[danigrl]

Did you ladies tandem nurse in the hospital or just one at a time? I'm freaking out about this and wondering if I will get a minutes rest with two nursing babies. I'm sure I won't but was wondering what you mamas have experienced. I'm so excited to be nursing both my boy and girl, and I just recieved my EZ nursing pillow.

Thanks for your help!

 

[cheeriotwins]

my twins were born at 33.1 gestation and spent 3 weeks in the nicu learning to feed and grow. i lived there (boarded) the entire time and breastfed them both the entire time (they self-weaned at 13 & 14 months). i got immediately in touch with the lactaction nurse who helped me every step of the way.

btw, out of 5 sets of twins that were in the nicu at the same time, i was the only one breastfeeding...

 

[childsplay]

I worried about the same thing as well. Needlessly, as it turned out! I had recentley weaned my 14 month old, so I was still kind of in 'nursing mode'.
The nurses kept telling me they'd be along soon to help me get my twins on together.....anyway, there were four other sets of twins born that day (city hosp.) so 'service' lol, was a bit slow. I had the babies in bed with me anyway so I just tucked one in my arm,(kind of beside me propped by a pillow) he latched right away, then I put the other one on, and she latched immediately as well. I was pretty shocked and thrilled that it came so easily...(oh the horror stories I'd been told!) With a free thumb, I pressed the call button, when the nurse came in I practically shrieked "Look, I'm doing it! "(and startled the now drowsy babes!)

I found a good time to have a nap in the hospital was when the babes were nursing, they'd fall asleep every time...

Oh and one more thought, kind of off topic, your little ones will probably be placed in separate bassinettes, mine were, and they cried and cried. I ended up wrapping them together on their sides, with the bigger twin kind of hugging his 'little' sis, they seemed much calmer then, after all they've been together for so long. Just a thought to help you get a bit of rest.

 

[cheeriotwins]

oops, i guess i didn't entirely answer your question...

iniitally, i feed them separately, but soon figured out how to tandem feed them and that's what i continued to do...

 

[lilgsmommy]

Mine were born at 32 weeks, and were in the NICU too. Initially I fed them 1 at a time, while daddy did kangaroo care with the other baby. After a week of learning ways to get the to latch on with such small mouths....I tried tandem and it seemed to work pretty good.

 

[cdahlgrd]

Mine were almost 38 weeks and I tandem nursed in the hospital, with help placing pillows! I agree, it is the best time to get a good nap

!

However, when I got home, I pumped for a few weeks and then I nursed them seperately for a few months (my choice), and finally tandem nursed after about month 5. We are still going strong at 2 1/2!

You will be fine. Just do what you need to do and it will work out. Sometimes there are glitches and you need to feed them a little differently that what you had in mind. Just be patient and try to be flexible and you will do great.

 

[royaloakmi]

I tandem nursed mine the first time I nursed after their delivery. I know I brought my EZ2Nurse to the hospital, but my foggy recollection is that we couldn't find it and I just piled up a bunch of pillows. Honestly, I don't remember much, but it went pretty smoothly.

I didn't get a minute of rest at the hospital, but it wasn't b/c of the babies, it was the freakin' hospital staff coming in every five minutes to ask me some dumb question. After 4 days I was begging them to let me leave so I could go home and sleep. It helps if you have someone with you to boot them all out and keep interruptions to a minimum.

 

[gmvh]

We started tandem nursing while at the hospital. The LC suggested that I'd want to be able to do it at home so I should start learning while I had the help there - she was right!

 

[goldfinch]

Mine were born at 33.5 weeks. I went from pumping around the clock, to nursing one at a time, to tandem nursing, over the course of the two weeks they were in the hospital.

You can do it!

 

[doublewhammy]

Mine were born at 32 6/7 weeks and spent 4 weeks in the NICU. I, too, was pumping round the clock. I never did tandem nurse in the hospital--there were too many cords, alarms, etc, and my husband was home with my daughter. Plus I felt like everyone was staring at me. I did tandem nurse as soon as we all got home. And I sent the pump back to the hospital a couple of weeks later. The boys went from bottle to breast incredibly easily. I had a lot of support from both La Leche League and a lactation consultant at the hospital. I wouldn't worry about tandem nursing right away. You'll have plenty of chances. . .

