who were exclusively breastfed by me expressing until they got so big and hungry that I had to supplement with formula. I never could manage to breastfeed them at the same time and I decided if I continued to feed them one after the other then I would never make it out of the house!

A good quality breastpump and dual expressing did the trick for me and as they were premature and needed tube feeding for the first week or so I had already got into the habit.

I have heard legends of other twin Mums mastering the rugby ball hold on both sides to breastfeed simultaneously but have never actually met one!

[FreeButtonBee]

I did but it was fucking hard work. And they were my first so I had literally nothing else to do but be stuck to the sofa for hours on end. I am glad I did it for myself but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it!

I had the my Brest frI end pillow which as a life saver. Although it needed propped up with additional pillows/cushions etc to get th angle right. Rugby ball position for both.

I’ll be honest. I survived on about 3 hours sleep for months. And months. But I did get super skinny 😄

[melonribenia]

In my experience, no.
Some bf yes, but supplementation was needed for sanity as well as anything

[ButtfaceMiscreant]

I managed it to 18 months, including going dairy and soy free from when they were 10 weeks old (Christmas week, I remember it well bitterly) . Mostly due to being stubborn as everyone told me I wouldn't manage it. I had fed DC1 to 15 months (was already pregnant with the twins by then so I weaned).

It is doable, hard but doable. The worst for me was the first 11 weeks when they cluster fed from 5pm to midnight every night. Be prepared to be sat on your bum most evenings as that is all you will be doing to start, and I found it easiest to feed together at night especially (bedtime feed and then through the night once you know if they will both wake at a similar time). I didn't bother timing feeds, just fed as they wanted for as long as they wanted. DC1 was 21mo when they arrived, and was a little angel, plus we used nursery 4 days a week to start, slowly lowering to 2 days.

I used 2x v-shaped pillows I got in Aldi, worked well for me, and just sofa cushions or my knees in the day!

Best of luck! Twins are hard, they are frustrating, but they are amazing. Just remember the days are long but the years are short.

[beela]

I've got 3 friends who bf their twins for 12 months +. At least one set of twins were bottle refusers.

I am in awe of all of them.

[Littlefish]

My dsis breastfed her twins until they were a year old. She fed them at the same time each time, using a breastfeeding pillow and rugby ball hold. She is amazing.

[Pawsof]

Yes. Couldn’t have done it without support, but it is possible! If you’ve got bf experience then you’re ahead of the game!

[JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff]

Crikey! Okay so I am getting rugby ball hold vibes. I was looking at the Breast Friend cushion so might try that.

Am just dreading the backache..... 😓

[MrsPestilence]

I found the double rugby ball position was for emergency purposes only. Can't scratch your nose or drink cold tea. Mainly fed one at a time while the other sat on a bouncy seat and was entertained by toys held between my toes. You will learn to drink cold tea.
Loads of cushions, pillows (anything) so you can get comfy.

[Bestbees]

Breastfed mine until 22 months. Supplemented after 8 weeks with one bottle a day which fased out around 9 months. Returned to work at 13 months. Very hard but worth it. I tamdem and seperately fed anywhere and everywhere! Recommend the book motheribg multiples for tips. Good luck!

[MrsCMAW]

It's totally possible. Look up the Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets UK group on Facebook (m.facebook.com/groups/460888727398997) and you'll find loads of info, over 2.5k breastfeeding multiple mums and trained, evidence-based non-judgemental support.

[Lgourlay]

Yes it is very much possible! I am currently writing this bf one of my 8 month old DCDA twins. They are ebf since birth.

First off don’t let anyone put you off. There is no need to top up unless a serious issue ie tongue tie or bubble pallet is present and there are always good breastfeeding option available first. Yes cluster feeding will happen and hit you hard, I find if you don’t think of it as a negative and think of it in a positive way you will make it much easier on yourself. I thought of it as my time to sit down and think about the day, stare at my beautiful twins and think about all we had done in the day, the things I had seen them do for the first time etc. Also helped my body recover well! Get a good couple of box sets on Netflix ready and a good Breastfeeding pillow (My Breastfriend/Penut and Piglet/Harmony duo) these will help immensely as you can tandem much easier and just allow free access to breast.

Have lots of snacks and a litre of water to hand at ALL times. Will help with supply if you look after yourself. Get a good stretchy sling as this will help you get out and about with them but hold them close so will help them settle through the 4th Trimester.

If you are on Facebook join the Breastfeeding Twins and Triplets UK site as this is the bible!! There are ladies that breastfeed their triplets so it is more than doable! The best way to make enough milk is to remove milk from the breast with regular feeding. I used my pillow in the early days a lot but as mine got older and it was easier to feed I didn’t need it as much.

Just to give you an idea I had a planned section (due to positioning of bubs) and was out and about 36 hours later and ALWAYS left the house with mine at least once a day because I go stir crazy! It’s totally possible and I’ve kept up my active lifestyle all through the power of boobs! Oh and it’s a great excuse to eat lots of cake!!

You can do this!! Pm me if you want more info or support. Join that fb group too!

[Crumbs1]

Definitely possible but time consuming.

[MrsCMAW]

Breastfeeding shouldn't give you backache if you get the positioning right. It's amazing the difference a couple of cushions behind you and lifting the baby up a bit higher can make - so hopefully this time you can avoid it! :-)

[chuntersalot]

Possible of course but I didn’t manage it for very long - 16 weeks and 6 of those weeks were in SCBU. The rest were a combination of breastfeeding, expressed breast milk and formula feeds. The Rugby ball hold was the only one that worked for me with a cushion nest surrounding us I tried to make sure that they fed at the same time but of course they didn’t always co-operate! It was definitely worth it for the time I did it but honestly it was really hard work and had me confined to the house for much longer than I was happy with. I’ve known other twin Mums who managed much easier and longer than me so absolutely worth trying.

