Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Multiple births

When do you start showing with twins? What is life with twins like? Join the conversation on our Multiple Births forum.

Feeding twins

13 replies

Kerry101 · 20/10/2004 10:52

Help!

My twins are due home next week after 8 weeks in SCBU-they had twin to twin transfusion syndrome and we are so lucky to have them. I expressed breast milk for 5 weeks and they are now on bottles. Just wondered how anybody else fed their twins-together, separately, woke both at same time?? Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Yorkiegirl · 20/10/2004 10:57

Message withdrawn

throckenholt · 20/10/2004 11:18

great that they are coming home !

I fed my twins mainly expressed milk, some formula. To keep our sanity we always fed them both at the same time - even if only one woke up we woke the other one. We propped them both up on a pillow and fed them together if we were on our, otherwise we took one each.

Ask on twinsclub.co.uk forum as well.

Bagpuss30 · 20/10/2004 11:24

A friend has twins and when they were little she used to put them in their bouncy chairs and sit in front of them with a bottle in each hand. They were always fed together as far as I can remember. Good luck with their homecoming, you must be so proud .

tinyganghq · 20/10/2004 11:46

Congratulations Kerry - you must be so pleased to be getting them home!

We did much the same as Throckenholt with ours; if the twins get used to being fed together, it means you get a bit more sleep and you're not constantly feeding. If we were both up, we'd take one each, but during the night feeds we took it in turns to do them both at once. I had a small sofa in their room and would prop one in each corner (well supported), then sit in front of them and bottle feed them at the same time. Then do the winding and a cuddle afterwards.

Another way was to put them in their little Rock-a-tot car seats then sit in front of them to feed them - they are at a good angle in those little chairs and wont slide about. Feeding in tandem like this is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time to start with, but you get good at it and cope with little differences between them ie one may go slightly faster than the other, or one may prefer a little rest now and then. I used to feel though that feeding them like this was dipping out on a good chance for a cuddle that single babies usually get when they feed, so I always talked to them when they fed and made extra time for a cuddle afterwards.

They got into the routine of being ready to feed at more or less the same time, and yes, I would wake one if they weren't up, because you could bet they would be ready any minute if they were due to be fed.

Will you have them in the same room? Mine are, and I was concerned at first that if one was crying for some reason (and it was time for them to be asleep) the other would be disturbed. I haven't found this to be too much of a problem though and one could be yelling the house down, but if the other is ok they just carry on sleeping through it somehow. In fact, atm they love being together (now 3yrs).

Wishing you lots of luck - oh, and if possible, get the largest steriliser that you can, as the more bottles you can do in one hit, the better!

throckenholt · 20/10/2004 12:30

just another idea - we used to put ours on the settee one either side, with heads at the top, feet to the back of the settee - ours got really good at feeding laying down !

Just figure out a position that works for you and beware of getting cramp if you get in a bad position.

Uhu · 20/10/2004 17:58

My twin DSs were delivered 6 weeks early because the smaller one had stopped growing due to IUGR. Consequently, they were in the special care unit for 3 weeks before we could bring them home. Initially, I use to feed one when he cried and then woke the other one up to feed him next (both bottle and breast). Very soon they needed feeding at the same time so I put them in the bouncers with them facing me,one on either side, my back supported against the sofa and bottle-fed them simultaneously. I tried to simultaneously breastfeed them but I could never get them to latch on properly at the same time so they were breast fed one at a time. They are now 8 months old and I still do it this way with both bottle and solids. With the solids, I fill one mouth and then the other!

Kerry101 · 21/10/2004 13:23

Thanks everyone. Was wanting to feed them together but was having "I'm a mean mummy" moment. Great to know loads of people feed together even if it means waking one up.

I can see this website is going to be my salvation in months to come...........

