Feeding twins at same time

Hi,

My twin girls are 6 days old and today I attempted to feed them by myself at the same time which went o.k. but not great. I put one on a pillow and on my lap and the other in a boppy and attempted to hold each bottle, then I tried propping. I felt like any move I made the nipple would come out of their mouths. How am I supposed to burp them, do I quit feeding all together or how does this work? Thanks for any responses! Will probably check this later as my girls don't like to go to be so who knows how much I'll be up tonight (HAHA).

Angie

 

Angie- congrats on your babies!!! Enjoy their tiny time as best you can!!!

Ours were a little premature, so I don't think we were feeding at the same time for about the first month- (which meant I RARELY slept) but I think once we hit that month mark, we pretty much did it just as you're describing. I propped my feet up on the coffee table, and rested one baby on my thighs with a small pillow or rolled up receiving blanket under his neck so he'd be a little upright, and the other I put in the boppy next to me. We just didn't burp until they were both finished. I know some folks have a really bad time with gas and spitting up, and HAVE to burp during bottles, but our guys did just fine waiting till the end. I think you're on the right track!!! Good luck and welcome to FY!

 

For the first month I had my MIL with me all the time so it wasn't a problem, but after she was gone I tried putting the girls in various baby-holders and held the bottles for each one. I think the best was the car seats as I had a little ledge to prop my arms on. However, no matter what I put them in, it killed my back and they would get very angry if I had to stop to burp the other. This was a major problem b/c they almost always want to eat at the same time. At about 6 weeks I accidentally came across the Podee bottles on the internet. They got rave reviews on the Babies R Us website so I ordered a couple. They are a god-send! I don't know how I would survive without them. They take a little longer to clean and they do leak sometimes, but overall I could not be happier. I can feed one in the bouncy seat and hold the other, then trade off if I need to. They eat sitting up so that helps with the spit up. I cannot tell you how much I love these bottles. We can go out to restaurants and just feed them in their car seats while we finish our own meals. They are fantastic. You just have to make sure the nipple is screwed on tight and squeeze it to fill the tube with milk first, then they are good to go. I now have 6 so I can use a clean one for each feeding during the day and DH washes them all together after dinner. They have saved my back and my sanity.

Not sure if brand new babies would have trouble with them but I'd think if they can suck on a pacifier they wouldn't have any trouble.

Jen

 

I would hold and feed one and put the other in a boppy and while i propped one bottle i burped the other. But the first few weeks one breastfed while the other had a bottle. It was all trial and error. We definitely had to burp them a lot, every half ounce or so. But at 6 days old my babies could only eat 1/2 an ounce per feeding anyways. Also I am thinking off buying a podee...i see them on the internet all the time. I just need to get the money.

 

I started feeding them together at about one month old. Before that, my two weren't good enough at drinking from their bottles and needed to be fed separately or else the nipple would fall out of their mouths and they'd dribble lots of milk. Once I started feeding them together I tried all the recommended positions for a few days but they were all too uncomfortable for me, especially for my arms. I ended up buying Little Wonders bottle proppers and that worked well. I usually propped one bottle and held the other one. At 2.5 months, we discovered the Podee bottles and made an immediate switch. By three months they were the only bottle we used. I liked being able to hold both babies while feeding them.

 

I agree with pp, it is trial and error. I fed them at first just bf, then bf one and bottle feed the other, then both bottle fed. I used their bouncy chairs because the incline was enough to prop the blanket under them. I still use that technique today. Sometimes if it didnt' work, one would just have to cry for a few minutes to wait for the other one.

So many people told me to feed them seperately but for me, I couldn't. Especially the middle of the night.

HTH and GL

 

I had dh and then mom for the first 5 weeks. After that, I started laying them on their boppy pillows on the couch, and then on the floor when they got too wiggly, and used the Little Wonders Bottle Bundle. For me it was a sanity saving product. As far as burping them, I would just stop one and burp her then stop the other and burp her.

 

At that age I had them in boppy loungers. I would prop both of the loungers up a bit on a bed pillow and sit between them. I had rolled blankets stacked next to me to prop the bottles if I had to tend to one of the babies. Looking back, I wish I had gotten bottle props. It would have made things much easier. Now, at 9 months, I have them both in bouncy seats on the floor, while I hold their bottles and sit in the armchair infront of them.

