One of the “magical unicorns” of breastfeeding.

Is it possible to breastfeed more than one baby simultaneously? And exclusively breastfeed them during their first 6 months? Has anyone ever done it?

I often joke about the fact that until the first time I got pregnant, my breasts were as small an egg… a fried egg, in fact! I wore AA cups and still it always seemed big. So one of my first concerns when I got pregnant for the first time was precisely “will I be able to make enough milk for my baby?” I gathered evidence-based info, joined virtual and local breastfeeding support groups (like La Leche League) and my questions slowly turned into answers. When my daughter was born I had a major let-down 2 days after the birth, so much so my doula had to help me get the milk flowing as my breast was turning into a rock…

I spoke to almost ten breastfeeding consultants and it took me one painful month to correct the latch… until one day, it worked! The stepping stone towards an 8 months exclusive breastfeeding journey (and then until she was 4½ years old).

So, when I fell pregnant with twins, I thought I as a breastfeeding ace, although I hadn’t breastfed for a whole year before that. They latched beautifully in recovery, in spite having been a scheduled c-section. The surgery was so straightforward that we were taken straight to the room, and of course the first thing we did was strip them from the cute little outfits the neonatal nurses had eagerly dressed them in, and stuck them skin-on-skin on my chest so they could search for my nipples.

But, sure enough, life made sure I stayed humble. Three days in post-partum, i had another powerful let-down (undoubtedly due to having 2 suckly babies stimulating production), and had hard rock breasts once again. However I had learnt my lesson and had made a contact list for lactation consultants just in case.  At the time I had ran out of all my ability to act on my own to sort it out – so I called my “Boobies Fairy”, a nurse that has a lactation consultancy background and lots of experience with breastfeeding and twins, and she manually expressed my breasts until they were no longer hard and the twins could latch on again. She also taught us a biological nurturing feeding position, where we accommodate sitting them on pillows facing the breasts so they can easily latch and feed. And that set us up for a successful breastfeeding journey.

One of the twins was always hungrier than the other, which is perfectly normal, so much so that she was born 200g lighter and in a few weeks was 200g heavier than the other.

The first few weeks were completely frantic, days turned into nights and then days again and tiredness ruled… fortunately daddy was on parental leave, and my mum supported me in the household tasks, which allowed me to be more available for breastfeeding.

My doula organised an event on Facebook with my friends, where they could offer to cook a meal and bring it to us, which allowed us not to worry about grocery shopping and cooking for about a month, and that was a big, big help to us.

Another thing I realized pretty soon was that if I breastfed them both at the same time (instead of feeding each one whenever they woke up) I could reduce and optimize the time on the breast: when one woke up I would pick up the other as well and put them both on the breasts. That allowed me more time to sleep/rest.

I also learnt to relax more and rest/sleep whenever I could instead of running around doing stuff. I made priority task lists, knowing that I could only usually do 1 or 2 things per day while tending to the kids, and reduced my expectations so I wouldn’t get frustrated.

When they were 3-4 months, I noticed one of the twins was less chubby and feeding less, fussying and crying when feeding… after a month I was desperate about this and someone in a support group mentioned to check her mouth for white patches: she was full of thrush and I also felt stings on my nipple when they fed… we began treatment and she improved in a few days, so when you feel something isn’t right, ask and look for help until you get it sorted

Sometimes it seemed impossible, others it was hard, sometimes it was all sweetness and many others it was a lifesaver: that’s breastfeeding.

By 6 months old they were 6 kilos happy breastfeeding babies. Solid food began without pressure along the first year of life, and they loved breastfeeding until they were 5½ years old, being that in the last year, they even shared the boobies with their younger sister that was born that year.

Maria Pereira

Mother of 4, breastfeeding for 11+ years