Taking care and breastfeeding one baby is hard. What more if you have to take care and nurse two? Learn from one mom's experience about tandem feeding.
What can you read in this article?
- The struggles this mom faced with tandem feeding
- 4 things that helped her succeed at tandem feeding
Having twins is double the blessing, no doubt about that. But for parents of multiples, it surely means double the stress, double the efforts, and double the struggles, especially in areas like putting the baby to sleep and breastfeeding.
A lot of moms are curious, is it really possible to breastfeed two babies at the same time?
We talked to Raquel Chua, a mompreneur, chef, and breastfeeding advocate to know more about her experience in tandem feeding her twins.
Tandem feeding
Mommy Raquel believes that our breasts are made to handle breastfeeding two babies at the same time. Notice how when you're breastfeeding one baby, your other breast leaks milk while your child is latched on the other side? This proves that our breasts are anatomically capable of breastfeeding twins.
"Ideally, we're blessed with two breasts, so we can definitely do tandem breastfeeding," says Mommy Raquel.
And not only was she able to prove that tandem feeding is possible, she also successfully exclusively breastfeed her twins, a boy, and a girl, for 29 months!
The challenges of breastfeeding two
But of course, like any breastfeeding mom, Mommy Raquel encountered a lot of struggles in their journey.
The first three months for her were the hardest. They had difficulties with positioning the twins for breastfeeding, and it didn't help that one of them had trouble latching.
And as expected, there are definitely some struggles with putting two babies to sleep. Mommy Raquel remembers feeling so weary when one of the twins would wake up crying, and it would wake the other one as well.
"I remember 'pag umiiyak 'yong isa, hubby would bring the other baby to the bathroom para hindi magising," she shares.
Another struggle was having to provide milk for two babies. Unlike before when Mommy Raquel would just pump and store milk for days when she needed to leave her firstborn in the care of someone else, she had to double the effort in increasing her milk stash to make sure none of the twins would go hungry.
Post-eclampsia
Her worry about where her kids would get their milk intensified when she was diagnosed with post-eclampsia.
Postpartum preeclampsia is a rare condition where the mother gets high blood pressure and excess protein after giving birth.
A few days after being discharged from the hospital, Mommy Raquel experienced having blurred vision, inflammation, and numbness to pain in her legs.
Bothered, she called her OB-Gynecologist and to her surprise, she was asked to immediately return to the hospital to be admitted. She learned that she had post-eclampsia.
This meant that she wouldn't be able to breastfeed her children as she stayed in the hospital, and she worried that her milk stash would not be enough for the twins while she was away.
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"Inahing Baboy"
But probably one of the biggest challenges Mommy Raquel faced while tandem feeding was she was shamed on social media for doing so. In 2015, to commemorate their 11th month of tandem feeding journey, she posted a photo on Instagram of her breastfeeding her twins. But one rude, anonymous netizen shamed her for it by posting a mean comment, calling her an "Inahing Baboy." Naturally, Mommy Raquel would be offended especially since she didn't do anything to deserve such a nasty remark. The netizen even went on to antagonize her and criticized her children's facial features. The issue spreaded on social media and went as far as Mommy Raquel going to NBI to file for cyberbullying. However, to her surprise, moms from the breastfeeding community and even people she didn't know started defending her and condemning the netizen for shaming her."I'm thankful that I had a whole amount of support from people I don't know and from the whole family," she said.
What helped her succeed at tandem feeding
Despite the challenges she encountered while tandem feeding the twins, Mommy Raquel soldiered on and kept breastfeeding her twins for a long time until they were big enough and ready to be weaned.
According to the breastfeeding mama, their breastfeeding journey wouldn't be a success without the following:
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Knowledge of breastfeeding
It helped that she breastfed her eldest son before having the twins so she was able to form realistic expectation on breastfeeding.
Having a knowledge of the best positions for tandem feeding also helped Mommy Raquel to find the most comfortable position for the three of them.
What worked for them was the football hold position, with the help of a humongous nursing pillow.
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Preparing for their new normal
Knowing how hard and equally satisfying breastfeeding is allowed Mommy Raquel to prepare herself for tandem feeding. She enlisted a lot of help during the first month (they hired a nanny who would be on graveyard shift so someone could attend to the twins while she slept). She and her husband, Jon, also prepared by asking for milk donations to be given to the twins in case of emergency.
At home, she knew tandem feeding would not be possible without the help of a proper nursing pillow. And finally, she shared that she was heavily dependent on a doorbell when she needed help with the twins and she couldn't stand because it was physically impossible without waking the babies.
Mommy Raquel that having a routine for the twins also made it easier for them to tandem feed and take care of two babies.
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Everybody should be on board
As mentioned, Mommy Raquel had a lot of help during the first month. The nurse would help Mommy Raquel with the twins, and give them her breast milk through cup feeding when she needs to rest and recuperate.
And aside from physical help, to be able to sustain and succeed at breastfeeding, you should have a lot of emotional support.
"Everybody around you should know that you're into breastfeeding," she shared. "Kasi for sure may maririnig ka na, 'Parang walang lumalabas na milk diyan.'"
So in their household, Daddy Jon came up with a rule.
"My husband gave the yayas this rule: to never tell me na wala akong milk or never to doubt me when it comes to breastfeeding my kids." shared Mommy Raquel.
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Daddy's support
All throughout her breastfeeding journey, Mommy Raquel was very fortunate to have the full support of her husband.
"My husband is my number one breastfeeding supporter," she said.
He learned how to change the diapers, he learned how to burp the babies to be able to assist his wife in taking care of them.
Even when Mommy Raquel was in the hospital for post-eclampsia and was worried about where the twins would get their milk, Daddy Jon stood up to the plate and asked help from other moms for milk donations so his wife wouldn't have to think about it and just focus on getting better.
And he could've easily switched the babies to formula milk. But he stuck to what they believed in and their breastfeeding goals.
"Hindi ako magiging successful breastfeeding the twins and my eldest kung wala siya," shared Mommy Raquel.
Tandem feeding maybe twice as challenging, but with the help of your partner and the support of everyone around you, you and your children can also reap twice the rewards.
Mommy Raquel shared that her twins rarely get sick and have strong, beautiful teeth. They also learned the importance of taking turns and patience early.
An added bonus: double the savings! At that time, breastfeeding your child saves you P75,000 a year. So that meant Mommy Raquel saved over P150,000 when she tandem fed her twins!