When preparing to deliver twins, you may be overwhelmed thinking about how to do everything times two! It IS overwhelming! So, I’m sure you’ve probably taken yourself to Google, and tried looking up anything that could help you with twins.
While that is all good and dandy (maybe you even found my twin series through a web search), there is something to be said for researching things about singletons as well. What do I mean by that you say?
Well, here’s the thing. Twins are a whole other animal. From now on, as you hear other people talk about their singleton pregnancy, or dealing with their single child, you’ll always think, “okay, sure, but I have to do this with TWO?!” I had a singleton first, and then my twins. So, I feel very confident in saying, “Singleton parents don’t get it.” They just don’t understand the actual experience of being pregnant with TWO humans, or caring for TWO humans of the EXACT same age. You may look from the outside at a twin mom and think, “Oh, it can’t be THAT much harder than having one baby.” Or, “Well, my kids are 11 months apart, so they are pretty much twins anyway.” You'll also hear the occasional comments from onlookers; they are just trying to be helpful (most of the time), but you never really agree with what they are saying. For instance, after seeing that I was going to write about breastfeeding twins, my brother said to me, “it’s easy – you have two breasts.” HA!
So, with that being said, what's something that IS extremely similar to having one baby, versus two? BREASTFEEDING. The largest difference between breastfeeding a singleton, and twins, is that there are TWO babies to feed…duh. You’ll have a bigger pillow to use, you'll probably want a bigger nursing cover, and you’ll have to feed your twins in the football hold (assuming you are feeding them at the same time), but that’s it. It is the SAME as breastfeeding a singleton. You have to find the right latch, you may have to use a nipple shield, you may have to consult with lactation specialists, etc.
So, when searching Google, take a step back and also look for resources for feeding ONE baby. You will find so much more information, and a lot of helpful links when you search this way. When looking up “breastfeeding twins”, you may find articles like this one, that give helpful hints on how to breastfeed twins. But, if you’re looking for specific twin breastfeeding resources, then think outside the box on this one and search for breastfeeding in general.
You’ll end up finding that any lactation consultant can help you, and get you the information you need, even if they aren’t a twin expert. Even the nurses at the hospital can help with twin breastfeeding, and I assure you, they don’t all have twins. ;) But the mechanics are all the same, the problems you'll face are the same, you'll just be doing it times two; as you will find with a lot of things that are twin related. So utilize ALL the resources you can find, twin related or not! They will all still apply to you in some fashion!
Now, just because you’ll find what you need this way, does NOT mean it is as easy as feeding ONE baby, because that mamas, is NOT true. Breastfeeding twins IS hard work; let’s be honest, breastfeeding in general is hard work. So, when you have to double that for every meal, it becomes quite the task. Especially if you don't have your large nursing pillow with you. For instance, I was on a very long bike ride with some friends, as shown in the picture above, and had to nurse them while on the ride in the middle of the forest. My husband held one baby's bottom, and my friend held the other's bottom, and I nursed them. You're not gonna have to do that with one baby.