Breastfeeding twins article on mumsnet

[t1mum3]

Haven't posted on here in ages, but did anyone else find this mildly irritating and not like their own experience? www.mumsnet.com/babies/breastfeeding-twins

[ellesbellesxxx]

Definitely.. I know several of us who had supply issues despite feeding two/pumping every three hours etc.. my daughter lost 14% of her body weight as she didn't get enough from me and even when my milk came in she needed formula top ups to gain weight.
And has this person ever tried to tandem feed!!? Two fidgety babies on off on off...
I appreciate for some it goes amazingly and that's wonderful!!!! Just for me.. this article wasn't representative

[t1mum3]

I was lucky that my babies were 37 weeks, but one had no suck reflex (apparently that's what they spend the last three weeks in utero practising). I had supply issues and the one who could feed would fall asleep after two minutes then wake up for a feed again at 40 minutes. The bit about 37 being term with no issues annoyed me, and the idea that people with twins do mixed feeding because it is "easier" - well most twin mums I know weren't given the choice due to their babies weight loss (bearing in mind that the babies are normally on the underweight side already at birth).... I have one friend that it worked for, but I know a LOT of twin mums and she is the only one.

[ellesbellesxxx]

"Most twins are born at 37 weeks gestation" is surely wrong? 50% at least are born pre term (term being 37w) according to term and 51.5% in a survey needed neonatal care... however many others would have feeding issues that are dealt with in hospital.
Where did they get their facts from?!

[ellesbellesxxx]

Absolutely mixed feeding was not done for us because it was easier.. it was to get the weight on!

[Waterdropsdown]

As usual it’s probably written by someone with no twins or someone who has twins a full time maternity nurse with them, so they would have NOTHING else to have to do!

I seriously never understood how anyone could tandem feed, I actually felt like I was putting both babies in danger as how can you actually manage both of them. You’ve only got one arm of one falls off the cushion and by moving to stop them falling you more than likely knock the other one off. Suffice to say I only did this a few times.

[ellesbellesxxx]

*according to tamba

[Ohhshiney]

I’ve been breastfeeding my twins for 6months, they had small weight loss after birth but I continued still, this article isn’t all rubbish, I only feed seperate when out unles really necessary. For some it isn’t that bad. I may just be the lucky one but I have seen lots of multiple mums successfully feed without any problems

[ellesbellesxxx]

@ohhshiney that's brilliant :) I really admire people who have been able to do it.. I managed three months but only 4/5 weeks exclusively and even then only for one twin (my daughter was just too hungry!)
However the article does not have all the correct facts and figures.. and doesn't acknowledge that there are different challenges to feeding Twins which not everyone can manage... mixed feeding for example it says many mums turn to as being easier, whereas actually for me, mixed feeding saved my babies from needing to go to SCBU as both were jaundiced (one needing two days of phototherapy) and one with low blood sugars.
Really pleased it's gone well for you... it's good to hear when it does go well!

[Ohhshiney]

Yes they could do with a few more facts and figures in there I agree. The only real reason I persevered was due to cost of formula, if that was free I may not of tried as hard

[Iwantawhippet]

True to my experience. Used a twins breastfeeding cushion. But mine were born late - 39 weeks - much more difficult with little ones, I guess.

[t1mum3]

Sometimes unfortunately it's not about how hard you try or perseverance, especially with twins. I say that as someone who persevered for two years with her singleton (despite crippling mastitis), low supply, bleeding nipples and hospitalisation on an IV drip for four days. It's great to hear positive stories about people who are able to breast feed twins but I dislike any implication that being unable to fully breast feed twins is due to lack of effort (which I think was the subtext of the article). Good for midwives and health visitors to understand that it's not simple.

[Bangkokbaby]

I have to say that the article wasn't all rubbish for me. I breastfed my twins until they were 2 1/2.
It was really hard in the early days and I had to pump and top up for the first month or so, but we soon moved onto exclusively bf. I mostly tandem fed, but fed singly when out and about, to avoid exposing too much skin!
I know many mum's who have bf twins successfully, but also many who struggled, or chose to mix feed. For those who struggled it certainly wasn't through lack of trying, so I hate the idea that mum's just didn't try hard enough.

[Mathbat]

“You will be encouraged to express within an hour of birth” if your twins are premature apparently. Ha ha ha. Mine were three months early and an hour after their birth I was in intensive care on an oxygen pump. It was 39 hours before I even met the twins and about four days before anyone showed me how to express milk for them. So yes, this article paints a very rose tinted view in my opinion.

[ellesbellesxxx]

@mathbat 🌷🌷
My babies didn't even feed until we got to recovery 2/3 hours later as I had torn and they were stitching for a long time.. I do wonder if that led to some of our issues..