Help! Is it possible to nurse twins?

[jmcknight]

I just found out that I am having twins and I nursed my DD for 8 months. I would like to nurse the twins. Is this possible? Will I have time to do anything but feed the babies - my DD will be 1 and a half when they are born... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[sntm]

where is susan?

She's nursing twin girls still at around 18 months. Exclusively breastfed. She's my idol. The wife of one of my colleagues nursed her twin boys at the beginning at least -- I don't know what they are doing now.

definitely doable -- but you will need lots of support. and remember, worst case, you can supplement with formula so you are alternating nursing one baby and bottlefeeding the other. but lots and lots of women successfully nurse two (or more!) babies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[houseof3boys]

It is totally possible. As Shannon said, Susan is my idol too! She is so inspiring the way she has nursed her girls without complaint. I am sure she will answer your post but you may want to do a search and get ready to be in awe of her! :)

Congrats on twins and if you want to nurse them, you can do it!!!!!

[COElizabeth]

Congratulations!!! My aunt nursed twins for a year with few problems. I think they took a bottle a few times when she had to have a medical procedure done, but other than that I think they were pretty much exclusively breastfed. She did have an older child at the time, but he was nearly 6 years old when the babies were born, so he didn't need as much supervision. Also, she had a housekeeper who did most of the cleaning and laundry and her parents were about 50 yards away. And I (a teenager at the time) spent most of my vacations helping her out, so she had a pretty extensive support system! But the nursing was all her, and the babies did great. Her DH was wonderful about bringing them to her at night and singing them back to sleep, etc. He got pretty good at carrying them both around at the same time in the middle of the night!

Best wishes!

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[MartiesMom2B]

Try to PM Susan. Her ID is spu. She has a great little website with her darling girls on there. She is a true inspiration.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[lizajane]

congratulations! i think twins are so interesting and exciting.

i believe most twin moms feed the babies at the same time so that they are not nursing around the clock. i guess you have "baby a" and "baby b" and "boob a" and "boob b!" LOL!

i know someone who bottle fed twins and she and dh had a middle of the night rule- dad was in charge of baby a and mom was in charge of baby b. one night they couldn't figure out why baby b was being so crazy... then they realized that they had BOTH been feeding baby a. and poor baby b hadn't had any milk all night!

another reason to breastfed, i guess! ;)

[Rachels]

Definitely! There are LLL meetings for moms of multiples as well as books on nursing twins. There are also a lot of mamas who have nursed twins on MDC, so you could post there for info and support. And definitely contact Susan! Congratulations!

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[twinmama]

It's definately possible! My girls are 8 months and they've been breastfed almost exclusively since they were born. I nursed them separately for the first few weeks, but once I got the hang of it, I was able to nurse them at the same time using a twin nursing pillow.

'Mothering Multiples' by Karen Kerkhoff Gromada is a great book on breastfeeding and caring for twins. I didn't read it until after the girls were born, but it's one of those books I wish I had read as soon I knew I was carrying twins. Also, www.twinstuff.com has some great message boards, including a board just for breastfeeding.

Congrats on the twin pregnancy and if you need any advice or just a synpathetic ear, feel free to PM me!

--Lisa

[calebsmama03]

Yes, yes yes - what Rachel and Lisa said! LLL is an incredible resource ans support system. I'd start going before your babies arrive if you can manage it.
Congratulations and GOOD FOR YOU for planning to nurse your twins!! Hugs!
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03