Lactation Consultant

A good friend of mine has two buns in the oven right now. I am fascinated by multiples, especially with the idea of breastfeeding them. Do you feed them at the same time? Can your milk supply keep up with two appetites? How in the world do you position them? Lots of questions have been running through my mind. Then, last week, I reconnected with a friend from graduate school who nursed her twins for 15 months. Whether or not you have twins, I think you’ll be interested in what she has to say. (Thanks, Erin for allowing me to post your story!)

The most important advise for your friend is hubby/partner support!! They are a major player! I nursed them at the same time…same side all day and switch the next day…less to remember and works very well especially if one is a little lazier eater than the other they will start the day with the faster flow side, and it continues to encourage the other to “work”. They slept in the same bassinet for the first few months and then in the same crib. They take comfort and sleep better when together because that is what they know…this is of course not everyone’s experience but they still climb in bed with each other on occasion.
Chad was fantastic, he was never negative about nursing and was very helpful as was my mom when she was around the first week in helping me get the hang of getting them both situated and and latched. I encourage experimenting with different positions, we usually ended up with one cradling the other one’s head so their feet were usually going the same direction, be prepared to utilize pillows! At night Chad would get them and take them back to their bed, I nursed in bed at night with two king sized pillowed on either side and cradling theirr heads in my armpits with their bodies parallel. It worked for me, of course they were a little older when we started doing that about 2 months. If one woke up we woke the other to eat so they always fed at the same time. Then, at about 2 1/2 months, I decided to not wake Abigail up when Jonathan woke and she slept until the next feeding. But she was an odditity for many children she slept 8-4 early and eventually gave into 8-8 by 4 months!! Of course Jonathan continued to nurse at 11, 3, & 7:30 but he was a boy!!!

Please let your friend know that there will of course be days were you are ready to throw in the towel, until you think about it again and realize, “If I give them bottles, they don’t get to snuggle, they will be sitting in a chair or car seat with me holding the bottles, unless I do it one at a time, and then it becomes a never ending cycle!!

Erin told me that she has met several women with twins who were told by their doctors that they COULD NOT nurse twins. Her story is proof that this is far from the truth. I was especially interested in her last point about how bottle feeding twins makes it a lot more work to hold/snuggle your baby while feeding them. Especially in the beginning when babies are eating so frequently, if you are bottle feeding them each separately, you would probably be dealing with bottles around the clock. We’d love to hear your story too if you have experience nursing twins!