[JellyTeapot]

It's absolutely possible - I'm still bf'ing my 11 month old twins. They had formula top-ups for the first couple of weeks of their lives but as soon as weight gain was on track we dropped them. Cluster feeding was a nightmare but we got through it somehow. Keep tv remote, phone, snacks and water nearby at all times and accept any and all offers of help. I'm glad I persevered - leaving the house with all their paraphernalia plus my 4yo is enough of a nightmare without having to remember bottles and formula. And it makes the night feeds so much easier, I cannot be doing with all that faffing in the wee small hours. I've never been able to tandem feed (I have an aversion which makes my skin crawl) but I just accepted that if they both wanted feeding at the same time one would have to cry for a bit. Bouncy chair, toys and a dummy came in very useful. Having twins is incredibly hard work but it's also so much fun, good luck!!

[TammySwansonTwo]

I'm a member of a large local twin group and I know only one mum who managed to actually EBF (no bottles, no pumping). Interestingly she also went the longest before delivery (39+7 I think).

The thing with twins is that there are more often issues surrounding prematurity, low birth weight, nicu stays and other issues.

I was determined to EBF. Didn't occur to me that I wouldn't. My boys were born at 35+1 but one had IUGR - he was 3.5lb, the other 4.5lb. They were taken straight from me to nicu and I didn't see them for 7 hours, held one the next day, and the other a few days later. They weren't on cpap and tube fed. I started expressing right away but my supply was limited. It was 1 week and 4 weeks before I could try latching them, and then only occasionally as they were weak and couldn't manage it.

One came home after 17 days and I tried desperately - he still had his NG tube and I would feed him for nearly an hour and he'd still be starving. I'd be soaked where the milk was just falling out of his mouth. His latch was never right and I had no help or support, even with one as an inpatient. I tried everything I could find and think of. I was pumping every 2-3 hours, and not even making half of what they needed.

The other was very unwell and didn't come home until 8 weeks. He couldn't latch well either. He immediately became sick with a bug and couldn't breathe through his nose so couldnt feed.

Ended up being whooping cough and I had to stay in with him for 11 days while he was tube fed minimal amounts, and his brother was at home. After that neither would latch and my supply crashed to 300ml per day.

I upped my pumping to every 2 hours round the clock and only ever got up to 600ml a day. I kept this up until they were 7 months old and it nearly broke me completely. Looking back I should have stopped much sooner.

It definitely is possible, and your chances are better if your babies are a good weight, aren't separated from you, you get lots of opportunity to latch early and so on. It's not impossible if you don't get those things, but I'd urge you to be as informed as possible before they arrive on latch, normal feeding behaviour, signs of a problem and where to get help if you need it. And if it doesn't work out, don't beat yourself up over it for months on end and torture yourself - I never thought I would be like that, but it was really unhealthy for me and my babies. The most important thing when you have twins is doing the best you can and making your peace with that!

[DramaAlpaca]

No personal experience, but a good friend of mine EBF twins for six months. Her twins were a good size as they were born at 40 weeks, she was induced on her due date. One of the twins was actually bigger than my singleton, who was born around the same time. My friend seemed to have an easier time BF her twins than I did my colicky single baby, I was very envious of her. They were first babies, so she was able to concentrate on nothing but feeding in the early days, which is exactly what she did.

[villainousbroodmare]

I'm watching this with interest. I bf'd DS1 till 14mo (ebf till 5mo) and my only problem was too much milk. I was pumping and freezing/ chucking till 4mo. So I hope I'll have enough. What sling did people use? Can you stuff two babies into a Moby wrap?! I'm in South Africa so will have to buy stuff well ahead, no Amazon Prime etc here.

[idontlikealdi]

It's possible but bloody hard. Mine were born at 32 weeks and I pumped for five weeks while they were in NICU, they never learnt to latch and they were in tubes for top ups so it never happened for us. But I know two families who did ebf.

I would say hope for the ideal and if it doesn't happen for whatever reason then top up or ff as needed.

[JellyTeapot]

Villainous I put both of mine in a Je Porte Mon Bebe for a couple of months or so, it was a godsend during the fussy early days! If you can, get support from a sling consultant to make sure you're wearing them safely.

[Taytotots]

It certainly is possible and worth trying. I bf mine for 2 years in the end and they were 34 weekers and C-section. As you say though many parents mix feed or formula feed so all about making the best decision for your circumstances. I was given a lot of support in SCBU from a lovely nurse which really helped. I also found the la leche league book ' mothering multiples' a good resource and there is a Facebook group by the authors 'naturally parenting twins' which I found good for bf support ( although had to screen out some of the other stuff!). I did use a breastfeeding pillow which was a blue and white hard u shaped one (harmony?) And then a normal v shaped one from.about 4 months. Like buttface's mine cluster fed from about 6-11 every evening for the first few months so I recommend a good box set and someone on hand to keep you supplied with food and drink. Once established I think it was probably easier than FF for me as I could feed them at same time (rugby ball hold) and no washing up and got to eat lots. TAMBA have bf resources if you want to read up. Definitely worth being prepared if it is something you think you might want to do. Good luck.

[villainousbroodmare]

Jelly, that sling you mention looks very like the Moby.

[JellyTeapot]

It is Villainous, but it's a bit bigger so there's more room for two