Breastfeeding twins

Which way is best - breastfeeding the twins one by one or both at
the same time?

 

This is a great question!
from what I've heard (I have no experience), it really depends on you and your babies. Some prefer together, while other moms I"ve spoken with prefer to do it seperatly...not sure there is a right/wrong way...

I would check on the breastfeeding board here on TS if you haven't already...they have been a great resource!

best of luck to you!!
reb

 

I liked 2 at a time because then they stay pretty much on the same schedule and get the same amount of fore and hind milk. It also was a little less confusing to me to remember who went first at each feeding and who got which side. The drawback is you're pretty much nude when you do it and it's harder to be discreet, so public feedings were, for me, out of the question. That's just me,though.

 

I am a non schedule mom (I mean they decided the schedule themselves, I didn't give them a rythm) and I fed them according to their own rythms. They were NICU babies for 6 weeks and there they were on a 3 hour schedule, but as soon as we got home Alex put himself on a 4 hour schedule and Ollie stayed on 3 hours (but cried a lot in between... he would be unsettled every hour, due to some allergies we found out later). That meant they would eat together sometimes and separate most times. It also meant practically breastfeeding round the clock! For example I would tandem feed at 6, then one at 9 and one at 10, then one at 12 and one at 2 and one at 3 and both at 6.
It was exhausting to say the least! And they weren't happy babies either, both were colicky and whiny, Ollie moreso that Alex, and the whole time I wasn't feeding I was carrying them around...

I was very very happy when at 5 months we started with some cereal and they would go for longer spells and by the time they were 6 or 7 months they only fed 3 times each, before breakfast, after lunch and before bedtime and I did it one on one, since they could wait for a bit longer.
Tandem feeding also hurt my back!
I breastfed them for 12 months (Ollie) and 18 months (Alex). If I had to do it again with twins, I don't know what I would do... maybe feed them close together but not tandem...

With Ella I just fed whenever she wanted it, wherever I was (even walking around! or on the toilet, while the boys had baths, etc...) and it was a much more relaxed thing. But it was just one of her and I was a breastfeeding pro by then. I just stopped feeding her a couple of months ago, aged 14 months, because I had to take antibiotics and she is a big girl anyway!

I think the most important thing is to know that however you feed and however long you are able to do it, it is fine! There are 3 people involved, not just 2, and YOU have to feel good about and with yourself. If breastfeeding is too much of a hassle and you are unhappy, you do not have to do it, or you can change things like schedules or supplement every now and then. I wish someone had told me this when all I did was feed and change and feed and carry around and cry cry cry all day long! You are doing the best for you and your children, no matter how feeding ends up working for you.
I was lucky, I had tons of supply and good latchers, only a pretty bad timetable, but had they not eaten well on top of it, I would have died of exhaustion!

Good luck, Millie

 

I nursed the boys for 13 months. In the hospital I had the lactation consultant and nurses help me to tandem feed so I could get the hang of it before going home. When I got home, I nursed them both separately and tandem for about 2 weeks until one day, I just couldn't do it anymore - I felt I was nothing more than a cow at each baby's demand! I said then and there that we were going to tandem feed from now on and that's what we did! It got them on the same eating/sleeping/pooing schedule which made things a ton easier. To each mom their own, but for me, tandem was the best and easiest way. However, the EZ 2 Nurse Twin nursing pillow was a must - I used that every single time I nursed. If I was going by my parents or somewhere, that pillow came with me so I could nurse them.

 

Thank you all so much for your comments it is really a big comfort talking
to you guys all the way from South Africa.

 

I've asked ladies who have twins my age (almost 30) what they remember from having their little ones that would be helpful and this is one of the hottest topics. Two of them told me separately to feed them on the same schedule. They said they would actually wake up a sleeping baby if the other twin got up to feed. Also, as far as position...and I thought this was really neat...they suggested to lie them in the same direction so that one of them is sort of laying in the other ones lap. That way, you can pick them up easily if you are by yourself and you have more control over the situation.

One other small tidbit...when they start eating cereal and baby food, use just one bowl and one spoon to feed them. Don't try to keep separate spoons for each of them until they can hold them themselves.

