Mothers can produce enough breast milk to feed more than one baby. Starting to breastfeed twins might be a challenge if you are unwell or exhausted after your delivery. Newborn twins usually need small frequent feeds, because they can't stay on the breast for a long period.
In the beginning, try nursing your twins on the same schedule. However, keep in mind that even identical twins have different personalities, appetites and nursing patterns. So try to tune into the needs of each; one may need to nurse more frequently than the other.
Milk supply works on the principle of supply and demand. Breastfeeding tells a mother's body to produce more milk in response to her baby's (or babies') needs. With two babies, more milk is removed from the breasts, so more milk is made.
There are various twin breastfeeding positions you can try, such as the double rugby ball (with a baby under each arm), the parallel hold (with your babies lying across your body in the same direction), or the laid-back position (with both babies lying on your tummy).
The breastfeeding initiation rate for twins ranges from 38 to 80%, and the rate of any breastfeeding at 6 months from 10 to 50%, with 8–22% of twins breastfeeding exclusively [8, 9, 12,13,14,15,16,17].
While you are breastfeeding/chestfeeding, your level of luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin are higher. LH has a direct effect on ovulation while prolactin is a pregnancy hormone. This combination may increase the chances of conceiving twins while breastfeeding/chestfeeding.
If you're planning on pumping breast milk for your twins, there's no reason to wait for their stomachs to catch up to you. To help establish your supply, try pumping every two hours — or about eight to 12 times in a 24-hour period.
It is recommended that all pregnant women drink 8 to 10 large glasses of water daily, totaling 64 to 80 ounces. Women expecting multiples should drink at least this amount because of the extra demands placed on your system by the needs of multiple growing babies.
The answer to that one is YES! Our parent research shows that if you feed one at 2:30am, feed the other one. Worse case scenario, you'll feed one, JUST fall back asleep and the other one will start wailing. Feeding one…then the other will give you a little more shut eye in the end.
What Is Dangle-Feeding? Dangle-feeding is when you place your baby flat on their back, on either your lap or on a blanket or comfortable solid surface, and dangle your breasts over them to nurse. Typically, you crouch over all fours over your baby, while you dangle your nipple in their mouth.
The general rule is that you will burn an additional 500 calories while nursing one baby. Thus, for twins you will probably be looking to add around 1000 extra calories to your diet to provide enough nutrition for the three of you.
Try some baby-soothing tactics
Try singing or reading to them, giving them a little massage, doing a funny dance to entertain them or even taking them outside for some fresh air. Just remember that what works for one baby may not work for the other, so you may have to try something totally different for each infant.
If you put your twins in the same cot, follow the same safe sleeping advice as for a single baby. They should be placed on their backs with the tops of their heads facing one another and their feet at opposite ends of the cot, or side by side on their backs, with their feet at the foot of the cot.
For women born 1870-1899, moms of twins averaged reproductive spans of 14 years 11 months versus 14 years for singleton moms. Both results were statistically significant. Moms of twins also were older at the time of their last birth.
This is why fraternal twins run in families. However, only women ovulate. So, the mother's genes control this and the fathers don't. This is why having a background of twins in the family matters only if it is on the mother's side.
For a given pregnancy, the odds of conceiving fraternal twins are only determined by the mother's genetics, not the father's.
Age. According to the Office on Women's Health , women who are aged 30 years or older are more likely to conceive twins. The reason for this is that women of this age are more likely than younger women to release more than one egg during their reproductive cycle.
Multiple birth babies have about twice the risk of congenital (present at birth) abnormalities including neural tube defects (such as spina bifida), gastrointestinal, and heart abnormalities.
It is estimated that 1 in 250 natural pregnancies will naturally result in twins. While twin pregnancies can happen by chance, there are some factors that may increase your odds of having two babies at the same time.
This means that each twin won't obstruct the other's breathing. Have your babies sleeping in the same room as you until they are at least six months old, particularly if they were premature or born with a low birth weight.