Breastfeeding twins - the reality?

[Scottishlass]

my sil wants to try and breastfeed them, i breastfed my dd and found it quite hard at the beginning with the pain and the tie of not being able to do nothing else (memories of me sitting in a shallow bath easing my farmer giles whilst breast feeding thinking will i ever get a minute ever again????) but it did get easier and i breastfed for 8 months and loved it!

have you any advice for my sil with breastfeeding twins? she may have a c-section so does this make it harder as she will have to rest and the possibility that they will be small is quite high therefore they -therefore does this mean they will be forumla fed if they are premature?

my friend who had a premature baby and emergency c-section was separated for thr first night which really upset her and was anrgy when found out they had been formula fed, does this happen alot? do they not have breast milk banks at most hospitals?

i said to my sil that even if they do formula feed them first it will be ok as she can just breastfeed them after anyway.

Scottishlass, I had twins B & G I was only able to bf them for about 6 weeks, they were prem due March born Feb, I found it exhasting as I had ds1, he was 16mths when they were born, They still weighed in at 6lbs 3ozs and 6lbs 7ozs, the only comfortable, shortest and easiest way (for me)was to sit in middle of bed or sofa and prop 2 pillows either side of me, tuck both babies under my arms so they were head to head. This worked more often than not, when they gained weight and got too heavy, I started to do them one by one, that was the reason they then turned onto formula, I fed one and dh fed other. I alternated the feeds so they were still part bf. This slowly changed untill they were both on formula.

Its very time consuming, I felt like a prisoner at home, I found it difficult to get out and about with all three on my own,(No Car & Dh working shifts) I wouldn't have change that experience for the world though.

Good luck to your sil.

wow you really are mothernature!
you need a blue peter badge, 16mth old and TWINS!

so has things got easier now, they must be 10/11 months now?

Mammyshirl, sorry I should have put year in, they are all now grown to big girl and boy's the twins are 13 years in Feb, Ds1 was 14 in October last year... Oh god... what's happen to my youth, ah well such is life..

I au paired for a woman who had bf twins - she said alot easier as you only need one arm to do each one so you can do two at hte same time

Its such a short space when they need milk only I would give it a try - save strilising althose bottles

(Mears listen to ME!!)

I b/f my ds twins. They were a month prem, so it was nearly a week before they started to suckle, they were tube fed with expressed b/milk, till they got going.
I also found the head to head position best when they were smaller, especially as they were feeding every 2-3 hours early on, it saved me alot of time to do the two together.I used a v shaped pillow, and would agree about sitting in the middle of bed/sofa, and sort of pulling them round, as it's sometimes awkward to get them into position, when your alone and no one to hand them to you one by one.
I also had a c section, but found the pillow helped alot. I was seperated from them after the birth as the went to scbu, and were there for about a week before coming up to the ward. I was asked before they took them away, how I was going to feed, and was able to get to them, first thing the next morning. In the mean time they were fed fomula by tube, but switched to my own milk as soon as I expressed.
I found the staff in special care wonderful, they were very keen to get b/f established, as it was the best start for the boys. They were much more helpful than the staff on the ward.

I have 3 friends who have all breastfed twins to six months (and one beyond). Two introduced a night feed of formula quite early on, but the other just got on with it. Her babies were born very early and she expressed for them while in hospital. If they are premature your sister will make special premature milk.

Loads of people will tell he she can't do it, especially people who gave up feeding one baby quite early. Therefore I think she would have to be very determined, especially in hospital.

Let me give you a positive that all 3 friends have commented on. If you have one weak sucker and one strong then the strong one can stimulate the milk supply for the weak one. If you only have one baby with a poor latch or a weak suck then your milk supply dwindles.

There are a few books on bfing twins, and it may be an idea to contact the La Leche League whilst still pregnant as I'm sure they have got lots of experience in this.

My ds twins were born at 36 weeks by emergency c-section too(sudden onset of pre-eclampsia!) They went to the SCBU unit for the first night and were fed formula despite me saying I wanted to breastfeed. Thus breastfeeding became a total distaster and I had to give up after a few days of feeling like the crappest mother out.

If I had the chance again I would express the milk if I could. I wasn't given the choice which ruined the whole thing for me.

So tell your SIL to make sure she nags the staff into knowing EXACTLY what she wants!

My son's friends had B/G twins just over a year ago. The babes were bfed for quite some time. The mum had so much milk (enough to start up her own dairy!) so she expressed a lot. She would bfeed one baby while her dh fed ebm to the other baby. Next feed, they'd swap the babies over.

They have been weaned now as mum is back at work, while dad is a sahd. He made us laugh recently, commenting that it must be very boring staying at home with only one baby, as there can't be very much to do, LOL!

A friend expressed milk for her twins (born 34 weeks) until at least 6 months. She once told me she thought b'feeding was extremely important so I expect longer. Don't think she ever got them on the breast but found the expressing wasn't that bad; she just go an electric pump & got on with her routine. I know she did some bottles of formula when convenient, and she has an 18 month old, too, but her husband works flexi-time which helped.

A local woman had fraternal twins and put one on formula at 2 months old so she could concentrate on the weaker baby... he was still breastfeeding at 2yo!

Okay that is it! If we get the chance to move into a bigger house and we try for another baby I am definitely going to express and make sure the midwives and staff know it!

I have hated myself for not trying harder with the boys! Still, a week is better than nothing at all (I am trying to make myself feel better by saying that!)

I b/f my ds twins to 7 months, tho, did top up with bottles especially on the evening feed for the sale of my sanity. Could not manage the expressing thing at all but thats probably just me. Started off trying to feed them both at the same time, but got horrific backache from bad positioning, and also managed to let one baby roll off sofa onto his head whilst trying to get other in position ( he's relatively normal now so no harm done). Spent first few months doing little else but feeding, but then once they got bigger, went back to feeding them together.

Oh, also, I never bothered with that thing of if one wakes at night then wake the other one to feed him, and I'm glad that I didn't as one started to sleep through at 10 weeks and the other kept waking to 8 months! At least then I only had 1 baby to feed in the night.

Good luck to your sil with the b/f- I hope that the hospital will be as supportive as mine was.

Paula 71,
Don't be too hard on yourself !!!
I think I would have given up if I hadn't got such good support in SCUBU, it really was hard going at first, coupled with the worry, that they were already small,and was I doing the best thing to carry on trying to feed.
As long as you have happy, healthy, boys, you did the best that you could at the time.

I'm still breastfeeding my 10 month old twins, and though I had horrendous problems in the early months with infections and thrush and stuff (possibly due to positioning problems at outset - it is pretty hard to feed two perfectly at once at the beginning!) I was pretty determined a. because I'd fed two other children for over a year (singletons) and b. because I got so fed up with the medical profession's assumption that I would give up - I got SO little support I began to wonder whether some women found it threatening or something. Anyway, i just wanted to say how glad I am I persevered because not only does it save so much valuable time, but no one ever tells you how much easier it gets after about 6 months when they can help with the positioning, and you can feed in much more comfortable positions (even lying in bed), and they can latch on themselves. Good luck and don't let anyone put your sil off.

My sister got me a fantastic inflatable breastfeeding pillow specially designed for twins which straps round your waist which I found really useful for the first few months and meant I could even answer the phone or have a drink or burp one while still feeding the other. It's called EZ-2-nurse and its American - don't know if you can get them here yet, but someone should market them.