OP posts:
mummylove · 21/10/2004 13:40

hello

congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

my sil fed one at a time - the loud one first!

usually one is more patient than the other.

but this method only lasted a short while as the quiet knew he wa being taken advantage of so began to protest.

sil would thenput both babies side by side in their chairs and feed at the same time then takes turns in winding. you can actually get bottle holders so babies can lie on their side and drink bottle alone so you could feed one and thwn switch next time round.

best bet is at the beginning get friends and family to come round and help with feeding times. have you got a nice neighbour by any chance?

good luck!

fionagib · 21/10/2004 20:12

I fed mine (now 7rs old) together as much as I could, to establish a pattern to the day, and so I'd be in a better position to know when I could take them out, or when they'd sleep - routine was our sanity then. I'd have them in their stage 1 car seats, the kind you can carry, and hold their bottles that way, or hold one baby, and have the other in his seat.

am so pleased for you, you must be delighted (though shattered I'm sure!) Good luck to you!

TwoIfBySea · 21/10/2004 22:50

Kerry, first of all congratulations on getting your bubs home! Now the fun begins! I did what Bagpuss's friend did, one in each bouncer, me in the middle and bottle in each hand.

I found that if one woke for feeding the other would quickly follow, I never had to wake one up. Neither want to miss out on anything and they are still like that at 33 months!

If sitting on the sofa I would, when they were very tiny, have one in my arms and, sitting cross-legged, another in the crook of my legs, sounds more complicated than it is! Ds twin1 prefered being tucked into my legs while ds twin2 liked being held closer (lucky that, eh?.) I can't quite describe it properly, the bouncer method was prefered!

Are you still going to be expressing? I wish I had done that rather than give up! Just wondering.

Paula

weepy · 30/10/2004 23:58

Kerry - I hope all goes well when they come home.

My twins were in SCBU for 8 weeks and I roomed in for two nights before they came out and was horrified about the reality of being left alone to do the feeding. In the first few days they always "went off" at the same time and as it took up to an hour to feed and wind each one I was popping paracetemol constantly. I could never get the hang of feeding them both together - I guess I just dont have the coordination. Even now (they are now 6 months old) when they are generally easier to handle and quicker to feed I find it impoaaible and do one at a time. My salvation has been the dummy and noisy toys which keep one of them quiet whilst I feed the other.

And yes, definitely wake one up to feed when you are doing the other baby anyway during the night as I had a couple of weeks where their feeds were two hours apart and I was on the point of collapse. It doesnt matter so much during the day (as long as you arent planning to actually go out anywhere ) but at night you have to do this or you wont get enough sleeep.

My biggest piece of advice is do not ever ever ever start feeding one and then stop to start the other and then alternate - I tried this once and only once and had two seriously p1ssed off babies.

Anyway -good luck. In a week or two you will have worked out whatever is best for you and all will be completely natural.

staarbar · 23/11/2004 11:01

Hi Kerry
You must be so pleased to be finally getting them home. I have twin boys who are now 2½ and a 4 yr old girl. I found it a nightmare at the beginning with an 18 month old to keep happy at the same time as feeding two hungry babies! The only way I coped was to keep to a planned routine as much as I could and try and feed the babies at the same times each day, even if it meant waking one or both. The days that they were out of 'sync' were a total nightmare! I'm due our 4th in February so I'm a real glutton for punishment!!!

When they were really tiny ( 4lbs each at birth) I fed ( expressed) them both at the same time.. Sitting with my legs crossed with one in my lap and one in my arms and they were happy with that, moving on to having them both in bouncers and feeding at the same time. Lots of luck and love to you and your little bundles!! Have fun

staarbar · 23/11/2004 11:02

Hi Kerry
You must be so pleased to be finally getting them home. I have twin boys who are now 2½ and a 4 yr old girl. I found it a nightmare at the beginning with an 18 month old to keep happy at the same time as feeding two hungry babies! The only way I coped was to keep to a planned routine as much as I could and try and feed the babies at the same times each day, even if it meant waking one or both. The days that they were out of 'sync' were a total nightmare! I'm due our 4th in February so I'm a real glutton for punishment!!!

When they were really tiny ( 4lbs each at birth) I fed ( expressed) them both at the same time.. Sitting with my legs crossed with one in my lap and one in my arms and they were happy with that, moving on to having them both in bouncers and feeding at the same time. Lots of luck and love to you and your little bundles!! Have fun

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread