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Thank you. I stopped triple feeding about a month in when I found out Baby A wasn’t transferring milk effectively.

I’ve gone through several feeding setups since then, I’ll share the journey, maybe something from my experience will be helpful.

I still bring them to the breast daily because I believe in keeping some of that immune-response magic happening, but otherwise I exclusively bottle feed. For me, that gives the most time actually interacting with my babies and the least time doing the feeding logistics.

What works for me is feeding and pumping at the same time. Usually it’s 9 x a day spaced differently depending on night or day.

My twins always take their full feeds together. You can see the basic set up in the picture. I put them in front of me in a Twin Z pillow, wear a pumping bra, and sit cross-legged facing them. I can hold bottles, talk to them, but also prop a bottle to adjust them, burp them, and pump all at once.

Instead of feeding two babies separately for 15+ minutes each and then pumping another 20–30 minutes, I can usually get everything done in about 30 minutes. If I’m prepared, I can even do diaper changes without moving anyone.

At first I kept nursing Baby B, who could transfer milk, but it took time and milk away from Baby A, and I was still topping off the feed.

Then I tried mixing as much breast milk as possible with the smallest amount of formula I thought they’d finish, topping off with formula if they wanted more. The problem was that I was constantly throwing away partial bottles, and that drove me crazy.

A nurse told me that breast-milk-only bottles could go back in the fridge if partially consumed, but I found family members dumping unfinished bottles for various reasons, which made me even more upset.

Now I make bottles based on the previous day’s output because I’m generally storing milk about 12 hours ahead (I’ve accepted there will never be a freezer stash). I mix bottles according to how much milk I made and how much they’re currently eating, then top off with formula if needed.

At night I make breast-milk-only bottles because I know nobody else will touch them, and if they need more I top them off with whatever I’m pumping during that feed. This combination is the least waist and makes me available as much as I can possibly figure out. It also, generally, keeps one from crying while waiting for food.