Breastfeeding twins

I thought I had already posted about this, but I can't find it.

Anyone breastfeeding twins or has breastfed twins? How do/did you manage it?

I'm exclusively breastfeeding Asha & Lauren. It's hard, & was especially hard in the early days, but I find feeding just one baby hard too, lol. I've always done it though. I find the sore leaky nipples & all the little annoyances worth the trouble & easier than making up formula. And I find it very satisfying & rewarding.

I've seen some mums at my local AMBA meetings feeding simultaneously, but I find it just too difficult to get them on together & keep them there. Lactation consultant gave me up as a lost cause too set in my ways, lol. I've only done it when I was desperate, ie both screaming & nobody else in the house to hold one. I can only do it on the bed & it's very awkward.

I've tried to nudge them towards a routine, but it just isn't happening. If I feed Asha i do try to feed Lauren as well though, whether she asks for it or not, as she's still catching up in weight. Last night though, Ahsa fed twice overnight & Lauren slept through. And they're supposed to be identical.

We're muddling along just fine & they're growing well, I'd just like to see some general discussion on this topic.

Well done Yvette you are doing an awesome job!

Ta Sam! :)

I'm hoping on being able to breastfeed my twins when they arrive, Also hoping to feed them at the same time if possible - guess I will only be able to do this when DH home to assist attaching second baby

Yvette, I'm no expert and certainly don't have twins, but my SIL has twin girls and her theory overnight was one up all up. There was no point feeding one, getting back to bed to sleep and then the other one waking. (I'm sorry I don't know how long she did this for, and I can ask her if you like and get back to you.)

That being said... If Lauren is sleeping through on a regular basis, I'd be letting her sleep.

I am interested too -
Yvette - Tiff would be a good one to ask - experience with her first twins and her plans with Noah & Ivy

I saw diagrams of it in a twin book -of course they make it look a cinch :lol:

Yvette
it is damm hard to feed two at a time, especially when there is a weight difference between them, but practice does make it easier.

I used a pillow - the eazy to feed one - but apparently the taddy pillow is better.
Speak to the AMBA rep in your area and there may be a lactation consultant who has actaully had twins to help you. I know the midwife i had for my twins class at Frances Perry was a twin mum and she also helped me twin feed when the kids were in Speical care at the hospital.

I also had the policy of one up - both up. I only eased up on this if after several nights one of them had nothing to drink. Once they both started waking again i quick smartly woke them both again. Gave me some sanity.

Hope this helps!! Hang in there. It will eventaully get easier!!!
If you have any issues/ questions - please just ask.

Good luck and take care
odette

mum to ariel and immogen - 5/12/2002

Hi everyone!

Yep, it does look easy in the books. I have dreadful attachment & posture habits feeding one anyway, so you can imagine the dreadfully uncomfortable positions I've got into feeding 2, lol. I've tried the Taddy pillow which I borrowed from a friend, but I hate it. They just fell down the hole & it's so cumbersome. I tried a U pillow from Kmart, & ended up booting it off my lap & just sort of leaning forward. The most ridiculous thing I did was when I was feeding both together one night on the bed (a stage where they both just seemed ravenous simultaneously from 4pm to 10pm daily) and I got fed up with my pillow arrangement, my back was killing me, and i ended up laying them on their backs side by side & getting on all fours with the titties hanging down like a female dog feeding puppies when they won't wait for her to lie down.

Yep, the one up all up makes total sense, but it's not always Lauren who sleeps through, sometimes it's Asha. I suppose because they have no routine it's laziness that I don't automatically always feed the other one if she's sleeping. If they're both awake I definately do both, one after the other. It's not like they'll knock it back if offered, lol.

Today for instance though, Asha has been asleep in the cot for hours, & Lauren has been here in her bouncy chair, dozing off for an hour or so then feeding every time she wakes up & has a bit of a grizz.

During the night, if one wakes up to feed, I tend to fall asleep with her in the bed, & she doens't get put back in the cot til the other one wakes up or I do.

It's working fine really, but I'm sure I could get it running a bit more smoothly if I really tried.

It's great to see so many more twins mums on BellyBelly, & I'd love to see just a continuing general discussion about breastfeeding twins.

The book show shows 3 positions but not the one you described LOL - they need a Karma sutra breastfeeding book.

I will be watching keenly - pity BB doesn't allow pictures (of the BF positons I mean)

When i went to the twin class at the hospital, they showed a video of a woman bf both with a curved pillow thing that she made herself. She got the foam from clarke rubber, got them to cut it to size, then made a cover up for it. It looked really easy in her case! I'm guessing that the foam might be more stable than pillows?

I'm still unsure what I will be doing???? I bf Jack for about 13 months so would like to bf again (in theory) but am very worried about how to go about it as well.

The other option we were given was to bf one and formula feed the other, then swap at next feed.

Shame we don't have more arms......!

Rofl Trish @ Karma sutra breastfeeding book.

I've seen bf pillows cut out of rubber in a book somewhere, looks more like a shelf, looks very practical & you could be quite precise about how you wanted to shape it.

