Did you try tandem in the hospital?

My c sec is a week from today and wondering if you tried tandem in the hospital? How did it go? Should I just focus on feeding one at a time? I nursed my previous 2 children so I am confident in nursing just not sure about 2 at once. I do have the ez2nurse pillow should I take it ? Also if you did tandem which hold of the babies was the easiest for you? I'm worried about tandemming and being exposed when vistors come. It's easy to be discreet with one but probably not 2!! I meAn if one slips off then my nipple is gonna be hanging out and I won't have a free hand to reattach or cover up. Ha! Any insight appreciated

 

i wasn't able to try tandem nursing until the girls were a couple of months old because their latches were so horrible - it was too difficult to keep an eye on both of them at the same time. once their latches were sorted though, tandem nursing was my new best friend! i almost always tandemed with both girls in the football hold - it seemed to be the easiest & most efficient.

i would definitely take your pillow to the hospital (or have your partner bring it to the post partum wing after babies are born). i think it would be better to have it there & decide not to use it, then to not have it there & wish you did.

i also think that because you've nursed your two older children, and assuming your new LOs are quick learners, there's no reason that you wouldn't be able to try tandem at the hospital. i would say to just play it by ear - try it if you feel up to it, but don't worry if you don't. you can always figure it out later.

it's definitely more difficult to be discreet when you're tandem nursing although it is possible with a little creative thinking. i never bothered myself & would often be found by ILs, friends & family wandering topless around my house because it just seemed like too much of a hassle to bother putting a shirt back on in the early weeks. people either got over it, or stopped coming over. :laughing: you can always nurse them one at a time when you have visitors & only do tandem when it's just you. or you could ask visitors to not come until you get home just so that you have some time to really focus on BFing before having to worry about being discreet. at the end of the day, just do what works for you! it'll all fall into place.

 

I know some people have tandem fed their babies from the very beginning. But in my experience, it's sooooo hard when they don't have any head control and are still learning how to nurse, etc. The pillow just doesn't do the same that your hand can in holding their head/neck, snuggling their little bodies into you, etc. I never particularly cared for tandem feeding, but did it when it was necessary (like 6am with 2 screaming hungry babies). But it didn't really work for us until around 8+ weeks. And I also preferred to use pillows to prop them up in my overstuffed recliner. I only used my EZ pillow a handful of times.

 

Totally!!!! I wasn't planning on it but the nurses brought up a good point. Where else are you going to have knowledgeable help? The nurses helped me do it and taught me stuff that I didn't know before. It certainly doesn't hurt to try!!!! I hope the birth goes well! Enjoy the last week!

 

Yes, I did, but only when LCs latched them on. I didn't get the hang of it for a week or so, personally. I would bring any/all nursing pillows you have- it gives you options.

As to modesty- nursing newborns takes a lot of time. It will not matter what time people stop by- you will probably have at least 1 baby attached. I get that it's kinda odd at first but my hospital room quickly became a shirt free zone. If you are worried, I would limit visitors to bare necessities. We had a baby holding party at 2 months that was wonderful and kept people like neighbors and acqaintances out of the hospital.

Feeding your children is more important than someones feelings. Do not be shy.

 

I didn't try because my babies wouldn't really nurse separately, let alone tandem. They were born at 36 weeks, 5 days. I wasn't comfortable tandem nursing them until they were about 5 months old. Hopefully it will be easier for you since these aren't your first babies.

I hope the birth goes well and that you have great nursers!

 

that's exactly when mine will be born at 36 wks 5 days. I sure hope they are good nursers. My dd was born at 35 wks
and was an okay nurser not great but we managed ...she was a sleepy baby.

 

I did it in the hospital! Tell your OB the you want to see the lactation consultant. Schedule them when you are due to feed. Bring your double nursing pillow. They will help get you all set up as far as positioning the babies and latching. They came up everyday to help me out. Both boys were latching and eating at the same time! It helped me relax and my milk was in by the second day. It was an awesome experience for me and gave me great confidence. Good luck!

