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| Feeding
Feeding multiples can be
quite daunting at first. Get the babies on the same schedule and try to stick
with it. When one wakes and wants to eat, feed it, and then wake the other
to feed it or feed them both at the same time. Often, babies from the NICU are already on one. Some parents highly
recommend the Babywise book. Any schedule that allows the parents to have
planned down time to eat, clean, sleep, etc. is fine.
Chart it! Get a notepad, print out an excel worksheet, place an erasable board on their door, or at a handy spot, whatever -just develop a system that is easy for you to use and visible to all involved.
Breastfeeding
Some women breastfeed multiples successfully, some do not. The earlier your multiples were born, the harder it is for them to learn to breastfeed. You may need to pump and bottle feed or tube feed them if they are very early. Breastfeeding multiples is a difficult task, so the resource moms can be especially valuable. They can answer questions, offer suggestions or just listen.
If you have a cesarean section or were on medications such as Magnesium Sulfate, your breastmilk may be delayed coming in. This is generally not a problem, but if your milk does not come in by 3 or 4 days after delivery and you have been pumping or breastfeeding, be sure to discuss it with your doctor or a lactation consultant.
Many medications can affect the babies and your milk supply. Both antihistamines and decongestants can decrease your milk supply. Before taking any medication, be sure to ask whether it will be a problem for the babies and whether it will affect your milk supply.
Learn to do tandem (nurse both babies at once), and learn to nurse one while laying down as soon as possible. Mothers enjoy the individual time with the babies when they are nursed separately, but it is quicker to feed them together. This can make a difference at 2 a.m.
Get a twin nursing pillow such as EZ-2-Nurse or the Anna pillow. These enable you to nurse both twins at once. Both are designed to slope toward mom so you can nurse hands free. Even if you nurse the babies separately, one of these pillows really saves your back.
Dad can help with positioning, diapering, getting them back to sleep. Have some bottles just in case you need them.
You may also be pumping and bottle feeding some. Consider pumping at one night feeding and have dad feed them while mom goes immediately back to sleep.
Some women have plenty of milk for multiple babies, some women do not have enough milk for one baby. The biggest factor seems to be genetics. Even so, there are some things that you can do to help your milk supply. Be sure you get as much sleep as possible. Be sure to drink lots of healthy beverages. Be sure to feed or pump often. You can pump after a regular feeding to increase the milk at that feeding. Keep in mind, that it is not a bad thing to supplement your babies with formula. Many moms supplement -some examples are a supplemental formula bottle at a set time, such as bedtime, or nursing one baby one day, while bottle feeding the other and then swapping the next day. If you are pumping while the babies are learning to latch on well, you may need to supplement some. It is fine to combine formula and breast milk in the same bottle. You may want to consider fenugreek or Mother's Milk tea to increase your milk production. If you do, discuss them with a lactation consultant or your pediatrician first.
Drink plenty of fluids - always have something to drink while nursing. Use lanolin to prevent your nipples from becoming sore.
Typically with twins, mothers feed each baby from only one breast at each feeding and alternate sides. It can be hard to remember which baby was where, so either chart it or develop a strategy that makes it easy to remember such as a safety pin on the bra strap indicating which side a particular baby should feed from. For alternating, some moms start one baby on the left one day, move to the right for the next feeding, and so on, and then start that baby on the right the next day. Another strategy is to feed one baby on the left all of one day and then on the right all of the next day.
Go to the breast feeding support group
sponsored by PVH or to la leche league meetings. It really helps to see
and talk with other moms who are also learning to breastfeed. la leche
league can be contacted through their web site, www.lalecheleague.org or a
local contact for the
Information on breastfeeding multiples can be obtained from the National Organization of Mothers of Twins Clubs, The Triplet Connection, Twin Services, Mothers of Supertwins and la leche league.
Get at least one breastfeeding top. A sleeveless or camisole
type top offers the most flexibility as it can be layered for all seasons
and a variety of looks. locally, Motherhood Matters carries some
breastfeeding clothing. Babies-R-Us in
Pumping
It is a wonderful gift to your babies to provide them breastmilk when they cannot nurse, but realize that pumping requires a large commitment of time and energy. You need to pump 8 times a day for 15 minutes, for a total of 2 hours a day plus the time to clean pump parts. That is in addition to all the time that the babies need for care.
If you can afford it, buy extra pump parts so that you don't have to wash them after every pumping. It is especially nice to have enough parts so that you don't have to wash them at night and can just go directly back to bed when you are done pumping.
Don't ever skip a pumping! You can get uncomfortably full and your milk production will decrease if your breasts are not regularly emptied. Also, don't try and pump more than every 3 hours - you will become very full and it will be difficult to get back to pumping every 3 hours.