 

I would stop halfway through and burp each of them, then go back to feeding them. I only fed them at the same time if they were absolutely insistent.

 

i propped their bottles my DD needed to be burped every ounce because of reflux after first month. but first few weeks i laid them down and held each bottle and burped them after they were both done.

 

I was lucky and didn't have to feed both by myself until they were a month old. Right now I use a boppy pillow and a bouncy seat. I sit either on the couch or on the floor with my back against the couch. I have the boppy on one side and the bouncy on the other. I put a baby in each and give them both a bottle. If I need to I prop the bottles with a blanket (while I am right there) and then I can take turns burping both girls.

 

I tried bottle propping for burping and it never worked well for my kids.

When they were young, I fed them in their boppies. I sat in between them and had them at an angle...feet closer to me, and fed them so they could look at me while they ate. When it was time to burp, I stopped both. I had pacifiers with me so the non burping baby got that while I burped the other, then I switched. I did this for many months for each meal.

Then when they got a little older, I found their bouncy seats worked better for feeding them. They had things to play with when I burped the other one and they were more upright and more restrained (strapped in). As they got older, they were all over the place in the boppies.

Now they are 7 1/2 months and I upgraded to the infant to toddler rockers for bottle feedings. They work the same way the bouncy seats did.

With the bouncy seats and infant to toddler rocker, I sit in between them with their seats at an angle. Their faces are closest to me, and their feet are angled out and away from me. I hold their bottles and they gaze into my eyes when they want.

It does get easier over time, because they eat faster and faster. They both drink their bottles in about 10 minutes now. It used to be 30 minutes.

 

I sit on the couch and pull my right leg up sort of half indian style. I lay one baby (usually my reflux baby) in my lap with her head on my right thigh, her body in the crook so she's at an incline. I have the other in the boppy on my left side - I'm left handed. With her on the right I have enough room to pick up the baby in the boppy to burp keeping him on the left side so he doesn't kick her.

I hope that makes sense.

 

Big fan of the Podee bottle here too...Not only did I have to wean the babies off them to have them start holding their own bottles, but I had to wean DH, because he LOVED the convenience of them...had to keep telling him, "They can hold their own bottle now you know!" :lol:

 

I also use the boppy newborn loungers and prop up their heads with rolled up blankets underneath the lounger. I tried lots of different things and this works the best...I tried the regular boppy's and they would just slouch down in them, once I bought the newborn lounger, life was MUCH easier and the babies love them to just hang around in. I sit on the floor with my back up against the couch with a baby on each side and feed that way. Then I stop both and burp each one then continue feeding them, it might not be the easiest way but it works for us!

Good luck to you!

 

At that age I was feeding them one at a time because they would get choked easily. But as they got bigger (or if they HAD to be fed at once) I propped an oversize pillow or one of those funky pillows for reading or eating in bed against the wall and scooted a bouncy seat on either side. That was the easiest for me and I felt it was safest for the girls since they were strapped in. It was easy to pick one up, burp her and then burp the other one plus it was easier on my back since I could lean against the pillow. Good luck!!

 

one propd with burp rags etc, the other held. burp switch positions.
GL

 

Thank God! I've been feeling like a horrible mother for propping a bottle for one if both eat at the same time! It's hard feeding them together! I've been holding one, and sitting one up as much as possible with blanket under the bottle--I hate doing that, but sometimes it's the only thing that works! :blush:

 

I just proped them both on their own boppy and bottle fed them that way. I burped one separately, the other one would usually fuss and cry and that was just something I had to endure while trying to burp the other. Then switch. It all works out if they are cooperating well with giving you a burp right away.

 

I prop them on their boppies and then prop the bottles with receiving blankets. Most of the time, all I have to do is check on them. I try to burp them in the middle of their feeding (but there are times that they do not want to let that bottle go) and I take turns burping them. I did check the link for the Little Wonders Bottle Pillow and that looks pretty neat. I will have to show that to DH and see if that will be a good thing for our little twosome.