... More Nursing Multiples

Nursing Multiples Table of Contents | Twins List FAQs

Simultaneous Feeding

"Should I nurse my twins separately or together? What positions work best for breastfeeding twins simultaneously? Is it possible to continue feeding my twins together when they get bigger?"

I began feeding them one at a time until they were better at latching on and I was better at positioning. I think it was a month or so before I began tandem nursing. It works really well for me. I use the Nurse Mate pillow with support pillows all around.

My advice to new parents on breastfeeding twins would be to do it simultaneously if possible--it saves time and keeps them in the same routine. I had never heard of Nurse Mate pillows so I just use three ordinary pillows in a triangle formation, with the third pillow giving extra support to their heads.

I nursed my boys sometimes together and sometimes separately (depending on demand) when they were very young. As they got older and evolved a schedule with meals and naps, they usually wanted to nurse at the same time. Also, once they get mobile, you sort of *have* to nurse them at the same time if both are awake, to keep them both out of trouble (unless you put one in the crib or playpen, I guess). Some of my most difficult times came when one was in the process of weaning himself and would nurse before bed for about 2 minutes and then wreak havoc with the phone and the VCR while I was hopeless tethered to his brother, who could have sucked for another half hour. I nursed both together with the Nurse Mate pillow until one weaned himself at 16 months. I'm *still* nursing the other one (with the Nurse Mate pillow) before bed every night. There is a picture in Elizabeth Noble's twins book of twin 2 1/2 or 3 year olds nursing simultaneously without a pillow.

At home, I sit in a big recliner with two bed pillows--this is nice because we can all fall asleep--the girls kind of sink down into the pillows and so far they haven't fallen off...knock on wood. This way, I am also hands free--I put both girls in the football hold and prop their heads with rolled up cloth diapers (daddy's idea).

As for positions, I ended up buying a nursing pillow when my twins were 4 months old because for me bed pillows didn't work well. I could never get the hang of it and if I did they would slide away. My girls got very wiggly at one point and it became a bit harder. I have always used the football hold for both because it seems to be where they are most comfortable. At 10 months they are still nursing and having baby foods and finger foods now. I only feed them together in the morning at this point because about 3 months ago they started objecting to sharing me (I think) at any other time of day. So after work they play and I nurse one while the other plays and then switch. At the last feeding of the night my husband plays with one while I go to the bedroom for some real quiet time with the other. They've been happier with this and I have to admit it's been nice for me to just cuddle with one. Anyway, good luck. It was a bit tricky to get the positions down, at least for me.

First, always have lots of pillows of different sorts. I used these positions in the early days, but only the second & third one after 6 months.

1. Lying on my side (this was used esp. for on-demand nighttime nursing) I would latch on one on the bottom breast. Then I (or my husband) would put (get this!) a 2-3" foam pillow (about 18" x 14") on TOP of the nurser, and put #2 on the pillow & latch her on. This worked mostly because they were so ravenous, were eager to nurse in general, didn't yet wiggle around that much, were swaddled, and we all slept together anyway until they were 6 mos. (I can't remember exactly). Top baby didn't fall off, bottom baby didn't seem squished. This way, I could keep them on the same schedule at night & spend less time nursing (sleep = gold). Anyway, it worked for me! We called it the Milk Motel.

2. Before nursing, I would put a pile of pillows to support my middle torso (up to breasts) to mid-thighs, and then I'd put the kids on their backs on either side of this pile, and, yes, lower myself down and let them latch on. This was surprisingly easy, though I did feel even more like a cow being milked. I also used a pillow under part of my upper arms. It took some experimenting to get the pillows right, but then it was actually comfortable enough for me to read while nursing, which was very important to me. This position always made my husband laugh.

