Extended breastfeeding – or nursing a child beyond the first year of life – is becoming more common in the United States due to public health efforts to normalize breastfeeding and scientific evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding. However, policy and research are only a piece of the puzzle. Social media influencers and bloggers are also a huge part of the effort to normalize breastfeeding. Rachel, a mother from Michigan (@chasingthechalfants) is one of the people helping to normalize breastfeeding and has shared quite a bit of her parenting journey on Instagram. Recently, we got to interview Rachel about her experience nursing twins for 19 months. Here’s what she had to say:

Hi! My name is Rachel and I’m the face behind @chasingthechalfants on Instagram. I am a former elementary school teacher turned stay-at-home mom to a 4 year old (Landon) and 19 month old twins (Carter and Ella). My husband, 3 kids and I live in Ann Arbor, MI. When I’m not chasing after the kids, I enjoy chugging (too much) iced coffee, cooking, reading and solo trips to Target. My favorite part of being a mom is getting to be there for all the (not so) little moments and seeing their personalities develop and change. Follow along on Instagram for daily shenanigans, cooking, motherhood and more! 

1. How did you fuel your body to keep up with feeding twins and has that changed over the 19 months? When the twins were born I was literally nursing around the clock and I was SO hungry. In addition to eating a variety of foods to fuel my body and theirs, I also drank a ton of water. I knew that hydration was so important and continues to be. While there were no particular foods I ate to fuel my body, I tried to eat a balanced diet but also honor any cravings I had. After all, I was feeding two little humans and was running on little sleep. As they’ve gotten older and are now nursing less, I continue to make food choices that I know will fuel me to chase after 3 toddlers. Water is still a huge piece and hydration is so important, whether you’re nursing or not. 

2. What did your feeding schedule look like?  I nursed on demand and continue to do so. Sometimes that means nursing one at a time and sometimes that means tandem nursing, although that’s gotten more complicated since they’ve gotten older. Thankfully a few nursing essentials made tandem nursing a lot easier – the twin Boppy pillow and the My Brest Friend Twin Pillow. Having a supportive nursing pillow to support both babies made such a huge difference. 

3. When you fed at the same time, what positions did you find to work best for you? When they were younger, I always used a nursing pillow (mostly the My Brest Friend Twin pillow) or a pillow under each of them to support their heads. Now that they’re older, they’re in a whole host of positions. We joke that I am like a swim up bar – they’ll both walk up to me, have a seat and nurse! Sometimes, one will lay across my lap and the other will sit in front of me. If it sounds a little crazy, that’s because it is! But it works. 

4. Did you ever worry you wouldn’t produce enough milk for both babies? Since their weights dropped significantly below birth weight after we were discharged from the hospital, we started supplementing with formula almost immediately after they were born. This actually took a lot of pressure off of me because I knew they were getting the nutrients they needed and it wasn’t solely dependent on how much milk I was producing. During the first couple months, I would nurse both babies and my husband would supplement with bottles of formula. As they got older, we have had to make a few changes due to bottle strikes, but I have always felt confident that between nursing and bottles (then formula, now whole milk), both babies were getting everything they needed. 

5. What resources did you rely on when you were having a tough time breastfeeding? Outside of talking to friends and family, I mostly relied on local Facebook groups for support. We have a great local mom’s Facebook group in our city as well as local parents of multiples group. Both were great in offering support, suggestions, and being able to connect with other twin moms was especially helpful. As with most things, but especially in parenting, simply knowing that you’re not alone or not the first person to experience something is helpful in and of itself. It was also helpful to talk to friends and family who reminded me that they were there for support and that there were other breastfeeding resources available. 

6. Moms say that breastfeeding adds another layer to their relationship with their infant. How did breastfeeding affect your relationship with each infant? Not surprisingly, breastfeeding twins feels a lot different than breastfeeding a singleton. In the beginning, I often felt like I was nursing 24/7 (and sometimes I actually was) so I don’t know that the breastfeeding connection was necessarily present then. But now that they’re older and things have slowed down a bit, the times when I’m able to nurse just one baby at a time is so special. As a mom, looking down and making eye contact with a nursing baby is one of the most special feelings in the world. It adds a layer of connection, love, and intimacy that I haven’t felt before. I cherish those quieter moments when I realize just how amazing my body is and what a special bond I have with each of my children. 

Thank you so much, Rachel, for sharing your experience! Keep being awesome!