Need breastfeeding encouragement

[lupineaura]

So, when does tandem feeding stop sucking? My babies are 2 1/2 weeks old and breastfeeding is turning into a bit of a nightmare.

1) Neither of them like the left side, and one twin almost never latches on that side. When they do latch, it's shadow and almost always painful. 

2) Both are still sleepy eaters and it's very hard to keep them awake when my hands are full. Nursing sessions take forever. 

3) Neither are gaining weight quite as quickly as the pedi would like, so I'm pumping to supplement as well. I didn't even bother putting a shirt on today.

4) Both do so much better if I feed them one-on-one, but I know this is not feasible if I ever want to sleep. 

5) I don't feel like I'm getting the relationship reward that I did when I breast-fed my singleton daughter, or that I get when I give them one on one time at the breast. Time tandem feeding is mostly spent trying to make sure their latches aren't shredding my nipples apart and keeping them awake. 

6) I still have nipple soreness.

breast-feeding is important to me and I don't want to give up, but I just want to know if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

ETA- I have had a session with the lactation consultant and it did not help that much

[ashb62]

First of all, it does get better. I promise! My boys just weaned at 20 mos and though we had a rough start, I loved my BFing relationship with them.

Tandem nursing is not for everyone. I didn't like it. My boys nursed better one on one and I felt less like a milk machine. They were more efficient one at a time and it really only took like 10 more minutes. I just nursed one and then the other. We would tandem in a pinch, but not often.

At night when one woke up DH would get him, change his diaper, and bring him to me. When he was almost finished nursing, DH would wake up the second baby, change him, switch with me and put baby 1 down. Then I would finish up with baby 2 and put him down. It took 45ish minutes. (If both were up at the same time, DH would rock one until I was ready to switch.)

You could also nurse one on one during the day and work on their latches and tandem at night.

As far as the sore nipples, lanolin was my best friend. Getting a good latch is also important, which I'm sure you know.

You're doing a great job!

[mrsp419]

Oh mama, hang in there! You are doing a great job!
I tandem fed my girls consistently until 5 or 6 months, then went to more one at a time. They still tandem every once in a while at 11 months. My advice is to use as many tools as you can to help. I used nipple shields on both sides for the first couple of weeks. Use breast shells, soothing gel pads, and all purpose nipple cream (get a prescription. It is made of magic) as much as possible for nipple pain. They just get so raw and torn up!
After a couple more weeks of establishing nursing, maybe start thinking about one bottle feed to give you a break. I had such awful nipple soreness that I needed my DH to do a bottle feed during their biggest sleep so my boobs could get a break in the middle of the night. They still take bottles and nurse, and it gives me a break!
There is nothing wrong with going to one at a time if you feel it will help. Maybe that dedicated time will help you work with each baby to get their latch more proficient, and then you can go back to tandem when they were less sleepy. My oldest was a sleepy nurser and had weight gain issues, and I know how stressful that is.
You can do it!!  It does get so much easier, and is such a sweet time.  I am going to miss it.  

[carrotcake]

I will echo PP. Tandem isn't for everyone and you may find that it's actually more efficient one at a time.

I found that what worked best changed every couple of months. Much moreso than w my singleton. Maybe tandem is something g that works in 3 months.

I also pumped and bottle fed at least one feed every other day when I was on mat leave. One bc they needed to take a bottle when I went back to work and two just to give me a freakin break.

The beginning is always so difficult, as you know. You're doing a great job.

[lupineaura]

Thank you ladies so much. I wonder if the period of soreness lasts longer with twins.

[ashb62]

May 30, 2015 17:03:21 GMT -5 lupineaura said:

Thank you ladies so much. I wonder if the period of soreness lasts longer with twins.

In my experience, yes. I was sore longer with the twins than DD. I also had recurring soreness a few times later on with the boys, which never happened with DD.

[mrsp419]

May 30, 2015 19:30:32 GMT -5 ashb62 said:

May 30, 2015 17:03:21 GMT -5 lupineaura said:

Thank you ladies so much. I wonder if the period of soreness lasts longer with twins.

In my experience, yes. I was sore longer with the twins than DD. I also had recurring soreness a few times later on with the boys, which never happened with DD.

This was exactly true for me, unfortunately.  I think it is because with twins, your nipples are getting so much more "action."  They get raw and as your little ones' feeding habits change, they go through periods or roughness again.  I had a prescription for All Purpose Nipple Cream filled twice, and definitely had to re-order things like breast shells at random times, even when they were 8-9 months old.  With that said, those recurrences did not last long...maybe a week here and there.  I definitely was grateful that I introduced a bottle early so if I was in a lot of pain, I could slather on cream, put on breast shells, and take a few hours off.  

[anotherdreamer]

I actually prefer the Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter to Lanolin. It is really soothing. You have a lot of great advice so far, and there are a lot of different methods to try for relief.

Tandem nursing works best for my girls and me, but every baby and woman are different. You may find that nursing individually works best for you always, or that it works later on, just figure out what works best for you. I had issues with my twins at first, one struggled with my OALD and wasn't great at latching, she used a shield for awhile and her sister was fine. I always put my good nurser on first, then my other twin with the shield. If they are struggling with latch on one side, I would consider nursing one on one and always unlatch when the latch isn't good and correct it. You could consider a shield if you need to, temporarily.

The first three months were hard. Cluster feeding was crazy, I would have my nursing nest set up and just sit there letting them pop off/on and nap for hours. It got better though. In time they cluster fed less, they both were able to handle my OALD, and most of the latch issues were resolved (sometimes they get lazy and I have to get on them lol). Honestly, by 4m we really hit our stride and it was pretty smooth sailing. I've been nursing them for 11m now, and I wasn't able to nurse my singleton past 3m due to latch and supply issues.

You are doing great, just hang in there