When Does Breast Milk Come in With Preemie Twins?

Last updated on December 23rd, 2025 at 11:37 am

Worried that having an early delivery or c-section could impact your milk coming in for twins? Or just had your twins and getting anxious about your milk coming in delayed? See what other twin moms experienced with breastmilk and premature twins.

If you’ve had a c-section or preterm delivery (or you might for your upcoming twin delivery), you may be anxious about having your milk come in late.

For most women, milk production will switch over from colostrum around 3 – 5 days after delivery. But a few factors could potentially delay that timeline including bed rest during pregnancy, severe stress, and having a c-section (all things that twin parents are more prone to).

The truth is that there’s no way to tell for sure whether or not your milk will be delayed in these cases. But we know it can feel scary and overwhelming, so we wanted to share what other twin moms experienced with breast milk coming in with their preemie twins.

premature twins and breastmilk coming in

We recently asked our twin parent community:

For those who had preemie twins, how long did it take for your milk to come in?

Here’s what twin parents had to say:

Pretty much right away…

“I had mine at 35 weeks via emergency c-section i started producing 6 1/2 7 oz of colostrum and then my milk came in a day later and I was producing lm 35-40 oz every 2 1/2 3 hours.” – Lily

“About 48 hours later. Delivered naturally at 32 weeks 3 days. Used a pump exclusively.” – Kellie

“Mine were early but not preemie and my milk came in right away. Interestingly, with their sister, my singleton, my milk too ages to come in and was never really strong. I only breast fed her for three weeks but I breast fed my twins for three months. Weird how it was so different.” – Elizabeth

“Had twins at 29 weeks, had colostrum in hours, milk within 24 hours.” – Faye

“35 weeks and milk came in right away.” — Kelsey

“As soon as they were born.” – Serena

“NICU Nurse and NICU Mom here! Colostrum came in a few hours after birth. Then my milk came in within a day and lasted until 6 months!” – NrsRox

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A few days…

“BARELY preemie at 36 weeks – colostrum came in right away, and milk took about 3-4 days. The colostrum + a few bottles of formula on day #3 (jaundice) were enough until the milk came in!” – Jena

“I had my girls 4 weeks ago at 28+3 due to HELLP syndrome. I could only start pumping 24 hours later because I was in ICU/high care. I started to get colostrum 2 days after birth and my milk came in by day 4. It has taken a lot of discipline but we are up to 800ml per day now and I hope we keep climbing so when I can I can start breastfeeding my babies.” – Jenna

“Day 3 (this was my second pregnancy, breastfed for first child too).” – Lauren

“I gave birth at 32 weeks. I started pumping the next morning once I kind of recovered enough. My milk started coming in the following day. So essentially 2 days after delivering.

Edited to add I successfully breastfed/pumped for 11 months.” – Ashleigh

“I pumped that night and got colostrum and by day 3, I had real milk.” – Regina

“Mine were born on a Thursday at 26 weeks (HELLP syndrome). My milk came in as soon as I got home that following Monday. They are now 2 years old and I stopped breastfeeding about a year and a half ago however, I still have not dried up!!!! It drives me crazy!!” – Lindsey

“About 2 days, but I had only just stopped breastfeeding my toddler about 8m before. Maybe my body just remembered?” – Laura

“34 weeks and c section went straight to milk 3 days.” – Anish

“About 2 days. delivered at 34.4wks.” – Vane

“Just a few days. Exclusively pumped for my 26 weekers for 15 months!” – Allison

“Delivered c-section at 30+4. Pumped 6 hours after delivery. Got colostrum within 12 hours of delivery. Milk came in by day 2-3. Was pumping 65 oz by day 10.” – Sondra

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About a week, give or take…

“Had our identical twins at 32+5…c section, pumped right after every 2-3 hours for 5 days set alarms and milk slowly came in by then. They were in NICU for 20 days and got donor milk and any I pumped as I built my supply. They did pumped milk bottles and we practiced latching right away and they did great. And here we are 14 months and still nursing!!!! Never needed to supplement formula! So proud of us!!!” – Ashley

“My twins were born at 30+0 weeks and I started producing 5oz of colostrum every 3hrs for a week then my milk came in and I started producing 18-20oz every 3hrs.” – Kristine

“5 days. First time mom. 35 weeks.” — Samantha

“My twins were born at 37+5 and my milk took about 5 -6 days to come in, used donor milk at the hospital and bought some to bring home.” – LadyCapricorn

“I had my twins at 34 weeks, 5 days due to preeclampsia. The colostrum came in within about 12 hours, but it took 7 – 8 days for my milk to come in. I’m guessing due to all the stress of an emergency delivery, a neonatal surgery, and the stress of the babies being in the NICU right away.” – Paige

“So long thought it never would.” CaliRyan

“Nicu mom! 5 days for actual milk!” – Jordan

It never really did…

“It never really did, I am sorry to say. I gave birth at 28 weeks 6 days…I tried and tried pumping for a month – the nurses eventually sat me down and told me that I was running myself down and that I should give myself permission to stop pumping.” – Heather

“Mine never did, I had my twins at 26wks. But I also had a breast reduction a year or so before I got pregnant with them (was not planning on any more children) and with that I had a 50/50 chance of being able to breastfeed.” – Paige

“Mine never did come in with our girls. We were gonna try to use a pump, but it never did come in to even try so had use formula. They did good for a short time; then when they got home they had trouble gaining weight and had reactions to the new one so they had change it around a few times. They had trouble with eating as well so we also had try several different bottles; they did most best with the Boon Nourish bottles.” – Brittney

“I had them at 37+2 via emergency C-section and my supply never fully came in so they were living off colostrum and formula.” – Arie

“Never really did.” – Kelli

“Mine never did. It was super hard.” – Shannon

When does breast milk come in after c-section?

For some women, having a c-section may delay breast milk production. But as you’ve seen from some of the twin moms who shared above, their c-section did not impede their ability to produce milk. So it really depends on the person.

If you plan to breastfeed or pump, try your best to begin pumping or hand-expressing milk as soon as you’re able to after delivery.