3. Another easy way with larger kids. I'd get a pile of pillows comfortably supporting my back, with extras nearby. I would put kids on either side of me, flat on the bed. Then I'd put pillows underneath my knees & crosswise on my thighs (legs straight); I'd quickly put kids heads up, legs down on either side of me & quickly bring my legs to a bent position, while holding onto them; in other words, they would be held to my breast heads up, with legs going down to below my armpit (or wherever they reached). For this to work right, I had to be lying at about a 45 deg. slope. They would latch on, and if the pillows were right for support, I didn't have to do anything (reading again!) until they were finished, and then they'd usually roll off & fall asleep. I would sometimes bolster them on the outsides, but usually my arms going around them & holding up a book in front of my nose was enough to keep them happy. So this is really a modified football hold, with the kids more vertical than horizontal.

My twins are about 4 1/2 months old and I've been nursing them together, without the pillow for a while, and don't imagine that there will ever be a problem. Usually, I'll put one in the football hold with his head resting on his brother's legs---this baby being in the cuddle hold. They've even started to hold hands when the nurse together! The only difficulty I have when nursing both simultaneously is how to easily move them if they've fallen asleep on me. It's also hard to burp them because it involves a lot of shifting around, and one will usually spit up before I get a chance to burp him.

Regarding positions, when my girls were newborns, I often fed them in an X formation, with their bodies criss-crossed in front of me. My mother said it looked like I was suckling puppies (Thanks, Ma) but it worked for me. This position works without pillows, for them anyway: it is nice to be comfortably propped up your self from behind. I would be sitting up in bed or feet in front of me on the couch to do it. Sometimes I would have my feet on the couch or bed but my knees bent up.

Another position that worked when the babies were still tiny was one on my lap and the other with her head on the first one's tummy. So: one in football and the other in...can't remember the official name, but across my lap. Sometimes I would even put a pillow on the tummy of the one on the bottom and put the second one's head on that. I tended toward this position when sitting on someone else's couch when visiting them. I could usually arrange the pillows from their couch or armchair to do it.

By about three months, I could much more comfortably nurse them with each sitting on up on one of my legs and me sitting up in a chair with good arm rests. Depending on the size of the chair, I might tuck pillows beside me to better support my arms while I held the girls in place. (Otherwise your arms start to ache.)

Regarding calming one while the other nurses, I must say that that was one aspect that pushed me toward double nursing in the first place! Various things I tried:

I had a big cradle. I could rock one in the cradle with my foot while the other nursed.

I might put one on the couch or bed beside me while sister nursed. I would stroke and caress the poor non-nurser.

I would sing and talk to them and try to say calming things.

I can't say that any of this was very effective and reassuring the one who wanted what her sister had, but it assuaged my guilt about the situation a bit.

My twins are almost four years old now, and nursing is becoming a fainter and fainter memory, but I nursed both of them at the same time for the duration of their nursing career, a total of nine months. As they got older, I would often nurse them one at a time, particularly for afternoon or evening sessions, but I almost always nursed them simultaneously for their first "breakfast" since I had to get to a family of 6 off to work and school (including myself to work) and they usually woke up at the same time. Simultaneous nursing is a real time saver and is manageable, even when the kids are past the tiny infant stage. By the way, I had intended on nursing the boys for a year, as I had their singleton, sibling sisters, but they decided there were more interesting things to do at nine months than nurse, and they weaned themselves, much to Mom's disappointment. Oh, well, just another example of the surprises my twins have provided me from that first surprise at finding out they were two little boys instead of the third little girl that I was sure my third pregnancy would be!

I still nurse my 9 month old girls together in the mornings. It doesn't work as well any other time of day, since one tends to get distracted by her sister and start biting (OUCH!!!). I use regular bed pillows.

I nursed our twin boys together until they were about 14 months and approaching 25 lbs. each. They were just getting too big to both fit on mama and get a proper hold on the nipple--making me really sore a lot. And I'm an experienced nurser :-) I began nursing them separately for about a month and then I weaned them.

