Breastfeeding Twins

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, breastfeeding twins was incredibly beautiful, and yet, very, very difficult for me! It was something that I’m so grateful I had a chance to do, even for the brief time that it lasted. So, here are 6 tips I figured out in retrospect of my time breastfeeding, that I wish I knew about earlier…hopefully it can help a mum to be, or anyone who knows a breastfeeding mum!

 

Don’t buy a twin breast feeding pillow, unless you have tried it and like it. Yes, source one, have one on hold at the store, or in your cart online, but DON’T BUY IT!

My reasoning is that I simply didn’t like it, and you may not either. First, try a bunch of pillows propped around you. This way you can fill in all the gaps, bring the baby’s heads to the right height and be a lot more comfortable. The nurses in the NICU gave me this advice and I was so glad I hadn’t bought mine yet. (One good thing about the bub’s being premmie I guess!)

 

This may seem obvious, but feed them both at the same time!

Our feeding schedule was every four hours. They would be awake for two hours – yes, it took that long to feed them, burp them, change their nappy, wrap them and put them back to sleep. Then they would sleep for two blessed hours.

Once they were out of sync. Two hours out of sync to be exact. It was a nightmare! I would tend to one twin and as soon as I put that one to sleep, the other would wake up. Again and again and again!  24 hours of that, was all I could take! Somehow we forced them back to the same time schedule!

And it never happened again!

 

Drink Water!!!

If you don’t drink, you can’t make milk! It’s as simple as that! For a long time, I forgot myself when breastfeeding due to the strenuous schedule! I began with so much milk – more than my babies could handle, then after 6 or so months, my milk was unexplainably evaporating! I tried googling, making laxation cookies, eating oats and everything people would recommend, but in hind site, I don’t think I was drinking enough water! Remember, milk is mostly water!

 

Eat Good Food!!!

If you don’t feed yourself, you won’t make as much milk. I was in a very bad place, food-wise, after I had the twins. As you can imagine, with a two on, two off around the clock regime, it is difficult to cook nutritious meals, let alone nutritious snacks, so I went for the chocolate…under the bed, Malteasers, Ferrero Rochers etc… It was bad. They were drinking chocolate flavoured milk lol ?.

If I could go back in time, I would have no shame in asking a family member or close friend to supply me with some nutritious snacks. I’m not talking home made mini quiches or vegan, raw treats, unless you are offering… Just something simple! So many people wanted to help, but we were too tired to even think of what they could do. But now the moment has passed, I honestly think that some vegetable sticks and hummus, or cut up fruit would have made my day! If someone had brought me some prepared vegetable sticks at the beginning of each week, it would have really helped. And I am willing to do that for any new mum around me!

 

If you are wanting to breastfeed long term, avoid giving bottles as much as possible, especially early on.

I had LOTS of milk! Two to three times what the twins were drinking, so I would express the excess and freeze it. As I was exhausted all the time, I was very grateful to have other people feed the babies with expressed milk in bottles where possible. We then found they seemed to have less colic when we gave them bottles, and were easier to burp. We thought they were gulping less air with the bottles. This led to more bottles, and less breast.

Sadly, they eventually gave up on the breast all together. It is called nipple confusion. And it was devastating! I wish I had realised how quickly it can happen! One day they are happy on the breast, the next, they won’t have a bar of it!

I tried everything I could think of or find out. Laxation specialists, nipple shields, different techniques etc, but nothing worked. 🙁

And thus began my expressing journey…

Don’t let this happen to you! Or at least be aware that babies find it easier to drink from bottles. And once they realize they can have it from a bottle, they will prefer it that way!

If you want to breastfeed long term, don’t give too many bottles!

Honestly, if you can have a helper, it makes it much easier!

Premie babies will often have more issues with sucking, staying awake and burping. Pretty much everything…

I distinctly remember sitting in bed, breastfeeding the twins, with my pillows all set up, and needing to burp one of them. I would prop the one still feeding with my leg, hoping this little creature could hold on, while trying to burp the other. Have you ever burped a premie baby? It is hard on it’s own! Let alone the balancing act I was trying to master…

So grab a husband, mother, sister, friend. Practically anyone at all who you don’t mind seeing your chest, and who can burp a baby competently, or is willing to learn to burp a baby. If they can help you latch the baby back on (this is also very difficult), even better.

I can’t wait to one day breastfeed just one baby! I feel that will be a very calm experience in comparison! Correct me if I’m wrong!

 

Hope this helps some mum’s to be – and especially any of you lucky enough to be having twins! Don’t be afraid to ask for help. And anyone that wants to help, go take a plate of nutritious treats or burp a baby! They will thank you later!

Thanks for reading!