Nursing Twins & Pumping Milk

[pookie1121]

Hey Ladies,

I am in the US on vacation right now and was thinking about getting a breastpump here.

My daughter got just breastmilk until she was 6 months old.  I had a lot of extra milk so when she was about 1 month old I started pumping extra milk and freezing it for when I returned to work.  I went back to work when she was 5 months old and continued to pump every day.  (I had to travel once a month usually for 3-4 days at a time so it was good to have a surplus of milk in the freezer (at one point we had an entire little freezer full of milk!) and then she had a few little stomach viruses too along the way and then too it was good to have the extra milk)...plus Daddy liked to give her a bottle sometimes too so I pumped so he could also partake in the feedings.  When she was 6 months old we slowly introduced home-made baby foods and by the time she was 8 months old, she was just getting milk 2-3 times a day.  By the time she was a year old, I was just nursing when she woke up and when I got home from work....but she still wasn't ready to give up nursing so I continued doing that until she was 16 months old.... (when she was 17 months old I got preggo with the twins!  ha!)  I used a single hand Medela pump for all that pumping!!!!

Now I am thinking about what to do with the twins.  I plan on also pumping and nursing and assume I will have enough milk based on what I had last time.  I will go back to work when they are 3-4 months old.  I am thinking of buying a Medela "pump in style advanced" or Medela "freestyle".

What did you ladies do?  Did you have enough milk for your twins?  When did you return to work?  Did you pump milk?  If so, what Pump did you get?

[2lilangels]

I bought the Medela "pump in style advanced' fot the twins this go round. My first born was soley breast fed until I got pregnant with my second (my frist was only 3 months) but my second was breast fed  all the way through. It was reccomended to me to get this pump by my husbands aunt who has worked in labor and delivery for 30 years and is also one of the lactation consultants. If you go to www.justmultiples.com they also have this bra that you strap on with both pumps so you can pump hands free and not deal with the hassle of leaking on one breast or struggling to hold both pumps up. We also got that. I also got the twin nursing pillow from a friend who right now has 6 month old twins at my first baby shower and she said its fantastic.Im nervous but looking forward to the challange and bonding experiance!!!!!

[Kat_624]

I had the Medela pump in style advanced with my first daughter and it worked quite well.  She was a good nurser, but I used to pump once a day so that I'd have a bottle for dad to give each day.  I was able to pump about 6 oz in less than 10 minutes.

Now, with the twins (preemies), they were not good latchers, and had to be tube feed for the first few weeks anyway.  For them, I rented a hospital grade pump (medela symphony), and I have to say that it was MUCH more powerful than the pump in style I had.  My insurance covered the rental cost for 4 months because my kids were preemies.  I believe the cost here was 30-50 US dollars per month.  I think it is expensive to purchase...several hundred US dollars I believe.

So, my advice would be to research options or renting a pump.  While I think the medela pump in advance is a good pump for he money, it might be a waste of money if you end up needing the hospital grade one.  

good luck and enjoy your visit here!

[kindergal]

I used the Medela Symphony and pumped with my twins..they just never got the whole latching on thing....UGH.  I also supplemented with formula because I never had enough milk....I was pumping every three hours and probably should have increased that as I had enough milk for one, but not two.  There are so many people that breast feed very successfully with twins.  I would recommend an electric pump though no matter what!

[TwinsMamma]

Im curious too. Hand held pump or auto pump with twins? I had a hand held pump with my Son, but I felt like I had to pump forever to get a decent amount of milk. Would an electric pump be better?