Tandem feeding twins

You have two babies, you have two breasts. Many twin mums like to feed their babies together to save time and to try to maximise sleep!

But should you try straight away or should you single feed first whilst you are all practising? The answer is it really depends on your babies and you. Some babies struggle to latch in the early days so trying to juggle two babies and latching both on with one hand each can be quite stressful. And they often take a few goes each to latch. So sometimes its preferable to wait until they have practised a bit feeding singly. Other babies, especially if they are full term, a good size and nice and alert, can tandem feed straight away. So you will really have to wait and see. Some mums try tandem feeding and just don’t enjoy it. And that’s fine too. But I think its always a good idea to be able to tandem feed if you need to, even if you don’t do it all the time.

So how do you go about tandem feeding? The most popular position is the “double rugby hold”, or “double football hold” if you are American. The babies lie one down each side of you. Start nose to nipple, so the babies need to be quite far back with their legs curled round your waist; you may need an extra cushion or two behind you to make room for their legs, especially as they grow longer! Support the baby with your hand behind their shoulders with thumb and fingers round the neck behind the ears. Tickle top lip with your nipple to stimulate baby to open her mouth wide, and bring on to the breast chin first with nipple going up into the roof of the mouth. A twin feeding pillow can help to support the babies in a good position. You can read my blog about different twin feeding pillows here. If you have your feeding pillow set up well you should be able to let go of the babies and feed hands free (meaning you can eat ice-cream!).

Many mums are worried about how they will be able to tandem feed without help when their partner goes back to work. The most important thing is to keep everything nearby within reach. Then get your feeding pillow ready. Pick up one baby and put on sofa or bed next to you. Ensure baby cannot roll or push themselves off. It is surprising how early babies can move themselves! Then pick up the second and place next to the first. Get settled and make sure the feeding pillow is in position. Lift one baby onto the pillow, ensure they can’t roll off, you can either use your arm to support it or some prefer to roll up a muslin and just prop them up. Lift second baby onto the cushion. I usually advise mums to start with the fussier feeder as you can concentrate more on the latch and use both hands. Then once the first baby has settled into a deep feeding rhythm and the milk is flowing, latch on the second baby. Sometimes this knocks the first baby off the nipple and you have to start again! But with practice, you will get there.

But you don’t have to be constrained by the double rugby hold and needing to use a pillow to tandem feed. There are several other positions you could try. And especially as the babies get older, more able to control their heads, and faster at feeding, you really can be quite creative.

Commonly called “The Stack” you can feed one baby in cradle hold and one in rugby hold. This is quite a good position for feeding out and about as you can do it either without a feeding pillow or with just a couple of cushions to support your arms. Or you can sit cross-legged on the floor and have your legs support the babies.

The “double clutch” can be another good way of tandem feeding without a pillow. It is especially useful when babies are a bit older and can feed in a more sitting up position.

You can even tandem feed in the car. Just make sure you are not actually driving at the time!

And you can feed walking around if you can master the “tandem twin sling feed”. The ultimate food on the move.

And most importantly, there are ways you can tandem feed lying down, so you can lie back and relax whilst you feed. These positions can be used from birth when babies like to feed very frequently, or later on during the long, cluster feeding sessions during growth spurts.