XP: BFing and pumping for twins question

elizabeth0705

Hey all,

I posted a couple of weeks ago on the Multiples board about tandem breastfeeding twins. I'm sorry to say it is still a major struggle for us. I try to do two or three tandems a day, and it is very hit or miss. Sometimes it is a success, and sometimes it is a complete and total failure.

Anyway, coming off of a "total failure" feeding just now, I have a question: assuming I will be feeding each baby individually, how often should I pump to keep up my supply? I typically breastfeed one baby and then give the other baby a formula bottle for every feeding, and then I switch up which baby is getting which for every feeding. So each baby gets about four or five breastfeeds and four or five formula bottles per day with this method. I have been pumping after every "typical" feed (I do not pump when I do a tandem).

My lactation consultant had suggested continuing to pump after every feed in which a baby is getting a bottle (as in, every feed that is not a tandem). I would love to stop pumping so much, as it is just me feeding the babies all day (and all night when DH is traveling for work), so I am looking for safe ways to streamline the process.

Any advice you can give me would be very much appreciated! Thanks!