Tandem nursing

How long did it take before you were able to nurse your twins simultaneously?

Darlene

 

I nursed tandem on & off from the beginning, but I wouldn't say I was really comfortable with it until about 10 weeks - I used nipple shields with both girls so it was tricky to get everything/one attached! :laughing: I think it's always worth trying right from the beginning, but if it doesn't click right away, don't worry. You can always keep trying as you feel able.

 

My biggest worry is that I will be going back to work at 7 weeks and don't want to be only getting 30 minutes of sleep at a time because I have to nurse one at a time...does that make me selfish that I want sleep?

 

It's such an injustice that you have to go back to work at 7 weeks. You will need sleep to perform your job. I coslept with my twins and found that allowed me to get a lot more sleep because I was able to nurse in my sleep. But even with my singleton I hadn't fully gotten the hang of it yet at 7 weeks. What kind of support to you have lined up?

 

Day 3 with an LC, comfortably with my DH by Day 5. By myself I needed help with head control, so by about 4 months I felt very comfortable.

You will need help in the beginning- it's time to call anybody who you can get to come in and help.

 

I didn't tandem comfortably until about 8 weeks. I went back to work at that time and so I understand exactly how you feel, but I actually found that I got back to sleep quicker without tandem because the babies were quicker to swaddle and settle one at a time and would get reawakened when they fell asleep nursing if I used my double pillow. Also, I had babies with different feeding needs and by 6 weeks my DD could sleep a 6-7 hour stretch at night but DS could not. I basically tandemed them at bedtime, did a bottle for dream feed so DS and I could get them down quicker, fed DS every 3 overnight, and then tandemed them in the AM before I left for work.

 

I also found that when nursing one at a time I could doze off a little but could not do that tandem!

 

If you're not able to, maybe seek out LCing help... not sure what issues you're having, but SLEEP is needed, that's for sure!

to help our babies sleep at night I swaddled and followed a lot of The Happiest Baby on the Block techniques. Along with white noise etc. I will say that I quit swaddling around wk 3 or so b/c they kept getting out of it... but by wk 5 my LC showed me how nicely they settled down at our weekly meeting and I tried that night. sure enough they slept through the 2a feed... woohoo a 4 hour block of sleep for me! anyway, ours were sttn 8hrs by 8wks... and I credit a lot of that to the swaddling. as for getting in enough feeds, hours nursed closer to every 2 hrs so they got their "night time" feeds in during the day I guess... instead of being on a 3hr schedule...

anyway, good luck, yes, tandem nursing for me helped to consolidate time.

 

I tandemed on and off for the first 4 months but i soon found that I preferred one at a time!
I found it much easier to feed one on 1 saide then the other baby on the other side. I could control their heads and help them attach much better.
With tandem feeding, by the time I had gotten everyone attached and comfortable and reattached and reattached and burped etc, it was just quicker and more efficient one at a time.
At night it was the same. When the first one woke, fed her back to bed, then picked the other up and fed her - sometimes in her sleep. I use a premium disposable so I don't have to change them through the night and I do give them a pacifier at bedtimes.
Mine were/are never great sleepers though with t2 not sleeping through much until she was 1 and t1 still not sttn!!!!!!

Tandem nursing is great but do what works for you. Good luck with going back to work at 7 weeks!!!!!!

 

I tandem nursed right from the start and did it for about 6 weeks at night too- waking the other up when one woke up. Then as one started to sleep longer stretches, I would feed one at a time lying down in bed- so much nicer! I really liked tandem nursing for the first 2 months, then hated it for months 3-4 (don't know why it wasn't working) and then liked it again after that.

 

I also tandem nursed from the day they came home with my eznurse pillow. I did need help at first with the latch of our DS because he was the lazy eater, but after a short time I was able to do it on my own and I love it. I still tandem them in the morning and before bed because they both want to eat and are not patient! I will nurse separately now during the day but if they both wake at night I tandem feed them so we can all get back to sleep. I was able to doze while they nursed. I say the more you do it the better you and the babies will get. Good luck