amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

trafficgal · 06-04-2009, 07:53 PM

Hi, I'm a bit ahead of myself here b/c I'm not due till Nov. G-d willing!

I wanted to pick your brains about nursing twins. It is my goal to exclusively nurse not supplement with bottles etc. I know its possible and I (possibly nievly) believe that its prob not that different from nursing a singleton right? I mean from what I understand your body produces what it needs!

Yes these will be my firsts so I really dont know much about anything except that I am oldest of 8 and my mother nursed ALL of us (except my premie sister who couldn't nurse so she pumped and syringe fed her 24hrs a day but thats a diff. story)

Anyway I will reach out ot local orgs. here and also hopefully my midwife will be helpfully but I wanted to get first hand experience from any nursing (or nursed) twin mama's

tikva18 · 06-04-2009, 07:59 PM

Congrats! I hope you have an easy pregnancy. Ask all the questions you want about nursing twins or twin pregnancy. The more you nurse the more milk you make. Don't get discouraged if one or both twins can't nurse right away. One of my twins took a month before she figured out nursing. I am still nursing them - and they are 3 1/2 - almost 4yrs old.

mum21andtwins · 06-05-2009, 06:01 AM

Congrats!
you should be fine breastfeeding

I've been bfing my twins for 22 months now. the first 15 months my firstborn still nursed to nand my twins never had any weight problems.

trafficgal · 06-05-2009, 10:15 AM

Did you guys feed on a schedule? I always intended to feed on demand but I'm worried if the baby's don't want to eat at the same time how will I function b/c I'll be feeding 24/7??????? Or do Twins kind of put themselves on the same schedule anyway ie both want to eat at the same time?

tikva18 · 06-05-2009, 10:45 AM

I've always nursed on demand - but I did cluster their nursing together. However, I'm not too sure if I did that, or if they did it naturally. In the beginning I nursed one after the other, but soon switched to tandeming most of the time.

mum21andtwins · 06-06-2009, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trafficgal

Did you guys feed on a schedule? I always intended to feed on demand but I'm worried if the baby's don't want to eat at the same time how will I function b/c I'll be feeding 24/7??????? Or do Twins kind of put themselves on the same schedule anyway ie both want to eat at the same time?

Well its my expierience that the first few weeks/months thats pretty much all you do

My boys nursed together pretty much all the time. until they where 5 months they fed hourly.

steffieinmn · 06-08-2009, 07:25 PM

I'm currently nursing 9 m/o twins. I've never scheduled feedings with any of my children, and yes, I spent those first months growing roots into the couch.

It's an experience I'll never forget, though.
Prepare a comfortable nursing station for yourself - big enough chair or loveseat to accomodate the pillows, laptop computer if possible, remotes and phone and big glass of water all within reach every time you sit down. That way you'll be comfortable and not anxious to get up.
It's intensely time consuming, but when you think about the volume of milk you need to make to grow two little people...wow! What an amazing thing to do!
Best wishes, congrats, and take good care of yourself. Protein and water are your friends!