I think one of my favorite memories of my boys' first year is nursing them together, two sets of blue eyes gazing contentedly into mine, and as they got older, patting each other and me too. I always enjoyed my nursing times so much, but nursing two was a whole new dimension for me, multiplying the joy. And I'll be quick to add that I have older children home and were available to give me that extra hand when I needed someone to take the sleepy one to bed, or to burp one. I always thank God that He sent the twins at the end of the pack and not the head!!

After they were a few weeks old, my favorite position for them for the remainder of nursing was "stacking" one on top of the other leaving me one free hand to take a drink, hold a book, or help another child.

My 15 and a half month olds still nurse at once. In fact, they insist on it. The competition between them is fierce and if one is getting fed the other insists on it as well, even if she just had some. The only time I get to nurse them one at a time is if one is asleep and can't see what is going on.

I nursed mine, almost always simultaneously, until they were just shy of their second birthday. Once they outgrew the football hold, one lay across my lap, and the other lay on the first one's tummy. They snuggled into each other as well as into me.

I'm still nursing my 33 month old twins...and I do nurse them together sometimes, although it isn't always comfortable to arrange. Particularly when it's hot (!).

I've always preferred nursing separately, but sometimes it's easier to go with the flow.

Nursing Multiples Table of Contents | Twins List FAQs
Nursing Pillows

Burping

"I prefer to nurse my newborn twins simultaneously. How do I burp one if the other one is still nursing?"

There are a lot of strategies for doing this, most of which are predicated on the notion that the babies won't finish eating at the same time (I have one who snacks and plays, snacks and plays, and the other who comes up for air about every 15 minutes). This is also predicated on the notion that you might have them in some form of the football or cuddle holds, or some sideways lying position:

1) let them belch themselves, which mine sometimes do as they gaze into my eyes thanking me for the grub;

2) scoot your hand behind their neck and pull one up to your shoulder while the other one keeps snacking;

3) roll the finished one onto his or her belly and pat his back as you bounce your leg.

If you have a miracle in your house and both babies always finish at the same time, then you can lean forward, put one hand behind each baby's neck & pull them up to your shoulders. Bounce 'em or lean back and keep their weight on your shoulder as you cross your arms to pat/rub each little back.

Personally, my babies are such contrary munchkins that I might have them nursing together only two or three times a day, so it's not a big problem for me, this burping thang. And when they *do* eat together, they have developed an almost sitting up position for snarfing, so they can just sit & burp in each other's faces once they're sated.

Nursing Multiples Table of Contents | Twins List FAQs

"Should I keep track of which breast each twin feeds at and switch every feeding or every day?"

In the beginning I switched them off during a session. But it can be hard enough to get them set up and it was a pain to rearrange them. I started switching just from one session to the next. Then it was a pain to remember who was where last. Finally I settled into each baby having her own breast, 95% of the time.

Sometimes I would nurse one at a time, sometimes both at the same time. At first I was very meticulous with writing down who nursed first and what side he nursed from. I alternated both because I didn't want one baby to get attached to nursing from only one side.

I kept a record of which kid was on which breast each time, (I always alternated since one was a voracious eater and the other was more gentle about it--to prevent lopsidedness and soreness on one side only), until it sort of came more natural and I seemed able to remember from one feeding to the next (those first weeks are really hazy--you may still be in the midst of the post-partum, sleep-deprivation fog).

Nursing Multiples Table of Contents | Twins List FAQs

"Our twins were born at 30 weeks and will be in the NICU for some time. We rented a Medela pump and my wife is pumping every three hours, but she is not able to produce much. Any ideas?"

I pumped for my girls when they were in the NICU, and I also used the "industrial strength" Medela pump (later bought the mini-electric by the same brand, highly recommend it). I was lucky in that I had plenty of milk for my girls, even though I didn't start pumping until they were over two days old. One thing that I can recommend to your wife is to make sure she is not only drinking enough water, but also eating enough. After I'd brought my girls home, I was so tired and taken up with caring for them that I didn't eat enough, and my milk quickly began drying up. When I started eating regular, nutritious meals (and snacking all day long, never been hungrier in my life), my milk came right back, and I nursed them till they were 13 months.