 

[seemfrog]

I found it really nice and easy to tandem them at the hospital (and ever since), I didn't use my EZ pillow until maybe the last day or so (4 nights there). At first we just raised my bed so that I was sitting up-ish and pilled pillows and rearranged for a little while until it seemed comfortable and right, the babies basically nursed football style, but splayed out a little (I could work on their latch a little better that way). I had nurses show me the first time, got one attached, then the other. It was nice having so many nurses around to look and say "good latch" and for extra hands those first few tries, and I was able to figure out how to do it. My DH was able to stay with me the whole time and he was a tremendous help with holding one or the other if one woke and the other was asleep. They had a basinet that held both together, so we learned how to swaddle and put them together in the basinet (although they weren't very sleepy until they were attached an with me lol).

Now as for REST... rest? never heard of it.

Well, there was this really nice nurse who took them twice for us (2 different nights) to try to get them to sleep, rolling them around, in the nurses stationm while DH and I tried to get some more restful sleep, other wise I slept with them on me (pretty comfortable, and nursing makes you sleepy too) or if they happen to sleep in the basinet.

Oh, and the boys were born ON their due date, so no nicu time, or tiny mouths to deal with.

I would recommend the EZ pillow at the beginning, unless you have a C-section, you might not be able to position yourself (get up) well enough, but after several days you should be more able to.

 

[starc]

Mine where born at 36wks. We started tandem feeding them the first day in the hospital. I would also sleep while they nursed. I coslept with them pretty much most of the time in the hospital. It was a nice way for us to bond.

Best of luck.

 

[maxymum]

i tandem nursed from day one. it allowed me that "minutes rest" between feedings. best wishes mama!

 

[IndigoEyes]

My boys were born via scheduled c-section at 39wks & 1day. Brady (twin B) ended up going to the nursery for oxygen. I did nurse Blake (twin A) right in recovery before he went off to the nursery to be cleaned up, etc. Once I was in my regular hospital room, both boys were brought in. I tandem nursed the very first day with pillows piled around me, plus I had my Boppy there. My EZ2 Nurse Pillow was still being shipped.

 

[nd_deadhead]

I tandem nursed in the hospital. I had an emergency C-section at 39 weeks, and couldn't even get out of bed for 2 days - then I didn't get out of bed without help for the next 3. DH spent the first night in the hospital; after that he went home at night so he could rest up, since he would have to do the work of the entire hospital staff when we got home!

At night the babies went to the nursery, since I couldn't pick them up myself anyway. The nurses did a fabulous job keeping them calm and content as long as the possibly could in the middle of the night, so I could sleep. They always brought both boys in together. They are identical, weighed the same, and were so much on the same wavelength that they not only ate at the same time, they pooped at the same time (and they were those rare bf babies who only went once every 3 or 4 days).

 

[f&p'smama]

I tandem nursed in the hospital, for not for a few days. They were born at 37 weeks, but Fiona was in the NICU for jaundice for the first 3 days. Once we were all together, one of the L & D nurses helped me tandem nurse on my EZ to Nurse pillow. Once we got home, I did both nursing them by themselves and together with the pillow. We had nursing issues that we had to work out that we didn't discover until I got home and had help from my PP doula.

Best wishes to you!

 

[mumm]

I tandem nursed about 12 hours after birth without assistance. I was determined that we would learn and that is how we would mostly nurse. Now we nurse maybe 2 times a day together, but alone the rest of the time. I prefer to nurse them alone, and so do they.

 

[skyezy]

The first tandem nursing was the first night at home. My twin B was a lazy nurser so in the hospital, I'd nurse A and send her with the nurses so I could really work with B, getting her latched correctly, keeping her awake, etc.

They're 7 weeks now and I'm not tandem nursing as much as I thought I would.

 

[jackson's mama]

Mine were born at 34w4d and spent 4 days in the NICU. I didn't tandem until we got home, and then not very frequently because Maya needed lots of help and attention with nursing to make sure she got all she possibly could. I don't think I started tandeming until they were over a month, and didn't start doing it frequently until about 4 months. I found it much easier to tandem once they got bigger and their head control got a little better - at that point they could "help" me get them latched on, KWIM?

Honestly I wasn't all about tandeming until recently - I enjoyed the one-on-one time with each baby. Probably easy for me to say since they came home from the hospital on a 3-hour feeding schedule and really never strayed much from it even though I was nursing on demand. So I was getting more rest between feeds than most.