 

I am tandem nursing for the most part but occasionally one of them will want a snack before it is time for them both to eat. I address that twin and then pick right back up with feeding them at the next feeding together. I also will feed them both at the same time at night. This keeps them both full at the same time and lessens the number of times I have to wake up. Makes for a more manageable sleep schedule for all. LOL

I agree with PP on the fact that, yes, it does hurt your back unless you can lean back in a chair with a Boppy pillow and you do have to be practically half naked to do it.

It is kind of like fishing with nipples... LOL
You get one fishy hooked and then you dangle and wiggle for the other one to grab hold. It's actually funny (apparently) from my husbands perspective.

There is no right or wrong, it's what works for you and your babies.

 

i would say that there isn't necessarily a best way - there's just the way that works for you! in my case, we've done a little bit of everything, although overall i prefer to tandem feed as it saves time. but as PPs have mentioned, it's tough to tandem feed discreetly, so when we're out & about & they need to eat i feed them one at a time. at night, i'm very strict about tandem feeding - if one baby's hungry they're both hungry, even if it means waking someone up. it's hard enough to get up at night without having to do it twice as often! HTH.

 

Find what works for you and go with it. I fed the girls seperately for a long time, because they had a better latch that way. Now that they're bigger they just crawl into my lap and line up like little piggies, so I nurse them at the same time. Plus now that they're older, if they see the other one nursing, the second will come right over, necessitating me nursing them at the same time

 

QUOTE(kendraplus2 @ Oct 21 2008, 09:12 AM) [snapback]1034964[/snapback]
It got them on the same eating/sleeping/pooing schedule which made things a ton easier. To each mom their own, but for me, tandem was the best and easiest way. However, the EZ 2 Nurse Twin nursing pillow was a must - I used that every single time I nursed. If I was going by my parents or somewhere, that pillow came with me so I could nurse them.


I agree with PP...get the EZ2Nurse pillow if you can. I tandem feed most of the time to keep their schedules the same during the day. When one gets hungry during the night or early morning, I feed individually - one on one time plus I want them to sleep uninterrupted at night for as long as their bodies will allow - but other than that, we do tandem. The only problem I've found is that they nurse so much better together that if I'm out somewhere and have to nurse one at a time, they never seem as satisfied...sometimes they'll act hungry until the next tandem feed!

 

I have been tandem nursing but if only one wants a snack, I address that twin alone.

Totally up to you and your babies.
Sometimes I think they want that alone time though because they kick eachother if they are over tired.
I also posted another thread about their newest trick... Ugh...

 

Whatever works for you! Some moms find that the babies get more milk faster if they tandem nurse, because the letdown is stronger. Tandem nursing is great if you're having any kind of supply issues, because it sends your body a strong message that there are two babies to make milk for. But there's nothing wrong with doing one at a time either! Some moms really enjoy having that one-on-one cuddling time.

 

QUOTE(Specky @ Oct 21 2008, 07:16 AM) [snapback]1034853[/snapback]
from what I've heard (I have no experience), it really depends on you and your babies. Some prefer together, while other moms I"ve spoken with prefer to do it seperatly...not sure there is a right/wrong way...


Same here -- on both counts! I don't have any children of my own (until February!) but the breastfeeding guide I've been reading advises you let the little ones help you choose what works best. After all, a happy baby is a happy baby! :Clap: (And TWO happy babies is even better! :Clap::Clap

 

I have found myself doing a mix. At the first I did them mostly separate--unless they were both really hungry--because they were still learning to latch. Then for several weeks they were nursing so constantly I did tandem as much as I could or I would never have had a break. But I also spend a lot of times outside with my preschoolers, so there I would do one at a time (usually right after each other) and the same if I go anywhere. In the afternoon I like to take a nap and give them each a turn nursing while I lie down. Then in the evenings it's back to tandem feeding so I have time in between the cluster feeds to do the dishes. At night I have one who will go 10 hours straight most of the time, so I leave her alone and bring her brother in bed with me when he wakes up to nurse.

It really just depends on how things go. It will come together when you actually do it!

 

I think it really depends on you and what you're comfortable with. There is no right way or wrong way. For me, I couldn't get the hang of tandem so I nursed them separately. As they got older, however, I started tandeming then. Just for the fact if one is nursing the other wants to nurse (my boys are 2)