Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding & Caring for Twins or More

by Karen Kerkhoff Gromada

A guide emphasizing breastfeeding and attachment-style parenting offers advice on multiple-birth pregnancies, baby care, and helping families adjust to multiple newborns

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Health

353 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Sarah Greene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could love the idea of breastfeeding as much as these La Leche authors do...but it was still a helpful read. I always do enjoy a slightly outdated parenting book.

[Kate Arms · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE book to read about nursing multiples. Gromada knows her stuff and writes well. Following her advice rather than the advice of the hospital nurses enabled me to provide my triplets with a huge amount of breast milk. My favourite part of the book is one paragraph where she writes that sometimes even with hard work and the best intentions, the challenges of breast-feeding multiples - especially preemie multiples - can be too much and she tells the reader that at that point, celebrating the effort and successes to date is valuable. In the midst of a book that pushes women to keep trying through different challenges, she acknowledges that sometimes mothering with compassion and attachment happens without breast-feeding and that giving up can be the best choice sometimes. I loved that honesty.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

P is for practical, which is what you need when you are having twins. I read 4 books on twin pregnancy and birth, and this was my favorite. It would be good if the publisher could update the resource list at the end of the book, since some of that information is probably very outdated.

[Katjusa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm 34.5 weeks pregnant with twins as of this review, so I can't evaluate the information presented in this book based on personal experience, but so far it seems like an excellent resource. It's straight-forward, practical and well-written. I skimmed over many of the breastfeeding parts of the book to revisit later. (It's hard for me to engage with advice about breastfeeding when I have no idea what it will be like for me, what specific challenges I'll face, etc. And while I fully intend to breastfeed for the health benefits, I feel apprehensive about the process in general. I have zero interest in breastfeeding past a year at most, so the parts about breastfeeding toddlers hold no interest for me. Maybe my opinion will change, but that's where I'm at right now.)

Instead I focused on the chapters about birth, what to expect if the babies are put in a NICU, finding emotional/household support in the early months, etc. It's all refreshingly clear and practical. The author also doesn't sugarcoat.

Example from the chapter "For Mothers Only" on self-care in the early months:

"Do not think you have to be alone to give in to tears. A good cry can be more effective when others are present. They finally may get the message that you are feeling a little overwhelmed and a lot sleep-deprived. You will be treated with respect and tenderness for at least a couple of hours."

Definitely keeping this book to reference again and again in the coming year or two!

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was helpful if you take it from where it comes - it's a La Leche League book, so you know it's pro-breastfeeding, but I found it much more informative and practical than most books out there.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't read this whole book, or even close. I just browsed some, read some, and gave it to my daughter. The reason I bought this book in the first place was to give it to her. I'm not parenting twins myself and probably never will, but since I'm now a grandmother to twins, I was curious about it and thought the book could be useful for my daughter. The book has a similar tone and feel to The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, which I read entirely about 2 decades ago (ha, makes me sound old :) ), and referenced often after that for some time. This is more accurately a review of the bits I read, and perhaps more of LLLI itself, which I appreciate overall. The organization and its literature was quite helpful to me starting out with breastfeeding especially. Not surprisingly, I don't agree with everything I ever read in their books, but I very much appreciate their information about breastfeeding and the support they offer women in this area.

[Bre Teschendorf · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I read it and took a lot out of it. However, I wasn't able to fulfil my "breastfeeding goal" (as the book I suggest I make) and I was depressed and grieving for MONTHS. I could barely get over it. I am not saying that the book is to blame for my emotions, however, the book is SO militant, that it definitely contributed to my feelings.

I would recommend this book (and have!) to mothers expecting multiples. But I would always suggest that they read something else to balance it, or that I just speak freedom to them, that it is still okay, if they (like me!) for whatever reason, aren't able to be like all the amazing incredible women in the book.

