Home » Tandem Breastfeeding Twins. Tandem breastfeeding twins is a hard job. Breastfeeding two babies at the same time can be difficult, but if breastfeeding twins is your goal it is worth it. Breastfeeding twins is hard work. Nature did not design us to feed two babies at once. But breastfeeding twins is often the best way to go, both for your babies and for you.
The convenience and cost factors, alone might make it worth it for you to decide to breastfeed your twins. Tandem breastfeeding might be the best way to maximize your time and ensure both your little ones get what they need. Need twins lactation help from a pro? Click here to book now! The first, and most important thing you can do to get started with tandem breastfeeding your twins is to enlist help early on. Get a lactation counselor in the hospital and reach out to one that specializes in twins.
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This may be very difficult, but it really helps if you can get yourself used to having both babies latched on to your breasts at once. Set up a good breastfeeding station for yourself and the babies.
It is helpful to have everything where you can reach without disturbing or distracting your little ones. This includes your nursing pads, books, snacks, and toys. Pump after each breastfeeding session to help keep your supply up. This is especially helpful in the early weeks of breastfeeding. If you are having trouble getting milk out with two babies attached at once, try pumping before or after nursing.
Pillows are your friend. Use them. Nursing pillows like the Twin Z or the Brest Friend have been a huge hit with twin mamas for tandem breastfeeding.
With twins, the best reason to try tandem breastfeeding might be time. Twin parents are always lacking time. If only we had 26 hours in a day. But what we can do is cut down on the number of hours per day we are nursing our babies. Tandem breastfeeding is a great way to save time. After that, they should be given nutritious complementary foods and continue breastfeeding up to the age of two years and beyond.
But what happens is another pregnancy occurs before your firstborn is ready to wean? The answer is tandem feeding! Breast milk continues to provide nutrition, assists with the immune system, provides gut microbiota, comfort and social and intellectual development for as long as the breastfeeding relationship continues and tandem feeding supports both the relationship with the new baby and continues the breastfeeding relationship with the older sibling.
In short tandem feeding allows a Dyad mother and baby to continue to feed despite a new baby coming along. Many tandem mothers say that breastfeeding their toddler and newborn helped with the transition of the addition of a new sibling. When a new baby is born the toddler will have to make many new adjustments and the continuation of breastfeeding can help to reassure the toddler that mum is still there and that they share the same bond as they did before.
Other tandem feeders report that it helped the siblings develop a strong bond and would hold hands and comfort each other while they fed. Breastfeeding the two of them can be a real joy in terms of the interaction between the three of you. Give yourself a few weeks to settle into a new tandem breastfeeding pattern. Yes, it is possible to continue to breastfeed throughout pregnancy; however, there are some important things to consider.
Often with a new pregnancy, a mother can experience increased nipple pain this can often be the first sign that alerts them to the new pregnancy and some mothers have so much nipple pain that they need to stop feeding.
Some toddlers will pick up where they left off once the nipple pain has reduced, but to others, this could mean the end of the breastfeeding relationship. This is due to hormonal changes and there is little that can be done to prevent this. If the first baby is less than one year old, another source of nutrition may be required until after the subsequent birth.
As early as 16weeks of pregnancy the milk can begin to change back to colostrum and along with this comes a change in the flavour of the milk. Colostrum, while jam-packed full of nutrition for any baby, has a salty flavour and may toddlers may refuse to drink it. Colostrum also acts as a laxative and helps your newborn baby to have its first meconium poo. Because it has this laxative effect the toddler may also experience a change in their stooling pattern, so watch out for toddler poonamis!
Both research and anecdotal evidence assures us that your body will make enough breast milk for both children because as demand increases, so does supply.
If you have your feeding pillow set up well you should be able to let go of the babies and feed hands free meaning you can eat ice-cream! Many mums are worried about how they will be able to tandem feed without help when their partner goes back to work. The most important thing is to keep everything nearby within reach.
Then get your feeding pillow ready. Pick up one baby and put on sofa or bed next to you. Ensure baby cannot roll or push themselves off. It is surprising how early babies can move themselves! Then pick up the second and place next to the first. Get settled and make sure the feeding pillow is in position. Lift second baby onto the cushion. I usually advise mums to start with the fussier feeder as you can concentrate more on the latch and use both hands.
Then once the first baby has settled into a deep feeding rhythm and the milk is flowing, latch on the second baby. Sometimes this knocks the first baby off the nipple and you have to start again! But with practice, you will get there. There are several other positions you could try. And especially as the babies get older, more able to control their heads, and faster at feeding, you really can be quite creative.
This is quite a good position for feeding out and about as you can do it either without a feeding pillow or with just a couple of cushions to support your arms.
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