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Multiple births

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

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Original poster

Expressing and brestfeeding twins

16 replies

Sullwah · 13/02/2008 10:26

I am having twins on the 25th Feb by C section at 37 weeks (first childlren).

Ideally I would like to bf them but to give me a break I would also like to express so that my husband can do some feeds to give me a break.

Any tips on how to do this?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

MarsLady · 13/02/2008 10:29

Hi Sullwah

I have 4 yo twins and do come and say hi on the d'y ever threads (currently something to do with a shag pile).

Ideally you shouldn't express before 6 weeks when your milk is nicely established.

I found that getting my husband to do a feed in the late evening/early night gave me the opportunity for a few hours sleep in one block.

MarsLady · 13/02/2008 10:30

here we are

Littlefish · 13/02/2008 10:32

Hi Sullwah

My sister has twin boys and I know that she expressed for them so that she could feed them while they were out and about, without having to get both her norks out at once . She used to breastfeed one and EBM bottle feed the other. However, as Mars says, this was not until they were a couple of months old.

She had a proper electric pump which I think she hired from her hospital. It meant that she could pump from both breasts at once (as she was used to tandem feeding anyway), so it cut down the amount of time she had to spend expressing.

THe NCT also hires out electric breastpumps.

MarsLady · 13/02/2008 10:34

The Almeda Lactaline Dual Pump is fantastic.

coffeemate · 13/02/2008 10:44

Hi, congrats!

Not everybody gets on with electric pumps, so if that doesn't work for you, try a bog stand avent handpump. I found it really easy to express with this. I ended up expressing all of my milk for the twins, as I found it too time consuming to feed them on the breast and look after my older two children. You don't necessarily need to spend a fortune on a fancy electric pump.

Original poster

Sullwah · 13/02/2008 12:20

Thanks for your advice and replies.

Has anyone successfully done both from the start? Or do I really need to wait 6 weeks?

Just not sure I have the patience to breastfeed two on my own for so long. I think it will drive me mad - and to be honest I am a bit hesitant about bf twins in public!

OP posts:

MarsLady · 13/02/2008 13:20

Darling you will be too knackered to express before anyway. And you may not feel the need to get out of the house much anyway.

What support have you put in place?

throckenholt · 13/02/2008 13:28

to be honest - it is not a break to express instead of feeding - because it is actually easier to feed directly (more efficient) - and you still have to keep the same sort of timing routine (eg every 3 hours or so) when you express.

bellabelly · 13/02/2008 13:46

I had a c-section and my milk did not come in until I tried to express with my electric pump the night before. The next morning, bingo! Lots of milk.

I know I might not be popular for saying this but there can be issues with BF-ing after c-section - my milk didn't come in for 5 days and I resisted using formula as had been warned it could interfere with production of breast milk. However, by the time we caved in and used formula (the same night I turned in desperation to my breast pump), the twins had lost far too much weight and had to go back to hospital for a whole week of drips, feeding tubes etc etc. Really hope nothing like this happens to you but just be aware that if you get to day 3 or 4 and your milk has not come in, you do actually need to give them something. One of my boys was severely dehydrated and I felt like a total idiot for having thought it would all be ok if I just waited for the milk to arrive. Hope your experience is a much happier one - lots of women have much more success with BFing twins!

electronic · 13/02/2008 14:52

i use the avent handpump after trying a few different medela hand and electric pumps, single and double while i was in the hospital. def found the avent ISIS handpump the best one which got lots of milk off really quickly even though it was only a single one and a hand one. you COULD use two of them at the same time if you wanted to i guess. i only use it to get a couple of "ice cubes" off each day when i'm getting milk off to mix with medicine i have to give to one of mine and keep up a store in the freezer for occasional bottle feeding in the event of appts/illness or something like that when someone else can feed them. hadn't thought about using it for when i went out but can see the merits of that perhaps cos yes tandem feeding when you're out and about is a bloody nightmare i've found and i just end up packing up and coming home most of the time. how do you warm a bottle if you're out and about in a park or something? is that a really stupidly basic question?

chopster · 13/02/2008 16:04

I used to have a thermos that was big enough to sit a bottle in it. The thing with breast milk is though, you don't have to refrigerate it if you use it within so many hours, so I used to take out what I had expressed that morning.

MarsLady · 13/02/2008 18:40

There doesn't necessarily need to be any more bfing problems with a c-birth than a vaginal birth. I've been at both. I've had both. When it comes to bfing what you need is good information and good support. That's most of the battle done!

Leoloopydoo · 13/02/2008 21:27

I had a c-section and still bfing my twins (who will be a year next week).
I also had a c-s with my singleton and had no probs bfing him either.
I expressed loads of milk but getting the dts to take a bottle never really worked out - maybe partly my reluctance. I liked (and still do) the time feeding them. I found it more of a pain to express than to feed. At night dh would get up to bring babies for feeding and put them back into bed again (if they didnßt stay in with us) so I was as undisturbed as possible.

Getting through the first few weeks takes some determination, but its worth it. I think most of us who have bfed feel that messing around with bottles would be much more hassle.
Try to focus now on the positive things about bfing - how do you know that you wonßt have patience, if you expect not to have patience you are already putting it into your head that you wonßt iykwim

Unless you want to tandem feed at the same time its no different feeding one in public to feeding 2. Just start feeding one a bit earlier than normal so the second doesnßt have to wait too long.

bellabelly · 13/02/2008 22:39

Mars, I wondered with hindsight if part of the problem for me was the ELECTIVE c-section (at 38 weeks), as maybe the hormones that promote BFing were not up and running straight away like they would have been if I'd actually gone into labour naturally? The hospital at no point thought this would be a problem but am a bit .

chipmonkey · 13/02/2008 23:42

bella, I had an emergency C section at 32 weeks and the milk still came in fine. I had breastfed other children before that, though.

MarsLady · 13/02/2008 23:47

No Bella my lovely. It wasn't the elective section. I've had both, elective and emergency.

I think you didn't have the correct information and help sadly. Honestly darling it WASN'T YOU! And it wasn't the section.

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