Few of our mothers’ generation breastfed single infants, much less, multiples. We are part of a new generation, well-aware of the many benefits of breastfeeding.  Undeniably, nursing is the healthiest option for your babies, for you, and most definitely, for your wallet.  I will tell you here and now, although it is “nature’s way”, it is a challenge. 

Low Flow Isn't Just for Toilets
Don’t be shocked when hardly anything comes from your breasts.  Many new mothers get fearful in the first few days and quit nursing, convinced their babies are “starving.”  From what I understand, babies are born with nutrition sufficient to survive five days with nothing.  Now obviously, you aren’t going to do that, but that tidbit should reassure you tremendously when the first few days are full of incorrect or non-existent nipple latch-ons. Most hospitals have a lactation consultant on staff and she (maybe I am being sexist, but I have yet to hear of a male lactation consultant) will be there to help you. Use her.

The early output is called colostrum, and is like liquid gold…full of antibodies and all sorts of goodies just right for those fresh out of the womb.  Nothing synthetically produced can match it.  It’s just a fact.  Even if you know you don’t intend to breastfeed long term, consider at least getting them the early goods.

Strategic Nipple Selection
Do use care and select a slow flow nipple whenever you need to supplement off the breast.  You are probably shrieking right now, “What about nipple confusion!?  Won’t my babies reject my breasts in favor of the bottles?”  If you don’t use care in selecting a strategically nippled bottle, the babies may do just that.  But believe me, the babies aren’t confused; they’re just lazy.  Most bottles/nipples will automatically drip into the babies’ mouths even if they don’t suck.  Those types of bottles are just easier and faster. Don’t blame them for wanting the easy route, it’s tough work being adored all day long.  My feeling is, it’s never too early to learn life rarely hands you something for nothing.  Get nipples that simulate the breast, forcing the babies to truly suck hard to get the goods. As you will find out, the babies need to seriously work their suction muscles in order to extract milk from your breast. Surely my daughter will thank me in the future when she has finely-chiseled cheekbones from all her diligent nursing as an infant.

Avent makes a fine booby-like nipple.  We had to supplement our daughter with expressed breast milk after every feed in the early weeks.  It took her an eternity to drink from those nipples. 

The breast is more efficient, making it the preferable method for the babies in the long run.  Even if you want to breastfeed exclusively, do express milk on occasion and let your husband (or grandparents or older siblings) enjoy feeding the babies.

Let Go of the Fantasy
If you have idealized images of nursing your babies like an enthroned Mother Earth, you may want to let go of those fantasies now. You will not be relaxing while nursing, all doe-eyed, gazing upon your offspring as many of the breastfeeding propaganda books would have you believe, at least not in those early days. Sister, you’re going to be working and juggling, but all for good reason.  After a while the whole process does get much easier, and you will find it hard to remember how tricky those first sessions actually were.  Try not to get too discouraged with the challenges of the early days/weeks.  The babies will learn, and you will get more adept.   

Our son, despite his bigger size, was dubbed “a lazy white boy” by the in-hospital lactation consultant.  I would have been offended if she hadn’t been right.  Latching seemed like more than he was interested in.  We always managed to get him on eventually, and he would eat, but he was the tricky one.  In the early weeks, I was convinced he would need to be fed with pumped breast milk only.

Our daughter was like a bird in the nest, beak open, ready for mommy to fill with food.

Thank goodness for the blessing of her desire to nurse, right from the beginning.  We’d get her latched on, and could then concentrate on hooking him up.  Invariably, once he was drinking, she’d be falling asleep, and we’d need to prod her.  But you know what?  You really do start to get used to caring for one, then the other.  Breastfeeding two helped me realize early on you cannot always tend to each child immediately, a priceless lesson that continues to serve us all well to this day. 

Consider a Lactation Consultant
We made a decision after two weeks at home to hire a highly recommended lactation consultant for an in-home visit.  Since it was obvious our nursing rituals would soon be well-established, and our son was still a bit inconsistent in his latch ability, we felt it would be well worth the investment.  Was it ever!  

Our appointment was scheduled for our 1pm nursing session so she could watch us in action.  She brought a scale with her, and weighed each baby pre-feed and post-feed.  I now had a basic idea of their actual consumption.  Not knowing is very disconcerting, especially when your babies are smaller, as twins often are. She had great suggestions on how to position Darren so he’d chow down with greater ease

She brought a nursing pillow much more suitable for breastfeeding twins than the one we were using.  It even had a mini-back support pillow for me.  She brought nursing bras and fitted me in the comfort of my own bedroom.  

If these are your first babies, don’t let the challenges of the early days of breastfeeding make you feel inadequate and incompetent.  It took us about a month, and the help of the at-home lactation consult, before I truly felt breastfeeding was working well each and every feed. Your body is doing something it could not practice for.  Cut yourself some slack, and congratulate yourself for attempting, and hopefully succeeding, at a very daunting goal.

Allow Your Family to Support You
There is no way I could have ever made nursing work the first few weeks without an incredibly supportive husband. Logistically, with two infants who have minimal body control, the more hands that can help with support and positioning, the more comfortable you and your babies will feel.  Emotionally and physically, breastfeeding is literally draining.  You will need encouragement and support.  If you don’t feel your husband is the one for that role, enlist your mom, a treasured friend, someone. Breastfeeding, for however long you undertake it, will require a level of commitment from the entire family.  

Likewise, the entire family will benefit from its success.  From my perspective, it seems much easier to give your midnight feeds without the hassle of having to mix formula, warm it, fill bottles, feed babies, burp them, diaper them, then wash bottles and put babies then yourselves back to bed.  You can get a few precious extra minutes of rest, whip out your breasts equipped with pre-warmed milk, feed, burp, diaper, and then ideally, all go back to bed.  No fuss, no muss. Well, except for the diapers.  

Financially, breastfeeding is a God-send.  Formula, even the generic, is expensive. Many babies exhibit allergic symptoms to one or more ingredients in a particular formula, requiring even pricier varieties.  Nothing can match free; breastfeeding rocks the budget. 

Do Be Forewarned
Challenges in breastfeeding don’t vanish after it becomes well-established.  For instance, at around 5 months, every time I would latch my daughter on, she would quickly start screaming and turn her head away.  That was pretty jarring considering breast milk was her only nutrition at that point.  Common culprits for sudden breast rejection after nursing is well-established?  Spicy food intake on Mommy’s part, baby teething, baby nasal congestion, Mommy’s soap or deodorant residue/scent…a surprising myriad of reasons may explain the sudden refusal to feed.  Our final answer?  Crazy garden-hose like milk streams from my breast shooting at the back of her throat.  Supply increases with demand, and apparently, production was overwhelming her.  The solution?  Tip the baby-laden nursing pillow upward toward my breasts slightly while nursing so that the milk streams wouldn’t be hitting the back of her throat.  Side benefit was that I got to lean back and relax a bit while feeding the twins instead of sitting upright as I had been the first months. 

Perhaps a portion of that particular stage provided one of the best nuggets of nursing wisdom: lean back and relax a bit while feeding the twins.  Whether you are anxiety-ridden in first attempts that seem to be thoroughly unsuccessful, or have spans of difficulty with one or both twins months into the breastfeeding process, remember that each nursing session is essentially just a “meal”.  Each feeding is its own entity and consequently, each feeding provides another opportunity for a better experience the next mealtime.  So both physically and mentally, try to “lean back and relax a bit while feeding the twins.”