Have you tried the La Leche League web site (http://www.lalecheleague.org)? I've only browsed thru there, but they do have good articles, and maybe you can e-mail someone with your questions. Also, keep trying the 1-800-LALECHE phone number, I had a hard time getting thru, but finally did, and got a lot of great help from them. I also VERY HIGHLY recommend the book _The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding_ by LLL, it's got great resources, ideas, tips, and suggestions, and a good section on nursing multiples and preemies as well.

Hope this helps out some! Tell your wife to not give up, it's so hard at first, but well worth it in the long run.

I also rented a Medela pump (great choice!) and pumped for four months. The only way to increase your milk supply is to *pump more often*. If you had the boys at home and they ate all that was there, yet were still not completely full, they would be hungry again sooner than three hours. This is nature's way of regulating production. Start pumping every two hours--yes, I know it seems like a lot, but in a few days you will start seeing more milk total. There will be less each sitting than you're used to for pumping every three hours, but more combined at the end of the day. My milk production went up and down occasionally, but the more you pump, the more your body thinks is needed. That old supply and demand theory!

Good luck! The best thing you can do for your babies in NICU (besides give them your time) is to give them your breastmilk. It's a bit more challenging but well worth the price.

Congratulations on the babies' birth and good luck in the days ahead! Have you subscribed yet to preemie-l? [See E-Mail Resource for subscription information.] There is a lot of information there about what it takes to express milk for early preemies. If your wife is looking at a period of longer than six weeks of exclusive pumping with no baby to put to the breast, it is not, repeat NOT, the same as pumping for a later preemie or term baby. Medela is an excellent choice of pump over the long haul. Someone on preemie-l was also doing a FAQ on what's involved so you may want to check that out.

My wife agrees with whoever said to pump more often to get your supply up. She used a Medela "double-barrel" pump, the Lactina model, I believe, for 2 months, and it was wonderful. She had problems after they got out of NICU with getting them to breastfeed, but now that's all they do.

Regarding pumping for preemies in the NICU, I saw all the replies, but I didn't see anybody mention that you should try and think about your babies, relax as much as possible while pumping and if need be look at photos of them or listen to tapes of them crying. Reading baby magazines helped for me. My son was fed (pumped breastmilk) out of a bottle (first through a tube) for about four weeks and I still managed to get him to latch on after that. They were both fully breastfed.

When I found out that I was pregnant with twins, my reaction was that of joy and excitement. The one thing that caused me concern was whether or not I would be able to breastfeed them. I had breastfed my older two and found it to be the easiest way of feeding along with the well known other benefits of breastfeeding. I decided to get my mind set in the idea that I was going to breastfeed and that no matter what others said, I was not going to be defeated. I never bought bottles, formula or even thought about bottle feeding.

When the twins were born 7 wks early, and had many respiratory difficulties, I thought my "plans" were going to go to waste. Thank goodness for the other moms in my twins club and their continued support and encouragement because I never got that from any doctor or nurse in the hospital. I was introduced to the Medela breast pump which is an electric pump with the capability of pumping both breasts at the same time. I began pumping right away and maintained an every two to three hour schedule. I wanted to mimic the approx. needs of the babies at that time. They were not being fed so the milk (colostrum) was being stored until they were to be fed.

I kept up the pumping and soon my milk came in. With the 2-3 hour interval pumping my milk was established rather quickly and the supply was far more than needed for my tiny babies.

