Breastfeeding twins-Is It Possible for the Working Mom

It is very possible. THE best breastfeeding source I've seen is www.kellymom.com. Also, I suggest contacting your local La Leche League...I am a member in Plano and a mom in my group is still nursing her 2 yr old twins successfully! Please don't give up, you can do it...oh, and you nurse whenever the baby wants. No schedules or you can diminish their food supply...the more they nurse, the more milk you make...also, if you're going to be working, pumping will help you keep your supply up when you're at work...simply pump whenever your twins would normally feed or would want to feed when you're home on weekends..this way you keep your supply up and build your bottle for the next day!

GOOD LUCK!

Hi N.,

Congrats on the twins AND working outside the home WHILE breastfeeding - I can honestly say, I have never met anyone like you!

I breastfed my son for 14 months - only breastfed, he never had even a drop of formula. Now we did of course use a bottle for juice when he was ready for that and we did give him water in a bottle as well. But yes, breastmilk is all they need to sustain them - the difference twins make is your body makes double the milk.

I only worked maybe 10 hrs. a week during this time, but I did pump once while at work.

What I have heard that works for other full time working moms is to nurse, nurse, nurse on the weekends - not use any bottles, don't pump, just have a marathon nursing weekend! This way when you go back to work on Monday, you will have built up your supply so much then you pump, pump, pump at your babies regular feeding times all week - can you nurse them on your lunch breaks at work? That would help too.

You can do it, just relax and don't stress!

Oh, I could only nurse from one side too - no milk ducts in the other one, so anything is possible, just stick to it!

C. Brady

First of all, for the cracking nipples.... a must have is an ointment called Golden Seal by Nature's Sunshine. You can get it at pharmacies and places that sell herbal remedies.
Breast milk contains everything that babies need to fill them up. They just eat more often when they are breastfed because breastmilk is so easily digested. Which means it is way easier on their systems, but that they will probably be hungry sooner than if you were feeding formula.
This IS a good thing though...... Mad props to you for trying and not giving up. I have breast fed 3 children, and have lots of experience, so please feel free to contact me with any questions. I have also tandem nursed ( 2 of my children were very close in age) so I know how trying nursing 2 can be.

Keep trying!!!!! The soreness usually only lasts a few days, and then it is gone. Just make sure to keep your nipples dry, and make sure they are dry after each feeding before you put your bra and nursing pads back on. I would also not recommend the disposable pads for very long, they do not breathe and can cause more soreness.

Let me know if you have any more questions.
____@____.com

You should check out the videos available to assist breastfeeding mothers at www.motherof7.com. The author, a personal friend of mine, has 7 children, including one set of twins and one with special (physical) needs. A portion of her videos is currently geared toward mothers of multiples, but she is working on a video just for multiple moms.

I have 2 sets of twins. I never produced enough milk to satisfy my babies, but I did give them all I had for 3 months. After 3 months, you just have to make a choice whether it's worth it to you. Given the small amount I produced, I stopped at 3 months. My 3 yr old girl twins are very very healthy; they are as large as 4 & 5 yr old children. My 9 mo old boy twins were born 6.5 weeks premature, but now at 9 mo. are wearing clothes for 24 months. I don't think lack of breastmilk has hurt them; I do believe they picked up antibodies from me and that's why I kept it up for 3 months. Every woman has to make her own decisions, in consultation with her doctor and pediatrician.

HI! I don't have an answer for you but I have two suggestions.
1.) contact a lactation consultant. Linda Worzer at www.naturalbeginningsonline.com is wonderful.

2.) check out the message board at www.breastfeeding.com\forum
there are some great ladies there that will have great advice for you...some of them lacation consultants in training.

Kudos for being such a conscientious mom! I too am a working mom and breastfeeding made all the difference in the world in terms of keeping a close connection to my boys.

As others have suggested, contact both La Leche League and/or a lactation consultant. I needed the help of both with my first as I'm someone that always takes a long time to learn new things. But, it is worth all the effort in the world, as the reward of seeing that look of ultimate satisfaction on a nursing baby's face is tremendous.

And, now is actually an ideal time to work on the transition as they should be switching to solids and you should then be able to provide all of their needs with just a little extra effort. For me, the weekends were invaluable as I could tell my supply would dwindle by Friday, so I made sure to allow time for the extra feedings on the weekend and by Monday, I could notice the difference in the volume available to them. I pumped during the day at work for my oldest until he was over a year. For the youngest, I would just visit him at lunchtime and nurse then and never had to pump for him at all (I didn't go back to work fulltime until he was almost 9 months old).

I am a Day Care provider and having trouble with a 4 month old who would rather have mommy's milk. They suggested to go to sippy cup because he just was not taking the bottle. She had these fancy bottles and the nipples were so hard. She gave up on those and got the cheap ones the once I used when 3o years ago. I still am having trouble getting him to eat. She thinks I am having trouble getting him to bed. The problem is I can not get him full enough to sleep long. He takes just enough to not be fussy then will only sleep 15 min. I am sure once we get him weened he will be a happier baby. He does laugh a lot and so sweet. I am loving taking care of him. I only wanted one baby because it does take from the other kids. What I see is he will cry and the older children are trying to take naps when he is fussy. It keeps them awake. They grow so fast. Another year he will be a toddler playing like the ones I have. Good luck. We also mis breast milk or were and now we are into formula.

I also had premature twins. They were in the hospital for 3 months. I was told to get a hospital grade pump. I also remember, that the more I pumped, the more milk I produced. In fact, my daughter never latched on because she was soooo small. So I pumped from day one. I prodeced the right amount of colestrum. And I was able to proce enough milk that they did not need any formula until I chose to stop breastfeeding. I would suggest contacting a lactation consultant. Getting them to latch on is definitely an art form to say the least. Good luck!!

I worked full time and nursed my twins until they were about 13 months. You can pump more often and increase your supply, especially if that's less painful for you as your cracked nipples heal. There's a kind of waxy cream that my lactation specialist recommended; some have lanolin and I think she recommended the kind w/out lanolin, which can be an irritant. For me the lactation consultant at the hospital where I gave birth was more helpful than La Leche, although I'd also try them. I googled "cracked nipples" and came up with a lot of things such as http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babybreastfeed/8493... Good luck! I know the sleep deprivation is just TERRIBLE! Hang in there!

You definitely want to work on the latch. A poor latch will not empty the breast properly, thus the baby is still hungry after nursing and your milk supply will dwindle. Definitely contact a La Leche League person or lactation consultant. The latch is everything! You should not have cracked nipples.