 

Here's what I did in the hospital:

I did tandem nurse in the hospital. I really wanted to nurse as soon as possible and let the LC know that. I ended up having a c-section, but as soon as I was wheeled into the recovery area, the LC brought both my girls and a student nurse in to help. My first born had a very hard time learning how to nurse, so I was a bit nervous as to how it would go, but with the LC and nurses help, my girls tandem nursed for almost an hour! The LC and nurse were my heros because they had to hold my babies in that position for that long (I had the shakes after the spinal block and couldn't even hold my babies to nurse!). After their first nursing session, I usually ended up tandem nursing during the daytime (my DH & MIL were there to help) and then separately at night (I just had the nursery nurse bring them about 30-45 minutes apart for night nursings). It worked very well for me.

Once at home, if I had help during the day to get them in position, I would tandem nurse. It was at about 4 weeks that one of my DDs got the hang of latching on by herself and from then on out we tandem nursed probably 99% of the time!

Good luck!!!

 

I did tandem nurse a little at the hospital but only with the help of the LC, just to sort of give it a try and see how it worked. I usually fed them one at a time so I could make sure I focused on getting each one to latch well and get them used to the basics of nursing. (I had also previously nursed my two older children.) I found that if I tried to tandem, their latches were not good because I was just to get them on any way I could! For me it was easier to focus on building two little proficient nurses by doing one at a time. Later on I did nurse tandem here and there but mostly I stuck to one at a time because I just liked it better. I'm glad I did try it at the hospital before I left because I then knew it was possible and I had done it a couple of times. Good luck!

shannon

 

I think since this is not your first experience, if you want to tandem then totally go for it. Play it by ear and if you don't feel up to it, just do one at a time. Do keep in mind that even though it is a bit of a pain with the babies having no head control, they probably will be small, making it easier to maneuver. I had a c-section at 38 weeks and the first few times I fed them by theirselves 'cuz I didn't have them both at the same time for the first few hours (some small health issues that required watching) and it helped me to make sure they had a good latch before attempting tandem. Then I would tandem or not depending on how I felt. Also, the nurses and LCs will be there and happy to help you figure it out. Mine bought in more pillows for me to help prop the babies up. They will help with whatever you need like if a baby falls asleep and unlatches then you need someone to take him and put him in his bassinet or help him wake up to eat some more.

The ez2nurse pillow is great and saved my life those past 8 months, but I didn't take it to the hospital and I wouldn't have used it anyway 'cuz it only worked for me if I was sitting very upright (90 degrees) and if there was any recline, it was a no go. Having just had major surgery and a long period of time (pregnancy) with fatigue, I preferred to not sit upright too much.

If you must have visitors at the hospital, try and have them warn you ahead of time so you can plan ahead by either feeding them one at a time or have a nursing blanket on. Personally, other than the special few (parents, hubby, children, etc), I would encourage visitors to wait a while until after you're at home.

 

This was really helpful, thank you for posting!

My son had a hard time nursing, but we went on to nurse for 21 months. I'm really determined to nurse these babies.

 

I brought my EZ-2-nurse pillow and the L.C. taught me how to nurse them at the same time. For the first 2 days I would nurse one while my husband would try to shush the other one until I was ready. That was really stressful. When I learned to tandem feed them it became soooo much easier and less stressful cause I didn't have to think omg how long will this baby nurse the next one needs to eat already, etc etc.

Also it is possible to cover up while nursing two babies, it just takes a few weeks to get adjusted to nursing them and then work on a blanket or two to cover up. Good luck!! I'm jealous- looks like we're just as far along but I have to wait indefinitely for the birth.

 

I didn't read the other responses but wanted to add what I did.

I nursed from the first session w/my EZ-2-Nurse pillow and tandemed from the beginning. The LC wanted to make sure I would also know how to nurse separatey, but for us the tandem worked perfectly. She was really surprised to see how well both babies latched and what an easy time we had. So maybe that's not the way most twins start out... but for us it was the best way to learn to tandem from the start. we use the football hold mostly. but she also wanted to show us cross cradle. Actuallly sometimes now these silly babies will use that hold ... along with some funny ones just trying to get to the booby.

good luck!