Thanks, Francoise (I don't have the right 'c' on my keys) for this great
description of a no nonsense breastfeeder!  Unless a mother is experienced
and the babies are very able, it is usually easier in the first couple of
days to feed the babies one at a time, for all the reasons given.  But I
have noticed with many sets of twins that one baby often shoulders the load
of establishing and maintaining supply, while the other gets more of a free
ride to begin with.  You can see the weaker twin start to swallow when the
more active one gets the MER going.  I saw a set of twins once where one had
Down's syndrome and the other one ensured that they both got breastfed.
If a mother is going to survive those first few days of learning how to get
both babies positioned and feeding, she needs someone to comfort the baby
who is not feeding, if that baby is crying - and sometimes it ends up being
a tandem feed if the second baby can only be comforted at the breast.  It is
not humanly possible to focus on feeding one twin while the other is in
distress. A good reason to provide extra practical help is for the mother to
see that she will ultimately be able to feed both of them, that she will not
disappear behind the mountain of babies and their laundry, and that almost
any constellation involving full breastfeeding is more energy-efficient than
supplementing with formula. 

In my ward we strongly encourage fathers to room in on postpartum when there
are twins, so they can bring food to the mother, change diapers, help with
positioning, settle one baby after a feed, and just generally be the
much-needed additional pair of hands. 

It's odd how many women doubt that they will be able to fully BF twins, when
you think how many women experience really bothersome oversupply in the
first couple of weeks with a singleton - the ones with 'insufficient baby
syndrome'.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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