One breast per twin or alternating?

[stinkypants]

My Gina Ford book suggests one breast being allocated per twin as it works on supply and demand.
Other books suggest swapping as the milk supply may vary.
Any experiences to share?
I've breastfed singles before and twins are due very soon.Thanks

[JustCallMeBaldrick]

Congratulations on your impending arrivals!
I gave each boy their own boob, but swapped over every day, as one was much hungrier than the other, and I'd have ended up very lopsided.

[wigglylines]

Please, whatever you do, don't take your breastfeeding advice from Gina Ford. I have no idea whether she is right or not in this instance, but her routines are better suited to FF and can play havoc with breastfeeding. She's not a mother, nor does she have any childcare qualifications. She is however very good at selling books.

For sound, evidence based breastfeeding advice, try //www.kellymom.com or [[//www.laleche.org.uk]] and check out any local breastfeeding groups.

[wigglylines]

Oops, let me try that link again!

www.laleche.org.uk

[wigglylines]

Could be worth knowing that, contrary to what you'd expect, Health Visitors are not generally breastfeeding experts, and sometimes can give duff advice.

If you need advice and support in the early days, seek out someone who is a breastfeeding expert. La Leche League have a free advice line, and can help you find breastfeeding support near you. The hospital may have a BF support person also.

[littleomar]

I mostly did what PP said - each had her own boob and I alternated every day. When they were really going for it (growth spurts and cluster feeding) I fed whoever was hungry on whichever boob seemed most full, to keep me balanced and comfortable.

I wouldn't recommend the GF book either. All my babies (two singletons then twins) have been fast feeders so the recommended times are way too long. It also doesn't tell you what you're supposed to do in the middle of the night when they are both screaming for milk at the same time (answer: practise feeding lying down, so you can feed one of them while rocking the other one on the top shoulder). Feeding aside, I thought I needed a routine for twins, when I hadn't really had one with my older children. But when it didn't work out (one simply needs more daytime sleep than the other, one feeds more at night) I found that it was really nice to get some one on one time while one of them slept.

Good luck. I'm still feeding mine a couple of times a day at 9 months and it really wasn't much harder than feeding singletons.

[littleomar]

Oh there is also a TAMBA breastfeeding helpline, might be easier to get twin specific advice than LLL et al.

[MatildaV]

I agree with the advice not to listen to Gina Ford! (about anything )

I alternated mine at each feed, and had no problems with supply or being lop-sided. I'd strongly recommend getting a twin breast feeding pillow and tandem feeding - it will save you so much time, which is especially crucial for the night feeds. I had the Harmony Duo Twin cushion and it was fab.

[stinkypants]

Thanks for all the advice. Have got the same pillow ready as heard it was good! Will definitely play it by ear a bit and be flexible, the first two feed really well so I'm hoping it will all work out.

[stinkypants]

Fed not feed, in case that sounded like I was bf'ing 4!!!

[mandy214]

I had b/g twins, both fed quite differently and gave one baby one boob and never changed. DD always had one side, DS always had the other. It led to some comedy moments when DS (big feeder) started sleeping through whereas DD was still having a couple of feeds per night. Cue one AA sized boob and one FF . Back to equal sizes after DS' first morning feed!

It worked for us - I was completely sleep deprived and it was one less thing to think about. I think it also helped with their latch / feeding position (they were little and it took us a while to get established).

As a first time mother given a GF routine book by a well meaning friend (of a formula fed singleton) with the advice 'this is how you do it' even the mention of her name makes me cringe. I put so much pressure on myself to get the babies into her "right" way of doing it, and obviously failing, and thinking I was such a bad mother. My initial reaction is burn the book - you sound level headed enough to ignore her . Good luck

[FreeButtonBee]

In the beginning, I alternated quite a lot as your supply has a long way to ramp up and it can be very painful if one sleeps longer than the other. eventually i went to one boob, one baby although i can't remember exactly when. I also had the one comedy boob thing and once had a painful car journey where we couldn't stop and DTS was crying and I leaked but only from 'his' boob. Was weird!

tandem feeding (use lots of extea pillows and cushions to prop you up, rolled/folded muslins under their heads to prop them up etc) along with feeding lying down at night saved my sanity.
I am afraid that mine were VERY slow and very frequent feeders and I had many hour long marathon feeds every 2.5 hours in the early months. It got faster eventually but I just went with it and watched a lot of TV.

[HappyAsASandboy]

I tried to alternate each baby on each boob for each fee for about a week. I needed a notebook to keep track, and I got very confused!

I then tried one baby to one boob switching each day, but soon just went with one baby one boob forever. Obviously there were times they used 'each other's boob' to suit me, but in general they had their own sides.

If I was to have twins again (!) I would go with one baby one boob from the off. Much simpler, an if you end up a bit lopsided, worry about it (or not) then. It doesn't take much to even things up if you do get a bit lopsided.

Congratulations and good luck!

[MultipleMama]

I just tandemed and swapped them over on occassion. I also bf on demand which for me was less uncomfortable and helped a lot with supply. And for nightfeeds I would either lie down or sit up or DH would pop them on the boob while I was sleeping they had/still have in sync sleep & feed patterns. I know dreamfeed to cut back their cluster feeding!

Agree with pp, Gina Ford is no expert and anything she says should be taken with a pinch of salt, or in one ear and out the other

[MultipleMama]

Also forgot to add that I breastgeed 4 (2 sets of twins), so it really makes alternating so much easier. I alternated just by picking them up and plopping them on without paying much attention to who was which boob - I found it easier to work like that instead of trying to remember who fed from which boob every feed!

[stinkypants]

Thanks for all the advice. They are now here and it's brilliant! ! Have gone with one baby, one boob which seems great altho bit concerned as one has dropped far more weight than the other.

[littleomar]

One of mine lost quite a bit more than the other - she was the biggest at birth and dipped below her sister for a bit. I had a really sensible community midwive who said in her experience this is quite common - the bigger one loses more before they both find their curves.

[stinkypants]

Oh that's good know, yes this is the bigger one too. I have actually swapped them round a few times now as the breast the bigger one was using produced far less milk when I expressed so I think that was a sign he was too sleepy. Hopefully this will even things out a bit.

[LairyPoppins]

I swapped daily as it gave my 'better sucker' a chance to build up the supply for my 'slow gainer'