Tandem breastfeeding twins: one timer that starts together and stops separately

Why one shared timer is not enough

A tandem feed has one beginning and two endings. One twin falls asleep after twelve minutes, the other keeps going for twenty-five. If your app only knows "a feed happened", both babies get the same number and one of them is wrong every single time.

That matters in the first weeks, when the midwife or pediatrician asks how long and how often each baby fed. It also matters at 3 a.m., when you want to know which twin is likely to wake first. A shared timer cannot answer either question. Two independent stops can.

How tandem feeding works in TwinsTracker

1. Open Feeding and tap the other name. The tandem picker sits right under the start button. Tap the sibling you are feeding at the same time. You can pick more than one.
2. Pick the side for the first baby. The app suggests the opposite breast from that baby's last feed. For the second twin it pre-fills the other side. Tap to swap if you did it differently today.
3. One tap starts everyone. Both feeds get the same start time. You see both names on the screen with "started together".
4. Stop each baby separately. When one twin unlatches, stop only that one. The other timer keeps running. No editing afterwards, no guessing.
5. Next time, the app remembers. Each twin gets their own side suggestion based on their own last feed, not their sibling's.

Bottles and pumping work the same way: log time and amount for one child or several at once, and keep your milk stash in the fridge, freezer or deep freeze with expiry dates.

The same trick for sleep

Twins do not wake up together either. Start a nap for both with one tap and stop each baby when they actually open their eyes. Between naps, the sleep screen shows how long each baby has been awake and the recommended wake window for their age, so you know who is about to hit the wall.

What you get out of it

• An honest feed and sleep log per baby, not an average of two.
• Side memory per twin, so you stop asking "who had the left last time?"
• Daily totals and one 24-hour overview with every child on one timeline.
• Sharing with the whole household. Your partner, a grandparent or a babysitter enters the household invite code and sees the same data on their phone.
• Works offline and without an account. Data stays on your phone unless you choose to share it.
• Up to four children, each with their own color. English, Dutch, Czech and German.
• One-time purchase for the whole household. No subscription, no ads.

Practical tandem tips from a preschool teacher

I am not a lactation consultant, so for latch, supply or pain please talk to your midwife or an IBCLC. What I can help with is the organisation around it, because that is where twin parents lose their sleep.

• Decide the side rule once. Either each twin keeps "their" breast for the day, or you swap at every feed. Both work. What does not work is deciding at 3 a.m. Let the app remember it for you.
• Log before you latch, not after. One tap while you still have a hand free. After the latch you have none.
• Stop the first baby the moment they unlatch. The second timer keeps going. Do not wait until both are done and then try to remember.
• Let the other adult see the log. Whoever takes the next shift should not have to ask what happened. Share the household and the question disappears.
• Write down the weight, nothing else. Date and grams. The app calculates the gain since last time. No percentiles, no judgement at midnight.