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This breastfeeding method allows you to have one hand free to re-latch babies (or even use a TV remote!) This method is especially good for preemies who have trouble maintaining a latch.
Steps
- Put both babies on the floor on their backs. Sit on the floor in front of them.
- Put two burp cloths on your breastfeeding pillow (see Things You'll Need).
- Fasten the pillow around your back with the strap.
- Undo your bra and pull up or take off your t-shirt.
- Lift each baby onto your pillow. Do not attempt to latch them on yet.
- If you would like to sit on a couch, stand up and do so now, holding onto the babies, of course. Otherwise, get comfortable on the floor.
- Latch on baby A in the cradle position. Put her head in the crook of your elbow (the one resting on the couch arm, if you aren't using the pillow--see Tips), and stretch her body along your stomach, her tummy to your tummy. For clarity's sake we will call this arm your right arm, but it can be either.
- Put the head of baby B in your right hand. The head of baby B will rest on the stomach of baby A. Baby B is now in the "football" position.
- Use your left hand to latch baby B and re-latch babies as necessary.
- When the babies are done, go back down to the floor if you are on the couch with the pillow. Then lift the babies from the pillow to the floor.
- Alternatively, use the Double Football position: if your babies (especially the cradle-position baby) get too hot doing the above method (which may happen in summertime), use this double-football position and still have a hand free.
- When it is time to latch baby A, put her head in the crook of your right arm, but stretch her body along your right side. You should use a bed pillow for her feet to rest on back there if she is long enough.
- Put the head of baby B in your right hand, and stretch her along your other side, using a pillow for her feet if necessary. Both babies are now in the football position and your left hand is still free.
Tips
- It is best to wear an underwire bra that unsnaps for breastfeeding. This will keep your breasts from sliding both to one side or the other, which is a headache.
- If you let the cradle baby down, DO NOT switch the football baby to cradle. If you do this, she will train YOU to always let her eat alone and cradle position.
- You can use a feeding chart to note when the babies have eaten, what position they were in, how much they ate, and whether they had a BM at their diaper change or not. This may seem silly at 4 pm, but at 4 am, it is a godsend because at 8 am you will not remember a thing. You can also put a space on your chart for "med/other" for medicines or any other useful notes.
- If either baby will not eat tandem (that means at the same time), let her down and feed them separately. Don't force them, but do try this tandem position first every time. Or, you can try switching their positions in mid-feeding. I often found the cradle baby a bit happier because she could see me better, so I always alternated who got to be cradle.
- If you have an older child or children who need supervision: childproof the area where you feed the babies, and bring your other children there when you are going to feed the twins. Make sure before you start the feeding that the older kids' toys are within their reach.
- Be sure to put anything you want to have access to during the feeding within the reach of your free arm before you start.
- For those of you who are seriously sleep-deprived, a home-made "dial" on your breastfeeding pillow is nice. I cut two triangles out of cardboard and tacked them into my (foam) breastfeeding pillow with a straight pin. I then wrote the numbers from 0-3 around the sides of each triangle. As the babies ate, I moved the points of the triangles from 0-3 to note how much they were eating. When they were done, even if I had fallen asleep 6 times during the feeding, I still knew if someone had not eaten well.
- For larger, older babies, instead of a breastfeeding pillow, you can sit on a couch, leaning against one arm of the couch, with your knees together against that side of the couch, and your ankles together near the middle of the seat.
- This method does take practice, but it is well worth it. Whenever possible, have someone help you practice so you don't get discouraged at the beginning. After all, the goal is feeding the babies. You will catch on to this method in time.
Warnings
- The strap on the breastfeeding pillow is a strangulation hazard for toddlers. Keep it closed and pulled tight when you are not using it. If your toddler knows how to unbuckle the strap, keep the pillow out of reach.
- You cannot use this method and avoid being exposed. Therefore, you need to be at home, in a private place like a comfortable bathroom or a nursery at church, or with people who don't mind you being topless for this method (or if you don't mind what anyone thinks). Everywhere else, you can just feed the babies separately.
Things You'll Need
- A breastfeeding pillow, the kind which can fasten around your back with a strap. Use the foam kind, not the inflatable kind.
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Breastfeed Twins. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
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