The following tips on breastfeeding twins will help you cope during the initial phase of feeding your twin delivery. Learn how to manage with two babies at once, and balance out breastfeeding time.
Breastfeeding twins is not all that hard a task to take on, since you can adjust your schedule according to their needs. The best way to know how to tackle this time, is to take up a class where they teach you how to breastfeed more than one child at a time. It will give you great pointers on how to manage newborns without depriving each one of your milk. It is important to make sure that both babies get a sufficient supply of milk everyday; you don’t have to worry about running out of it. As long as the two suckle away, you will lactate and produce milk, where drinking a lot of water will help keep a good flow of milk coming.
How to Breastfeed Twins
These breastfeeding tips will help you along with your feeding schedule when it comes to the twins. Just be sure to get more information and help from maternity classes, where you’ll be able to handle them just fine after you’ve enrolled yourself.
❤ Dietary Guidelines
It is important for mothers to drink plenty of water, and eat generous helpings of both veggies and fruits. While you breastfeed twins, keep a glass of drinking water next to you, so that you can drink this while feeding them. It stimulates your mammary glands to produce a consistent flow of milk, keeping your body hydrated as well at all times. Incorporate healthy eats while breastfeeding like protein bars, and snacks without salt. Eat lots of lean meat that fall under the white meat category.
❤ You Need Your Relaxation Time
After nine months of possible morning sickness, backbreaking days towards the end of those nine long months, and of course the delivery – you more than anyone else, will need rest. Avoid doing heavy chores at home, and take it easy for the first couple of months when you’re breastfeeding. You’ll need your energy, and can slowly allow yourself to get back in shape by going for walks in the park, or taking a brisk walk on the treadmill. Keep it at 30 minutes of not so strenuous workout routines thrice a week, so that you have your energy levels at their peak. Concentrate more on staying at home, and breastfeeding your twins.
❤ Switch During Breastfeeding
When the two twins are at it, make sure that you alternate your breasts between the two of them so that one breast doesn’t grow slightly larger than the other. Due to their different styles of sucking, they will cause each breast to take on a form that is familiar with their motion. So remember to switch the twins to either side every other breastfeeding schedule. Use a reliable electric pump to store away some breast milk in bottles, so that you can take a break from breastfeeding the newborns.
❤ Get Your Sleep While the Twins Slumber
Try to move around your routines of the day, according to when the twins are asleep and awake. It will give you your much-needed nap time, if you were to go to bed at the same time that the twins are asleep. It is important to get at least 7 hours of sleep in a day, so make sure you don’t compromise on this.
❤ Alternate Breastfeeding Positions
Don’t get accustomed to just one way of holding your twins, instead try to work out on some positions that you can hold them in. You can place them facing the same direction, where one of the twins will be resting on the second twin’s tummy. Another position you can try is the normal forward position, where the twins face each other while you cradle them from behind. You of course will be holding their entire bodies, using the crook of your arm to support their heads under your breasts. You can also use pillows to support the two babies, to help ease the pressure off your arms while holding them.
❤ When to Start Weaning a Child
The ideal time for babies to start weaning, is when they cross over a period of six months. By this time a baby still depends on breast milk or formula but with the inclusion of baby food. It is important to wean a baby post 6 months of age because by then they’d need important minerals like iron and calcium. It would help get their taste buds accustomed to flavors, and get them used to the feeling of food textures. After 12 months of age, it is safe to give a child ordinary household meals.
Be sure to look up on how long your babies should be drinking your milk, so that you can then switch their diets to baby food. Have someone help around the house so that you aren’t on your own when taking care of the twins. They’re going to be a handful and you’ll need all the help possible to get you through the initial days of taking care of them.