Breastfeeding Twins - Winchester, MA

Unfortunately, I do not have any advice.
I just wanted to say Congrats on both the babies and the decision to breastfeed!!!!!!!
And Good Luck to you and your babies!!!
P.S. Check out www.kellymom.com, you might find helpful hints there.

Hi A.,

Congratulations on the birth of the twins! First of all,take all the help you can with things around the house (cooking, cleaning and laundry), you need to concentrate on those babies.
I breastfed my twin girls for the first 5.5 months with, but supplemented with formula. I always fed them at the same time so they were on the same schedule. If one woke to eat, I woke the other one. Keeping a schedule was the only way we survived and the first few months are a blur now. I also attended a one on one lactation clinic at the hospital where they were born and occasionally attended the breastfeeding group too. I have found that support is the key issue!
Good luck and if you have any other questions, please let me know!
Jen

Hi A.,
I didn't have twins, but I am tandem nursing my boys, who are 17 months apart. I can't help with issues like having two at the same developmental stage, but I can offer advice about things like positioning two at the breast.

Make sure you get several nursing pillows, so that you have a few options available when you need them. WHat worked best for us was to have me sit up in bed with lots of pillows behind me, but not to the side of me. We'd lay pillows flat on the bed beside me on each side (perpendicular to my chest) and up to the level of my nipples. The babies would lie on these pillows in a 'football hold'. This first position was a great starting place for us to try newer positions as we ventured out on to the couch and then, *gasp*, into public with my two nurselings.

Hope this helps! Congrats on your double blessing.

G.

Hi A.,

I breastfed my twins for the first 11 months. They never had formula (except as an additive to pumped breastmilk). My two were premies (32.6 weeks) so I had to pump a lot, and at first they got the milk through a canula, then through bottles and nursing, but it was all breastmilk.

Important tips are to sleep a lot, drinks lots of water and eat lots of food. My favorite part was the eating! I wasn't able to nurse them at the same time until they were about 10 months old, and I was never comfortable doing that, but many women swear by it.

You should *definitely* join our local Mothers of Twins Club: http://mmota-founding.org/ Monthly meetings are in Winchester, but the most useful part of the club is the online email list. There is so much support and information to be had from the email list. There are almost 300 local members!

Good luck, and please let me know if you have more questions.
A.

I don't have twins, but I know some!

My aunt breastfed my twin cousins for 12 months (thru weaning). She fed both at the same time. She said it was hardest to figure out the best way to rig up the pillows. She used football style for both and each had its own breast.

My friend breastfed her twin boys but almost exclusively through bottles of pumped milk. She got overwhelmed with the latching and nursing, so only did it sometimes with one child but both took to the bottle easily. Also, it allowed her husband to help when he was home. Where there's a will...there's a way.

I have two other friends who did not breastfeed for more than a week or two. Both said it was tremendously difficult. I'm sure it can be. (I breastfed my two singletons...one for 6 mo and one for 11 mo) The important message here is to not beat yourself up over the switch to formula. You need to be sane to be a good mommy to your babies and if breastfeeding twins is too insane, cut yourself some slack.

All of them fed them at the same time and tries for napping etc at the same times too.

congrats on twins! my friend who have twin and the girls is 2 yrs old now and still is bfing. i am not sure how often now but i remember that my friend said breastfeed em same time is easier than 1 at time. she use i think "my bestfriend" nursing pillow or the kind nursing pillow made for twins? she did mentioned that she breast fed her twins girl when they was newborn at different time and it eats up the time because she had to breast feed forever by breast feed 1 baby while other baby sleep then baby wake up for nurse and other baby go sleep, it happen all over again. so the same time is best thing to do and save time.

i think it s football cradle postion breastfeed both same time.

i am so happy that u choose to breastfeed twins instead of bottlefeed :o) as for me if i have twins, i will breastfeed em, breastfeed em same time too.

HI A.- My fraternal twin girls are now nearly nine, but I did breast feed them for the first 4 months. I thought it would be the easiest/quickest/healthiest way to supply them with what they needed. I think it was. I tried to feed both at the same time in the beginning, but one daughter didn't latch on too well, and was very distracted, so I did them one at a time. It took between 20 and 25 min. total for each feeding, so I found it rather quick. I kept a record of which child nursed on which breast for each feeding, and would alternate. One of my breasts produced more milk than the other, so sometimes I would have to supplement with formula if the child feeding on that side was still hungry after nursing. Both girls had soy and milk allergies, so I had to strictly limit my diet. That is why I stopped after 4 months, I wasn't getting enough nutrition and was often weak and dizzy. I had pumped and frozen enough milk for them to have it through month 5.I know of another mom who was able to nurse her twins simultaneously, and got it done in about 10 min! All kids and circumstances are different. I wish you well.