Where to find info & products to breastfeed twins? MOM OF TWINS ONLY PLEASE?

Question

I'm expecting the birth of my twin boys soon. I've never breastfed before. Any good suggestions on books, pillows, breastpumps, or anything else that I will need?

If you have never breastfed twins before, please do not reply. I'm looking for answers from tried & true moms of twins!

Again, I'm looking for SPECIFIC products ONLY - from MOMS of twins who have done this FIRST HAND!

I know how to use a search engine, but would like opinions from moms who have tried them. Thank you!

Answer 1

I checked out this question in some twins support forums, you might want to check them out.

For the pillow, I found a lot of great reviews on the EZ-2 nurse breastfeeding pillow, as it helps with feeding two comfortably. I haven't heard much on the boppies, and can't find one that's specifically designed for twins.

Breastpumps, I would also go for the Medula. Babies R Us has it, along with a similar one called the "Embrace Double breast pump" which is a little bit cheaper. You can even pump directly into a Playtex bottle. You'll probably want an electric one, as twins will make you too tired to keep pumping manually. Babies R us also posts reviews from people that bought the products from their website, I read some not so good ones on other pumps, so you know that they're very honest about it.

As for books, I can't find any that are specific to breastfeeding twins. Most are for pregnancy, and the first year of life. Or from birth thru 5 years, so on. A really good book is called "Twins! And the first year of life" that shed a lot of light on twins & their birth, and early stuff too. There are some great forums out there that you can post your questions on. But, your best bet would be to get a lactation consultant when you are in the hospital.

I heard from other mothers that you don't have to spend a fortune on nursing shirts & stuff like that. If you don't want an expensive nursing bra, just get some that don't have the underwires in them. Tank tops with built in bras are good too. Everyone I've heard from said also to just wear some stretchy shirts. You can also get some on ebay but the prices for the modern ones are more expensive than most stores' clearance prices, so keep your eye out.

A really good twins forum is from twins magazine. I myself am looking into a subscription.

http://www.twinsmagazine.com

Answer 2

I have been down this road before, and I wanted to say congrats! Breastfeeding twins is a little bit different, but well worth it. I want to start out by definitely recommending a boppy pillow. It will help you out a lot. Next you need to decide if you want to breastfeed them at the same time, one at a time, or bottle feed one pre-pumped breastmilk and put the other directly to breast and rotate. The one that is the best is the one that fits into your schedule. Now that that is out of the way you need to understand that breastfeeding twins requires a little more caloric intake and definitely a lot of fluids need to be kept up. As far as a pump goes I used the Medela Purely Yours: It was a great investment! Any of the more industrial pumps work good, but make sure they are electric and that they are dual. With all this said good luck to you, and you can do it! PS don't forget to get some nursing pads-the disposable ones are preferred, a nursing bra without under wire because with the wire can clog your milk ducts, and lots of lotion to prevent sore cracked and dry nipples. Don't forget when showering don't directly apply soap to you nipple area. And for inverted nipples the hospital will give you this plastic attachment to use to prevent them from going in. The number one thing to remember is to RELAX: Milk flows better this way!

Answer 3

I am breastfeeding my 8 month old twins and the best advise I can give you is feed them one at a time it is to stressful to get them both latched on at the same time. Also buy a boppy pillow they are great! Stick with it the first few weeks can be hard but don't give them any bottles it will soon get easier. I made the mistake of trying to pump and my supply got low it is hard to keep a supply big enough for 2 babies up with a pump. It is better to just keep a baby on the breast almost all the time during the first 6 weeks, that sounds like allot but once you get a hang of nursing while lying in bed it is not so bad you actually get a lot of rest. Congratulations and good luck! You can email me anytime if you need advice!

Answer 4

Congrats.

1. A good book to get is Expecting Twins, Triplets and More (you'll have to put the title in a search engine to get the author, cant remember off hand)

2. A great nursing pillow is the Ez-2 Nurse Twin nursing pillow. It worked fantastic for me.

3. As far as breastpumps, it depends how much you're willing to spend. I bought a manual breastpump, because I wasnt pumping all the time. It worked great. It was the Avent ISIS hand held breast pump, it was about $100. You can try researching around in your area for places that rent the expensive Medella ones (hospital grade) you may even be able to rent a double breast pump. You can buy also buy a Medella Pump in style breast pump, it runs about $300-$450.

You can also check out some great twin websites. One that has a ton of information and a message board for women pregnant with twins and a message board for women who have had their twins as well as a breastfeeding board for breastfeeding is www.twinstuff.com

this link will link you to their expecting twins forum
http://forums.twinstore.com/6/ubb.x?a=frm&s=36960974&f=30660829

this link will link you to their breastfeeding twins, forum
http://forums.twinstore.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/7036019345

Also, check around their website, they have information on twins, product reviews from twin mothers and book reviews from twin mothers

This website is also great, you can get lots of great information here from other mothers of twins
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-psmultiples

This link is for mothers expecting twins (or more)
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=iv-pppregwtwins&nav=start

this link is the breastfeeding twins (although the twinstuff link is more active and more supportive)
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/listsf.asp?webtag=iv-ppbfmultiple&nav=start

I am a member of www.twinstuff.com and www.ivillage.com. The women there are very helpful in regards to pregnancy with twins and after you have them, great products to buy etc. www.twinstuff.com also has a list of things you will likely need after they are born, compiled by actual twin moms.

Good luck and I hope that helps :)

Answer 5

When you give birth in the hospital, the hospital social worker or lactation specialist will tell you about the machines they can rent to you.

I used the professional Medela pump they offered. I rented it for 55 per month. Quite worth it, since the machine normally costs about $1200. You can do both breasts at the same time, and there is a harness that allows you to do that.

Doing it this way allows you to try a different one without wasting all your money if you don't like it.

Call your library, and talk to someone there. Have your husband go pick up the books for you.

Also...go to the babycenter.com website. It is soooo full of info.

Answer 6

I have never breastfed twins but I have volunteered as a breastfeeding counselor for 4.5 years and have worked with some twin mothers. I have also nursed all three of my children, including tandem nursing siblings of different ages for 16 months.

There is a book called "Mothering Multiples" by Karen Kerkhoff Gromada that is very good.

Call your local La Leche League Leader. She may know women in your area who have nursed twins and can give you support and suggestions in person. There may also be a Leader near you who is experienced with nursing twins or helping twin mothers. It would be nice to have a local support system.

The Kellymom site linked below has some great internet resources for mothers of twins.

Good luck to you and congratulations!

Answer 7

you can try searching www.breastfeeding.com or just type into the search engine and a list of results will come out. good luck and all the best for your coming twins =)

Answer 8

You can try asking your peditrician to recommend a lactation consultant in your area. A consultant can help to get you the best product for you exact needs. Good look.