For the ebf crowd: how on earth do you feed in public?

[Linguaphile]

First time mum here, just wondering how I'll ever get out of the house if I've got 2 babies breastfeeding. Do you cart around your tandem pillow? Just feed one at a time? Express before you leave the house?

Wondering if there is a subtle way to feed both at once without carting around loads of kit...though I may just be deluding myself about how much I'll want to leave the house in the first place!

I fed one at a time largely due to dtd1 being bad at latching on. I also had a bebe au lait cover that I loved as it felt like my boobs were constantly out! :)

Out and about I ALWAYS fed one at a time! Means you don't need the cushion at all.

I bf mine until 10 months and never cracked feeding both at the same time without complete exposure! So I kept tandem feeding to home

Oh - or in the car can work - but you do need an assistant to pass them to you ;)

Not multiples here but I feed my DD everywhere, after posting 11 Weeks ago that I was expressing to go register her as I was nervous incase she woke up :o

I wear a feeding bra under a vest top of same colour and looseish fitting top.

Pull bra cup and vest top down, position DD and lift top just above nipple and latch.

You can't see anything this way but dint think it would work for two.

I always found bfing my twins in public near impossible. I'm not particularly prudish but draw the line at hanging out topless in cafes (assuming you can fit the double buggy in there in the first place). I tried to time my trips to the park with DS1 to coincide with full twins, not always successfully. As I always fed them together, I was constantly dreading the moment they both kicked off and I could only placate one by feeding. One of the less convenient aspects of bfing twins.

I did once tandem feed them in a park!!! I had a couple of friends with me who sat around me and promised to not look at my tummy - I wore a jacket to cover my back and used my knees to just about hold them in place.

For the first 6 months or so, I had a policy of never, ever, ever going anywhere I couldn't exit and get privacy quickly.

So the car had to always be close by, or I stayed close to home, or I would go to sympathetic friends' houses.

In a cafe, for example, I might have tried to feed one at a time, but if that didn't work I had a pillow in the car and would go there, and just somehow hoik them into place - my body position was appalling often, but I managed to keep the wolf from the door for them. Failing that I would be able to go home and do it properly.

I tandem feed at home usually so feed them before going out and then either don't go out for too long or go places with a spare adult to keep one baby amused while I feed the other. Not confident enough to have the full exposure of tandem feeding in public!

One at a time for me. I was very self conscious about it anyway, I could never have tandem fed.

Once they get older feeding downs take that long anyway so one at a time is pretty easy.

I haven't done it v often as when out, they often stir at different times.
I did have to do it in the middle of the health centre waiting for their jabs. It wsnt so bad actually. I have my pregnancy pillow under the buggy, I sat on the floor with my back against a wall, put the pillow on my lap and the changing bag to one side. I feed in the rugby ball position mostly so one baby mostly rested on the bag and the other had more of the cushion. This was when they were about 10-11 weeks so fairly robust - not sure they would have been strong enough earlier.

Now they are finally down to 10 min feeds during the day - hooray!!! - so I think I am good to just feed singly from now on.

I always tandem fed, but rarely in public, unlike my first child-all the rules change: total exposure was necessary when I was getting the hang of it.
However, I have small boobs and it was just about possible when I got the hang of it eg-vest top and open shirt plus scarf -lots of trying to adjust scarf with little finger! It depends on the hold too-I did mine rugby ball style, one under each arm.
I tried one at a time once-nightmare screaming from unfed child!
They mainly slept in the day so going out for a couple of hours straight after a feed was ok and necessary for ds1!

In terms of clothing, I wear a thin vest under everything to cover my tummy - uniqlo - heattech (in winter) or airtrim (in warm weather) are uber stretchy and long. Then a loose top over that. I like oversized jersey tops and slouchy sweatshirts - which are at least a wee bit trendy this year.

I always tandem feed too.

If I'm at the park and have plenty of space, I tandem.
Same in a restaurant - we always try and sit at the back in a corner booth so I have some privacy to tandem feed, both boys are old enough that they don't have to be flat to breast feed so they usually just slouch and latch.

However if it's a busy street or in malls extra. I find somewhere to sit and breast feed one at a time. I feed the fussiest first and sooth the other until it's their turn.

If I can't find somewhere to sit, I pick one up, and breast feed while pushing the stroller then swap.

I always, always cover them with a blanket draped over my shoulder for privacy.

I always fed one at a time, for me personally (tandem feeding was an elusive dream only to be used at home and in screaming emergencies) I would have had to be naked from the waist up more or less, which although I'm not bothered about being exposed, is not necessarily what other people want to see when they'd just gone to Starbucks for a quick coffee .

Its worth doing though, mine always slept almost immediately after a feed so it meant I had a little peace and quiet to enjoy a magazine or something.

Never tandem fed whilst out, only really wine tvery quick trips until I had it cracked though. I had BF DS1 successfully before the twins thou, so was confident. Make sure you have plenty of stretchy vest tops, then pull vest top down and outer top up. This means quicker and more discreet. Once they got good at feeding quite quickly I ditched tandem feeding for daytime feeds and enjoyed spending one to one time with each whilst feeding.

I fed them separately, whether at home or out. I found I got used to feeding one baby whe entertaining the other, since I spent about 99% of my time feeding one baby or the other for the first three months

Could you try with a Moby-style wrap sling? I never had the opportunity to try with two at a time, but with a wrap sling over a BF top one can certainly get one baby latched on and feeding happily held in the right position, and have the other boob free so it must be theoretically possible... (quick google found a youtube of someone demonstrating it with a pair of older twins but would work similarly with younger - the sling can be worn to give more head support so you don't have to wait till they can hold their heads up like the babies in the video)