I decided to keep up the pumping even when actual breastfeeding was established. My routine would go like this: Breastfeed both at same time for 10-15 minutes (no need to switch sides) then pump until no more milk would come out. I had a great supply to leave at the hospital so they could be fed breastmilk while I was not there. (which was rare). When I finally was able to take them home, I knew I needed some sort of schedule and by the advice of another breastfeeding twin mom I would feed on demand. In order to not have a baby hooked to the breast at all times, when one would wake up, I would change the diaper to be sure to wake them completely, then I would wake the other by changing their diaper. With both babies awake, I could nurse them at the same time in a short amount of time then put them back to sleep. By the second week, they were quite comfortable with this routine and eventually began sleeping longer intervals. As most know, preemies usually require feeding more often, with this type of schedule, they seemed to get more out of each feeding and slept better in between so they thrived off of an every 3-4 hour feeding. The biggest advantage is I GOT SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, that is my story. I hope it will help those out there thinking about breastfeeding multiples. By the way this can and HAS worked for moms of triplets and quads!!!!!

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Breast Pumps | Preemie Mailing List Info

"My twins always seem hungry at different times. Will they ever be on the same schedule?"

When our twins were very young, our schedule went something like this:

When the babies went to sleep in the evening so did we. This was usually around 8 or 8:30. If one baby decided to stay up and was not hungry, we put it in the swing and usually the baby fell asleep within an hour. The babies woke up around 11:00 for the next feeding. My husband would change their diapers and bring them to me in bed. I breastfed them together. We then tried to get them back to sleep. The next feeding was around 2:00, then 4:00, then 6:00. We tried to get the babies back to sleep after each feeding and we slept. While we never got more that 1.5 to 2 hours of sleep at a time, we tried to get 6-7 hours in a twenty-four hour period. It was a brutal schedule, I never took a nap during the day and my husband went back to work after two weeks. I remember being in a haze at night and not remembering who I was, who this person sleeping next to me was and where the babies were. We just went through the motions.

The babies started going back to sleep without too much fuss after feedings at night after about three weeks. They were still getting up about every 2 to 2.5 hours to eat. One necessity that saved me was feeding them simultaneously at night. Which meant when one woke up to feed, the other was awakened to eat. I also fed them for the same amount of time, about 20 minutes.

This may or may not work for you, but my babies did not mind being on the same schedule at night. During the day, I fed on demand. Also, after three weeks we started putting the babies to bed with us. They slept with us for five months. It was a terrific experience and we loved it. Plus, the babies slept much better on their stomachs. I know that doctors recommend not letting your baby sleep on their stomach, but we needed sleep.

After six weeks they dropped the 2:00 am feeding. Four whole hours of sleep! It felt so luxurious. I knew then that I could make it and I also was amazed the time went so fast.

I had no luck trying to get them on the same schedule. Sometimes I fed them together, more often separately. Once we started solids they were finally more in synch.

What I did when the boys were younger was pretty much nurse and nap on demand as they seemed to want or need it. I also nursed them at night in bed, although I tried to get them back to their own beds whenever possible. They are now almost 14 months old. They have gone through many phases where they could not fall asleep by themselves and I chose to nurse them to sleep when they seemed to need it (for comfort or whatever reason). Right now they are doing pretty well--I have eased into more of a schedule gradually. Once they started eating solid foods (approx. 8 months) we went to a 3 meal a day schedule and that has helped with naps. Now I can put them down for morning and afternoon at about the same time each day even when they are not asleep & they fuss little or not at all. They are very active and it seems that they sleep better at night if they get two naps during they day to diffuse some of that energy.

I concur with another poster who said that when one is hungry, grab both of them and feed together. This should get them on the same schedule. I did this, too, and it worked. I know a few MOTs who follow strict "scheduling guidelines" that I was interested in *before* giving birth, but I decided to mainly feed on demand, with a little encouragement to get them eating/sleeping together.

I don't know if it is related to twin-type, but I've noticed in past postings that identical twins seem to automatically develop similar, if not the same, schedules. I know that I didn't have to try very hard to get my boys together. They almost always are hungry/tired at the same time. Now that they are 8+ months old, I don't worry at all about keeping them on the same schedule. If one happens to be hungry before the other (which still doesn't happen that often), they are old enough to be able to play on their own while I feed one, for example.