[Katherine Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

multiples as in twins, triplets, quads, etc—-have to clarify! I enjoyed the comprehensiveness of this book—-from breastfeeding, sleeping, toddlers, feeding, weaning, hospital stays, pregnancy, birth, etc! It really covered so much that it would be good book to recommend to a mom who isn’t a reader, she could get majority of her info from this book. 3 stars though because it is quite long, and someone who already has a child will probably struggle to get through this before the multiples appear… as well as I did come across some outdated information. Still a solid read and I appreciate the short chapters

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit repetitive...but maybe that's necessary for the sleep-deprived new parents reading this book. I also appreciated the "This is gonna be really tough, but you've got this!" vibe of the book.

[Andra Vltavín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview of pregnancy and parenting newborns in general with the additional complications that multiple births create.

[Jess Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warm and insightful book, I read this after giving birth so skipped a lot of the pregnancy parts. A little repetitive but overwhelmingly positive. I appreciated the parts on the logistics of breastfeeding multiples.

[Karen Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this book, from what I read in reviews and from recommendations from others. It's really not that useful as a "raising multiples" book - it's HEAVILY focused on breastfeeding, so if you need information on that, this is a great book. But, if it's your first child/children, and you don't know what you're doing, you will probably feel awful if you give up on breastfeeding, if you've read this book.

It is very biased and slightly annoying in how much it references breastfeeding in the book. e.g. for pictures of pregnancy or labor & delivery, it shows moms tandem feeding their babies - how is that related??!? Also, it will suggest hiring help (for house-cleaning, meals, ordering take-out, mother's helpers, etc), and justifies those expenses by saying "think of all the money you're saving by breastfeeding!!".

I nursed both my singleton babies for 1 year, so am very aware of the difficulties to keep up breastfeeding, and the extreme pressure put on moms by groups (LLL) and books like these. It would have been a more useful (and less pressure) book if it just separated the breastfeeding topic from all the other parts of having multiples.

I still rate it 3 stars because it was a good refresher on breastfeeding, and I picked up some tips on feeding two (more positions than I've seen elsewhere, etc), but it wasn't as useful as other Twin books I'm reading now to prepare for the myriad of OTHER challenges (asides from feeding) that accompany babies from multiple birth pregnancies. Such as, how to get them on a schedule when challenges arise - like growth spurts or illness or babies waking at different times - the answer was always "just nurse them, even 1:1, it'll eventually pass". Or, when and how do you eventually stop the "every 3 hour feeding schedule" through the night.

[Kelly Kolb · Rating 4 out of 5]

As if I didn't already have mad respect for my friends and family parenting twins! :)

A good, general purpose guide for mothers expecting multiples. Particularly strong on advice and support for breastfeeding multiples (the author is a mom of twins and a La Leche League leader who started a group for mothers breastfeeding multiples and LLL published the guide, so you would expect it to be pretty strong on breastfeeding). As she says, "A mother of multiples is in need of the best possible breastfeeding start, yet is the lest likely new mother to get it." It could use a bit of an update in a few places, but it offers plenty of practical advice.

Note: Even in the section titled "When Breastfeeding is Contraindicated", they didn't go into weaning info for when it is necessary other than to call a LLL leader. They just gave advice for pushing to keep going anyway. I really think there should be both included here. Sometimes people really do have to stop and I think just ignoring that possibility pushes unnecessary guilt on people who are already stressed. There is some info on weaning elsewhere in the book (both early weaning and a longer section on weaning older babies or toddlers) as well as switching to partial breastfeeding if possible. Even just a cross-reference from the contraindication section would have been helpful.

[David Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ufda. The book is great when it is talking about breastfeeding, and has a lot of great information. It's tips for other things, like parenting, logistical stuff, etc., is sometimes just a fever dream. The book, at one point, suggests looking at whether you as a mother will return to work or stay home. For those who are worried about finances, it recommends just really looking at your finances to decide if you REALLY need to work. That is literally its suggestion; it doubles down on telling you to find a way not to work and doesn't answer the question of "what if this literally cannot work for me?". In THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, it suggests you can cope with the extra burden of twins by hiring a bit of help to help take care of the house. Hire them with what? You just said quit your job and don't go back. Ludicrous. Other examples like this abound.

