kathryn2804

[BabiesEverywhere]

Hi,

I have noticed you around this board a lot, so though I would stick this post in Breast and Bottle feeding rather than chat

I read you have exclusively breastfed twins !!! Wow, well done. I find it tiring enough tandem nursing and at least in my setup there is only one newborn !!!

I was to ask you a little bit about your breastfeeding experience, as I was reading your profile and I see you are both a breastfeeding peer support AND a breastfeeding counsellor...how do you find time to raise twins on top of that !?!

Being nosey, did you do both of your breastfeeding courses with the same charity ?

I saw you mention that you ran a drop in centre is that on your own or a baby cafe style centre ? Are you allowed to take your own children along with you ?

Thanks

bump

bump

bump

Bump

bump

who did you do that with? I wanted to do it with the ABM but the HV who was meant to be putting mte forward never got back to me. Have now decided that if I ever go on ML again I'll do it then

HoochieVirginMomma, Nice to meet you You don't have to be Kathryn to be on thios thread. I just keep seeing her posts but never on the same threads at the same time IYSWHIM, so I tried this post but I guess I am bumping it at the wrong times, LOL.

Just interested in an exclusively breastfeeding mum (when her twins were little)

Wow, that really is amazing I am nursing two but a toddler and a newborn, which although tiring must be much easier than two newborns.

How much time did you spend nursing your twins ?

Did you mainly feed them at the same time ?

Did nursing two babies make you feel very touched out ?

Sorry I took so long getting back to you!!! Been a VERY busy weekend

I had the boys back in 2005 and had some great support from a midwife and then from our local breast-feeding drop-in and the Mum who ran the local twins club. I was keen to try breastfeeding, but once they latched on and could do it, that was it, I knew I had to do my part and keep going. It was really hard to start with and I was found sobbing at 3am a few times, but we got through it. Once it was established I actually started to enjoy it!!

I breastfed up until they were 13 mths and one of them self-weaned, but got upset if the other had it, so we only lasted another week or so!

I was offered the chance to train as a breastfeeding peer support counsellor just as they were turning one, and thought it would be fantastic to try to help other Mums who wanted to breastfeed, especially Mums of twins. It was the most fantastic thing I think I have ever chosen to do, I learnt so much and it was also really therapeutic to go through your own story and listen to everyone else's experiences. I made some life-long friends.

I now volunteer one morning a week at the drop-in and try to catch as many twin Mums ante-natally as possible, through the twins club, to support them into either fully breastfeeding or mixed feeding. It is so rewarding it doesn't seem like hard work at all. And I truly beleive it makes a difference!

I work as a clarinet/saxophone teacher the other 4 days and the boys are at nursery and start school in Sept.

I hope that answers your questions!!

I had a contempory at twins club who exclusively breastfed triplets, so I always used to think of her whenever I was having problems! She is a real supermum and breastfed them until they were over 2 !!!!

Kathryn - are you in Worcestershire? I know someone who breastfed triplets as well - just wondered if it's the same person.

A call for NeenzTwinz - also done it!

Nope, N W London, I know there are other super triplet breastfeeding Mums!!

kathryn, great to hear your story

Can I just ask you not to call yourself a 'breastfeeding counsellor', though, as I have seen you use this term about yourself a few times on mumsnet?

This is to avoid confusion.

'Breastfeeding counsellors' are not the same as a peer counsellor/peer supporter. Breastfeeding counsellors are volunteers who have trained with NCT or ABM - the only vol orgs who use the term. NCT breastfeeding counsellors train for a long time (usually 2-3 years or more) and their training is extensive and in depth - this is not to say they are 'better' than peer supporters, but they can offer a wider, deeper range of help with a pretty thorough technical knowledge of breastfeeding.

The problem is that the term 'breastfeeding counsellor' is not legally protected in any way, so all that can be asked is that practitioners use the correct term when it comes to themselves! Then there might be a little less confusion for mothers.

This is not to criticise you in any way, believe me...but it is to ask, politely, for you to let breastfeeding counsellors use the term for themselves. Thanks!

Didn't realise I'd used the term breastfeeding counsellor, I always try to write peer supporter or peer support counsellor, sorry for that. I trained with my local PCT, as I said, and then I did the Unicef course which is a very intense one and learnt a lot more about the physical and medical side of it. Now I've had about 2 1/2 years 'out in the field'.

We are hoping to turn professional in Harrow, a bit like Little Angels have done. That'll be great because we have had a high drop off of volunteers because of people having to go back to work.

I fed mine together most of the time as it meant half the work!! I have no idea how long I spent breastfeeding at the beginning, seemed like all day!! But once they got to about 3 weeks and I'd mastered tandem feeding, it got a lot easier, took no longer than feeding one.

Thanks, kathryn - it all helps to clarify the different sorts of support available for mothers

I think ongoing support and training - like you have experienced - for peer supporters is vital, both to keep them up to date and feeling supported themselves, and to keep the volunteers interested. NCT breastfeeding counsellors are required to have regular supervision and support and in-service training, and I think it's the sign of a better peer support scheme (like Little Angels) if this is done for their supporters, too.

Kathryn called herself a "breastfeeding peer support counsellor" Tiktok, what's wrong with that??

saveme - she has called herself a breastfeeding counsellor on several different occasions (I checked - just in case I had imagined it or remembered wrongly! There are 5 posts in which she described herself as a 'breastfeeding counsellor'). Clearly, this was a mistake which she has now rectifed - as I said, I am not getting at her.

Thanks Kathryn, lovely to hear from you and thanks for clearing up my confusion on what courses you had done.

Saveme, Kathryn has stated several times that she is a counsellor on various threads. Plus she wrote both counsellor and peer supporter in her profile and that is why I assumed she had done both (very different in length and content) courses.