Also, I should mention that it was, in my experience, a little tough in the beginning to feed them together (especially if these are your first children--ours are), because everyone is on a steep learning curve (them learning how to latch on and suck, you learning how to get them positioned and to latch on). I tried feeding them one at a time for a short while in the first month, until I got better at it. Persevere! It gets MUCH EASIER in a SHORT amount of time ;-) I also recommend having that lactation consultant available by phone, as you will probably have many questions once you get going!

I fed the girls on demand which was about every 2 hours for about 45 minutes (so every 1 hr. 15 min., I guess), but at some point, when their schedules were out of sync and I'd been sitting in one spot on the couch only able to get up to go to the bathroom now and then, I felt that I just couldn't take much more! My back and arms were aching and I felt we needed to try something else. We slowly got the girls back onto a simultaneous schedule which helped a lot, by either cutting a feeding short for one or letting one sleep or waking the other up, just until they were back in sync. The first 6 weeks were the toughest, physically and mentally, and beyond that it became a really wonderful, rewarding, emotional, and fulfilling experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I had to return to work at 10 weeks (used up my time before birth with 4 months of bedrest!) and I pumped once per day. We used 1-2 bottles of formula or breastmilk per day after that, but I always breastfed when I was home mornings, evenings, and weekends. The girls weaned themselves at 16 months.

As we all got more experienced, I found I was nursing on demand--usually it was a simultaneous feeding but sometimes they would nurse separately for one or two feedings and it wasn't a big deal. In fact, it was very nice to hold just one baby at a time now and then. I think that sometimes you need to take your comfort and your needs into account and adjust or "gently guide" the babies' feeding schedules to something you can all live with.

While they are still breastfeeding before they are ready for solids, you are not going to have a lot of luck keeping them on a consistent schedule. We always tried to get ours to both go down for a nap at the same time, but didn't have any hope of them sleeping the same amount of time. We just got the awake one when s/he woke up. Do not wake up the sleeping one. My wife fed on demand, and napped them on demand up till about 7 or 8 months. By that time, our son was sleeping through the night, (7:30 pm to 5:00 am) and our daughter was waking at 2:00 am and nursing.

Now at nine months, we have been driven to rigidly enforce bedtimes and regular mealtimes. Our daughter can be totally asleep, but when you put her in the crib she screams. As soon as she wakes up she cries. Finally we moved our son into a spare bedroom, because she kept waking him up. For the past week, we put them both to bed at exactly 7:30. He goes right to sleep, she cries for 1/2 to 1 hour. We no longer go in to comfort her at all. We also do not go get her when she cries at 2:00 am. I know by now that she is not hungry, and she doesn't think that we have left home forever. She just is used to waking up and getting fed. No more!

This has felt like the greatest victory in our 9 mos. with the twins. I have woken up feeling good every day this week! An added bonus, since they are not waking each other up, they have slept till 6:30 every day this week. It's fantastic!!! I want to move them both back into the nursery as soon as possible, but she has a little "crying it out" left to do. It is getting better.

Anyway, sorry for sticking my story in for your answer, but my experience is that you will know when they are ready to be placed on a strict routine, and you will be more than ready.

My b/g twins were fed at the same time for the most part (breastfed for a year) using a Nurse Mate pillow. It was much easier and more relaxing for me to do two at once, rather than listen to the other one cry, etc. We were on an every 2-3 hour schedule (daytime) b/c I would nurse them rather than have them cry, they probably would have gone longer, but I couldn't hold out most days. Their napping was very unpredictable for the longest time--I think it was around 7 months or later. He would sleep well during the day, fairly regularly and not so well at night. She would sometimes never nap during day, or only 45 minutes, but would do better at night. We eventually got to a nice, fairly predictable schedule about February I think (11 months) were they got up around 6:30, went down around 9:30 for 1.5-2 hrs., then down again around 2:30-3:00 for another hour, and bedtime at 7:30ish. They didn't sleep through the night until 8.5 months (they were 2 months preemie) . Now at 15 months they are trying to go to just one nap a day (yuck!) and it is causing some rough days as they still want to go down fairly early, but then are up all afternoon and just a real joy by about 5:00!!