When the babies are still in the NICU, use the pumps there anytime you go for a feeding. That way you pump on schedule and can immediately refrigerate the breast milk. Be sure to take the necessary parts with you so that you can pump there.
Develop a plan to transition to breast feeding. (it can be hard to decide when and how much to pump when you are doing the transition) Talk with one of the resource moms who pumped and then transitioned to breast feeding to get support and ideas.
Pump and feed the babies in the same place. Have a small refrigerator (dorm size) and bottle warmer there so that everything is easily accessible.
Use lanolin so that your nipples don't get sore. When you are first pumping, put lanolin on your nipples before you pump. After you get used to pumping, you can stop using it.
If you quit pumping before your babies can nurse or if your babies are just not learning to nurse, know that you gave them a precious gift to give them the best healthiest start in life possible. Even if you only pump for two weeks, you have given their immune systems a boost.
Bottle feeding
Breastfeeding multiples is difficult and not always possible, so don't feel guilty for choosing formula. Modern formulas are as close as possible to breast milk! If you are concerned about this choice, talk to one of the resource moms about it. Many of the club moms chose to bottle feed.
One of the main advantages to bottle feeding is that you can enlist lots of aid for feeding. Mom does not have to be present or involved with every feeding. So, she can nap while a sitter watches the babies; she can sleep through one of the night time feedings.
Mix enough formula for 24 hours. Some people mix it and immediately pour it into bottles, others mix it, and pour it immediately before serving. Later when life settles into a routine, it is usually easier to mix it as needed. An altemative to a bottle warmer is to put water in a crock pot and leave the pot on low with the lid on. To warm a bottle place it in the crock pot for a few minutes. Some parents report that this warms bottles quicker and more consistently than a bottle warmer. You can also warm more than one bottle at a time. Parents have also commented that bottle warmers do not seem designed to handle the double duty of twins and so burn out after a couple of months.
You can also fill a carafe with warm water and then to prepare the formula at night, the water is available and already the right temperature.
Get lots of bottles! Each baby will need 8 bottles a day, so for twins a 2-day supply is 32 bottles and a 3 day supply of bottles is 48 bottles! If you have triplets, it is only more important to have lots of bottles. Having lots of bottles saves you from finding out that when you need one right now for a screaming baby, they are all dirty. Consider using disposable liners. With these, you don't need to sterilize bottles. Also, since you push the air out of the bottle, positioning the bottle is less critical. Babies ingest less air when using disposables. Be aware that many bottle warmers are not compatible with disposable liners. Also, it is difficult to measure the amount of milk in these liners.
Put a small refrigerator (dorm size) in the room where you feed the babies and put the formula bottles in it. Have a bottle warmer in the same room.
You can bottle feed two babies at once by putting them in bouncer seats and sitting on the floor in front of them holding the bottles. Also, there are self-feeding systems such as the PODEE that allow you to do hands-free feeding.
Sterilizers that work in the microwave are handy and save you from running the dishwasher just because you ran out of bottles. You place the bottles and a small amount of water in the sterilizer, microwave, and in a few minutes you have sterile bottles.
In
For the diaper bag, put powdered formula in bottles and then add the appropriate amount of warm water when needed. If you are somewhere that you can't count on warm water, take a small thermos.
Enlist anyone who is available to help feed the babies. Nearly any visitor can hold and feed a baby. Many people love the opportunity to feed a baby.
Never heat breast milk in the microwave. The energy can destroy the antibodies. If you heat formula in the microwave, be very careful to not overheat and always stir or shake the bottle to ensure that the formula is all the same temperature.
Breast is best is a slogan and the people who created it don't know what is best for your family under your particular circumstances. Don't feel guilty about choosing to bottle feed!
Feeding everyone else
Fix casseroles ahead of time and freeze them. If you can make extra of your favorite comfort foods while pregnant and freeze them, they are a great resource during the first month or so. Develop a list of easy to fix meals that have simple ingredients.
Ask other people to bring you food. Many friends will gladly bring a dinner or a frozen casserole. Some churches will organize members to bring food for a short time after the babies come home. Often people bring large servings, so dinner brought to you every other day generally works well.
When you need to cook, think simple! Rely on crock pot or one-dish meals. Buy prepackaged or frozen foods Sam's has a large selection of good, easy to fix frozen foods.
Consider developing a weekly meal plan. Write down once a week what you plan for each lunch and dinner. Then at mealtime, it is easy to just do what is on the list. Eat off paper plates.
Get take out or have food delivered.
Have convenient, healthy food around. Lots of fruit that you can just grab on the run, veggie sticks, banana & zucchini bread, etc. Keep some of these snack foods near where you feed or nurse the babies as you will spend a lot of time in that spot. Get groceries delivered:
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