Hiya - I nicked this off a breastfeeding supporters yahoo group. Some fab advice for feeding twins!
Breastfeeding is the easiest part of caring for two babies at
once! So it's worthwhile getting it off to the best start. Would suggest:
- Get personal, face-to-face help asap after the birth to ensure
that each baby separately can latch and suck effectively enough to
really "breastfeed". I don't think there's really any phone/email
substitute that can achieve this so well - it needs to be a person
who is very good at latching babies, and then teaching the mother how
to do it herself.
- If each baby is not transferring enough milk, then
breastmilk-feed (pump or hand express) until he/she can. Caution
here is that babies will be born by C/sec, may be small, and may not
be competent - this is no-one's fault, but the possibility needs to
be recognized,
- The MOST important aspect is not "breastfeeding" per se (which
can be learned by mother and babies really at any time - preferably
soon after birth, but not absolutely crucial) but the breastmilk
supply, which needs to be protected at all costs if the mother wants
to breastfeed two babies, and for six full months. In other words,
it is crucial not to sacrifice the fragility of the breastmilk SUPPLY
on the altar of breastFEEDING - a mother of twins needs all the milk
storage capacity she can get, and once breasts are permitted to
become engorged, the damage to the milk producing cells may be
irreparable. In practice, this means, that mother's breasts must
never be allowed to become overfull, and stay overfull - use one or
both babies to drain (if competent) or pump or manual expression (if not).
- Once each baby can latch and feed fairly well, then mother can
and should attempt simultaneous breastfeeding asap. This will save
her hours of time and - most importantly - enable her to comfort two
babies at once in a way that is not possible by any other method!
- Once babies can be fed simultaneously, consider feeding them in
the football/rugby hold with enough pillows under/around mum and
babies that she can do this hands-free - so that she has a pair of
hands available for the older child (handle toys. wipe nose,
pat/cuddle, feed etc) or to eat her own food etc. She needs a couch,
lots of pillows, and a coffee table placed in front for drinks,
snacks, toys, tissues, remote control on the TV, books, magazines,
mobile phone.... once you're plugged in, it's very hard to move two
babies without disturbing them, and especially waking them up after
feeding.... It is possible, however, to breastfeed two babies at
once and simultaneously cuddle an older child or play with him.
- Get someone else to do all the housework! And the shopping!
- Get husband to prepare meals and cut them up into bite-sized
pieces, bring drinks .....
- I agree, consider NOT contacting TAMBA, who may not have many
successful BF mothers of twins on their books. Yes, Karen Gromada's
book is great. Email/phone contact later, for endless doses of
reassurance, and mother-support meetings if mum feels able to handle
the logistics of getting out with two babies and another toddler, can
be really helpful. Twin mothers have often seen friends struggling
to breastfeed even one baby, which really saps their confidence about
their own ability to breastfeed two.
- The mother should follow her heart about their care, eg resist
all "advice" to artificially separate them, especially if they are
identical, unless it really "feels" right - allow them to feed
together, sleep together, play together if that keeps them
happier. This doesn't always mean treating each baby equally -
sometimes one will require more care/feeding, and later the other
one will, but I've observed that the older twins who fight the most,
and seem the least happy, are the ones whose mothers appeared to go
out of their way to foster so-called "individuality" right from the
beginning. They will morph into individuals eventually, in their own time.
- Enjoy! Breastfeeding twins can be a life-changing experience,
for mothers and fathers, and for their relationship. Fathers often
rise to the challenge, helping more with two babies than with one,
since they can see that the need is so great.... And breastfeeding
twin toddlers is the most amazing thing - it can make their care so
much easier, and they tell you what they like about it too.