I found the Kmart U pillow too thick, so I bought a Big W one ($10) which comes with a frilly purple pillow slip, lol. I fed them together using that last night, BUT, I still ended up curving my back over in an awkward way & getting a sore back. I don't know what it is, I don't want them too high or too low. I think it's the angle. I have their heads in the middle & bodies going out to the sides.

I managed to do a full feed with it though, & even read a book, so, so far it's my best effort.

Sounds like you are doing a fabulous job so far for over 4 months - =D>
and to read a book

I looked at my twin book again and it shows the one you described
the 2nd was both babies lying parallel a booby each so not exactly parallel -

and the 3rd posie was 1 Baby on L boob with legs to right and baby on R with legs to left -

a sketch / LINE diagram so I wonder how it works in practice with real babies/boobs- the mum had some kind of pillow underneath from memory and sketch mummy looks a bit hunched over too - probably just as hard on the back

I guess the babies would have to be cooperative too ;)

Thanks Trish.

I suppose you have more choice of positions when they're littler. Mine are a bit bigger now and easily get in each other's way.

Come to think of it though, I've never been much good at the football hold even with one baby.

With a bub on my lap the conventional way, they have their head to the side so they've got the nipple sideways, so if they're up to the height of the boob there should be no back bending.

But with the football hold they're sort of coming up under it so the nipple is pointing the wrong way.

Yvette
I think the parallel position- on your lap -with nipple side on looks most comfortable too -though would be harder with bigger bubs.

I don't know how dogs make it look so easy - 9 at once OMGosh - poor b*tches and these have sharp teeth.

I am looking forward to it in 5-6 months time. I will follow your progress - I will need all the advice I can get

Hi everyone,

I am also planning to breastfeed my twins when they arrive and I have to say that I didn't really know what to expect. This forum is very helpfull.

I hope I'll be able to do it.
Chris

For me I couldnt twinstyle feed the twins til they were about 6months old, they just fell off, they didnt attach properly ( were prem) but I did football hold them. I have HUGE bb's and are down near my wasit anyway LOL, so was no probs. Yvette, I found it easier though when I sat indian style ( legs crossed) coz then my legs supported their weghts. And with the football hold, only one chair was really comfie, and they actually lay on the arm of the chair whilst I fed.

Up until they could stay attached I fed one, and rocked the other in the bouncie chair with my foot. the night feed ( 7pm ) DH fed one EBM whilst I fed the other he alternated each night so he could have quality time IYKWIM.

Mine had their own bb. Tahlia would only feed off the left, and Lakeisha the right ( the right is the faster one)

Umm am happy to answer any q's

Yep Vanita, you're the twins feeding super champ, lol. Interesting that you found they attached more easily after 6 months, I look forward to that.

Atm mine are really wriggly and scratchy & sort of have a bit of a wrestle with me as I'm putting them on the boob. The cloth nappy isn't needed to catch drips so much now as to protect my boob from being roughed up too much by their hands. I need little straight jackets for them or something for my own protection, lol.

They're feeding lots overnight atm & I'm a bit of a zombie. Must be a growth spurt or something, although I might have been saying that for a while now, lol. Might have another go at introducing dummies.

Hi, I am a mother of 17 month old twins who I have and continue to bf. Yes, it is quite a challenge at the beginning but it does get easier. I fed them seperatley for the first 6 weeks and then after that I fed them together using a twin feeding pillow. They are made by someone in brisbane and they cost around $100- basically they are a foam pillow that attaches around your body (looks like a huge pool floaty) and each twin lies in the football position. I found it to be awesome. I think it's called 'my feeding mate' pillow. If anyone wants the details I will find it for you. I just gave my pillow away to a friend expecting twins so I can't check it out at home.

When the twins were about 6 months old I stopped using the pillow as much. They really sped up in their feeds and I started to really enjoy the one on one time I was having with them. Until 6 months I found feeding to be something I did for my babies- didn't really get the gooey feelings I was expecting to have while bf my bubbies. Although it's very cute watching the bubs watch each other and stick each other in the eyes etc etc- twin feeding is a busy time. Someone always needs burping etc etc. so the last 10 months of basically individually feeding has been lovely and I've discovered the gooey feelings that I was expecting.

I do still twin feed, at least once a day. I just lie on my back and the bubs get on by themselves. It's very funny. I remember when they were young I wished that they could just crawl up and get on themselves without all the fussing around with the pillow etc- and now they do and I miss them being all little....

Anyway, great thread. I'm in Brisbane if twin mummy needs help or advice or someone to come and cuddle a twin..

For those twin mummies and mummies to be- perseverence is the key and you can do it!!!

thanks for this advice Cherish - it helps to know that it can be done

Nice to see you again Kylie (Cherish).

Nice to hear you experienced twin feeders saying it gets better & easier. As this will be the last time for me I'm hoping to keep it up as long as babies want it (well, I'll see how I go).

Hi All

Well I am onlya new twin mum, but I have to say that I have been blessed with 2 great babies. I bf them both together, twin style. They both latch on well and feed well there is a little weight diff between them, but I use a U pillow and that works great!!! I have them on 4 hourly feeds where they are now just starting to wake for their feeds. Prior to that I had to wake them. In the hospital they were on 3 hourly due to being premie.

So all going as well as can be expected at this time.

Tam that is fantastic news - love to hear all these posts