Just try to do what works for you and the kids, some days will go well and some won't.

The short answer to your question is that the schedules really *aren't* strict, babies (at least mine) are creatures of habit and routine, and scheduling and synchronicity are two different things.

By about two months we were trying to identify the babies' patterns and make them into a schedule. At first, I tried to be pretty strict about it and keep feedings and naps to the same schedule every day. Well, that didn't work. What I finally found was that the hour they get up in the morning determines how the rest of the day will play out. And that was definitely the routine by four months, and I think even sooner than that. Once they get up, I can predict the schedule for the rest of the day. So, today, lunchtime was at 2:30, and yesterday it was at 1:00, but in both instances I had a good sense for when they next nap was due, and when they'd want their dinner. Naps vary tremendously in length, but there's always one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In a lot of ways, I *do* let them lead. But they really love regularity, predictability, patterns, and get out of sorts if we try to mess with that (What, you want me to take a nap BEFORE lunch?).

Where I put my foot down, and have always, always put my foot down, is on keeping them "in synch," as I call it. When they were newborns, in synch meant I breastfed one, then immediately fed the other (I didn't tandem nurse, either). Now it means when one goes down for a nap, they both go. They both eat at the same time, too. I cannot emphasize how insistent I am about this--everyone around here knows that I mean it. From very early on, I developed an expectation in the two of them that THIS IS HOW IT WORKS. PERIOD. And that's how it is. I believe that most of the reason why it works is that I STOOD MY GROUND.

I've heard all sorts of talk both on this list and at my twins club about schedules, and it runs the whole range in both directions. If *you* *really* want them on a schedule, or *you* *really* want them in synch, you'll make it work. If it's not that important to you, then it won't happen. Either way is fine, as long as you're happy.

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"My babies want to nurse all night long and I am going crazy from lack of sleep. What should I do?"

Our 7 week old twins sleep in bassinets in our room, and when one wakes up, I take her into our bed, lay her down beside me and nurse her in that position. We usually both fall asleep this way, until the next baby wakes up. Then I move the (sleeping) first baby to the middle of the bed, put the second baby on my other side, and nurse her while we both fall asleep. If either baby wakes up again, I just roll over toward her and nurse her the same way, and we both fall asleep again. The girls sleep much better with us in our bed than they do alone.

My husband has been relegated to limbo and sleeps on a mattress on the floor of the nursery. I get the babes and the bed all to myself in our room. It's great. I have one on each side of me and when I hear one fuss I roll over that direction and feed him, then when I hear the other one fuss I roll over the other way and feed her. I couldn't even tell you how often they feed because I can hardly remember it the next morning. So I'm not all that sleep deprived. And really it's a win/win situation. My husband gets the consecutive sleep he very desperately needs since he gets up with the older boys and gets them going in the morning, and I get all that wonderful cuddling and shared sleep with babies that is so sweet. We'll see what happens when it's time to move them into their own room and cribs. I have a feeling that it will be more bittersweet for me that it will be difficult for them.

Our twins are 10 months now, but when they were 2-4 months, in order for me to get some sleep, because I was nursing and one of our kids had reflux (GI problems) my husband would sleep downstairs with one, I would sleep upstairs with the other. When mine woke up I would nurse it, while pumping the other side, then leave the milk out for him. When his woke up he would feed it, change it and get it back to sleep. This went on for almost 2 months. After nights like this, he would still go to work, and come home by 5:30 to help for the evening which always seemed like the worse time.

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