Breastfeeding schedule for twins, day and night

Breastfeeding schedule for twins, day and night

My wife is having twins! Yay! But we are not quite clear on how feeding works at night. It is our understanding the newborns need to feed every 2-3 hours. Do we wait to hear from the babies or do we wake them up? I have read that it is OK to let them go for a period of 5 hours of sleep (if they do so) once a day. Can anyone clarify?

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Breastfeeding schedule for twins, day and night

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May 14, 2009
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joining the forum
by: Kristin

Andrew-
Have you guys thought about joining the raising twins forum? It is a great resource because all of us members have or are pregnant with twins. I wish we had found the forum when we were pregnant, but it is great now too as we tackle the first year of raising twins.

Kristin

May 14, 2009
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Nursing
by: Kristin

I do agree that it depends on their weight at birth. Both of our girls weighed 6 lbs. 2ozs at birth so our doctors were only concerned that they continue to gain weight.

I don't make our girls wait 2 hours in between feedings (however sometimes I wish I did, but 2 crying babies is no fun). I nurse whenever they want to and at 10 weeks they weigh 11lbs 8ozs and 12 lbs. 14 oz, but they are naturally choosing to go longer between feedings and eating more at each feeding.

Nursing on demand during the day makes it difficult to go out, but I just plan trips for an hour and a half unless we are going somewhere that I can nurse easily, than it doesn't matter.

I guess the bottom line is that you will figure out what works best for you guys, don't be afraid to try lots of different things.

May 14, 2009
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Breastfeeding
by: Bridgett

As to the night feeding question, so much of it depends on their age at birth. Our twin girls were preemies, born 5 weeks early at 4 lbs, so they had to be woken up every 2-3 hours to eat, which included all through the night. Once they got to a good weight (about 6 pounds), our doctor allowed us to go one 4 hour stretch at night, but no more than that.

The girls are now almost 5 months old, 10.5 pounds each, and I am still breastfeeding them both, sometimes one after the other, and other times at the same time if they are both hungry at the exact same time. During the day, they go a maximum of 4 hours and a minimum of 2 hours - if they are hungry before 2 hours have passed, I make them wait until 2 hrs, otherwise they will only "snack" and want to eat rather frequently. During the day, I generally feed them every 3 hours, at tandem or, one first, then immediately feed the other second to keep them on the same schedule.

I too only nurse on demand during the night. I've even had one go 12 hours (but that's only happened one or two times). I do not wake the other up when one wakes up at night because I don't want them to think that night time is a time to get up and eat. However, the other usually ends up waking up an hour or two later than the first anyway. :-( Makes for long nights sometimes, but its better than waking the other to think that they are supposed to be up at night.

Breastfeeding twins is challenging AT FIRST, but if your wife sticks with it, it will be the most rewarding, comfortable thing that will ultimately come naturally for her and the babies. It is such a sweet bond, something good nutritionally and emotionally for both her and the babies.

May 14, 2009
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breastfeeding twins day and night
by: Andrew

Kristen,
You are so sweet, and you have answered my question. I am sure that I will very soon mave many more, and much more pressing ones at that. But thanks for you help!

May 14, 2009
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Nursing
by: Kristin

These are our first kids too, so we are learning as we go. When we went into the hospital for our scheduled c-section the nurses asked me what my biggest fear was and one of them was how in the world I was going to be able to feed 2 babies. The nurses were excellent, we started off "mastering" one baby and then moved on to 2 (it takes a lot of "practice" and perseverance).

We never woke/or never do wake our babies just to eat regardless of what people have told us. The only time we woke a baby was to tandem nurse at night. We did this for about 7 weeks. I truly believe that our babies will let us know when they have a "need" that needs to be met, so if they are hungry they let us know. My fear of waking them is that we would start a habit of them not sleeping for long stretches. You will soon find out just how precious sleep really is :) I'm sure there is a lot of information out there that says the exact opposite, but I wonder how many of those people have twins and are running on very little sleep. This works for us, so trust yourselves as your little one's parents and do what works for you guys. Remember that if you make a mistake, you get to wake tomorrow and try and do it better, it's the beauty of parenting.

If you have any other questions please ask.

May 14, 2009
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breastfeeding twins day and night
by: Andrew

Kristen,
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question! ion: This is our first time so we have all kinds of odd questions. (We have made contact with all sorts of helpers by now, of course.) Anyway, just a clarification: You said that your kids woke up every three hours. If they did not wake up on their own did you wake them up at three hours anyway, day and night?

May 14, 2009
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good luck
by: Anonymous

well done kristen!
i found breastfeeding twins crazy and i realise now its becausee i just didnt have the right advice :( to be honest i havnt heard anyone talk about it the way you have. Good on you, i hope you continue to help other mothers of twins with your words of wisdom and proof that it is very much possible :0)

May 13, 2009
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Nursing twins
by: Kristin

Hey there! Our girls are 10 weeks and I am nursing "on demand" morning, noon and night. When they were first born (at 38 weeks) they never slept longer than 3 hours in a stretch and when one woke up we woke the other up too, and tandem nursed. Now they are sleeping anywhere between 4-7 hours a stretch at night and I just nurse when they wake up, sometimes they're awake together sometimes not. During the day I make sure to nurse every two hours or so, usually together but again if one is sleeping I let them be. Your wife will find that the longer you go without nursing the more likely it is to become engorged, which is very uncomfortable. I have to pump every morning because of this. A good pump is a must have, as well as a twin nursing pillow. We use the EZ2 Twin nursing pillow from doubleblessings.com, a boppy pillow won't work for tandem nursing. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

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