For what it's worth, I like the prose of this book. It is informative and adult in tone, whereas so many other new parent books spend too many words goo-ing and gah-ing about the magic of babies. Too many exclamation points, too many asides, too much forced conversational prose. This book is better.

Three stars for the breastfeeding stuff. The rest of it made me angry :)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this book 6 stars I would! It is THE go-to book for nursing twins (or more!). When I first found out I was having twins I was afraid that my hopes to breastfeed would have to go out the window. This book taught me how to make it work legistically, and gave me so much great info about how to address feeding problems. I didn't even know what questions I should ask about nursing until I read this book. There's an entire chapter about prematurity and how to help your babies while in the NICU. I didn't anticipate that I would need that chapter, but I did and I'm SO glad it was included! I recommend this book to anyone I know who is expecting twins, it was by far the best money I spent on baby stuff... except for my EZ 2 Nurse pillow!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great overall book if you are expecting multiples and plan to breastfeed. Some of it was hard to read as not all scenarios presented are relevant (it highlights every possible NICU situation). There were also portions where I felt it was too pushy about breastfeeding and judgements about having to use or switch to formula. I suppose that is to be expected when coming from La Leche League, but I had hoped they'd be beyond using guilt to keep a tired mother of multiples trying to breastfeed after it clearly was not working. That being said, I am glad I purchased it and it will be a good resource when my twins are born.

[Mindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself skimming through a lot of this book since I've nursed my two sons successfully. It seemed like it was mostly geared to those who start their families with multiples and have never nursed before. But what I appreciated about this book was that it normalized much of the conflicting emotions that come with the news of multiples, and I found some great tips and advice on the logistics of nursing twins. I will hang onto this book as a great reference manual at least until I'm able to get nursing established with our twins.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for women who plan on breastfeeding their multiples. The first half of the book is focused primarily on breastfeeding and then the second half discusses other topics about child-rearing multiples. I found the information really helpful, especially in regards to establishing milk-supply and what to do if you or your babies are having problems with breastfeeding. It is very encouraging and supportive. I think it is a great book to read to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself for breastfeeding multiples.

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I FINALLY finished this book!! I had a hard time getting through it because it is very "dry" and I haven't been in the mood for dry reading in a while.

This book was okay. It provides tons of valuable information. However, if you are pregnant with twins and want a natural childbirth AND you are already well versed and have researched your options, just skip the first part. It will scare you.

The first part made me terrified of having twins, the second half made me want them.

[Kaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mothering Multiples focuses on breastfeeding (as the title would indicate), but it does have a little bit more information in it than that. There really is only a little though...you may want to think carefully about whether you want to read 200+ pages on just breastfeeding. It may be better used as a manual. The information seems sound, albeit repeated frequently.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entire book devoted to breastfeeding multiples. Very helpful input but it does go on and on. A great resource if you are wanting to look-up information or have particular questions. La Leche League is a trusted resource for me and I would recommend this if you have any desire at all in breastfeeding your multiples.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the four books about twins I've read, this has been the most helpful. The book offers several strategies for every situation, preparing the reader for any situation. I liked that the book included many pictures showing the different nursing holds.

[Monika · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book about multiples I've read so far. Full of advice and tips that are actually useful. No fluff & general statements like in other books I've read. I found the advice about breastfeeding and toddler multiples especially helpful.

[Becky H.]

Ok I only flipped through this one. It came out when my twins were 2. But It looked like it would be very helpful.

[Rachel C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this before my miscarriage. Had alot of good information about breastfeeding twins.

[Jamie]

Very pro-breastfeeding.

[Alyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

something i got as a gift when we thought we were expecting twins. Very handy and helpful especially for first-time parents.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most helpful books about twins so far. A lot of information for first time parents (which I am not)

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for any woman pregnant with twins or more.

[Angeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

very thorough and informative.