Multiples

Breast feeding advice...

Hello mommies,

Last Friday I gave birth to my boy/girl twins via planned c-sec. I've been breast feeding and supplementing (formula) them because my girl was in the NICU for 4 hours because of her weight and size. Later the lactation consultants found out that my boy was tongue tied and that's why he wasn't latching on well. I had to wait till we got his tongue However, this journey hasn't been an easy one.

After the twins were born they let me breast feed them, but they never told me to pump every 2-3 hours after every feed. When the twins were 3 days old, a lactation consultant met us and told to start pumping. Now I'm having a hard time as the consultant said to breast feed the twins every 2-3 hours, then feed them the formula and pump for another 10-15 minutes. I get drained out by just breast feeding them and then pumping. DH and in laws bottle feed them with formula. My incision starts to hurt more when I do all this and in the end I end up being exhausted and dead sleepy.

Would it be good if I put them on formula, or would I be doing something terribly wrong? I know breast milk is the best, but pumping after every breast feed is really taking a toll on my health and healing process. Please advice what should I do.

Please do not post anything negative or something that would offend me. I'm also a mother and like any mother I want to do what's best for my kids, but I'm helpless and its taking a toll on my health. Thanks!

Re: Breast feeding advice...

  • your post implies formula is horrible, which it really isn't.

    don't let people make you feel like crap about feeding your child.

    as for suggestions,try your local la leche league. they might have some awesome suggestions. but in the end, remember it's not breast is best... making sure the kid is fed, that's what is truly the best.
    Eat your food people. You are pregnant, not made of glass. ~PrimRoseMama
    The Benes Boys were born 9/3/13! woooo
    imageimage
  • Congrats on your babies! 

    I think you should get a second opinion from another LC. I do remember reading your birth story post and thinking that your daughter's weight really did not seem all that low to be so strongly guided into supplementing with formula. If you want to exclusively breastfeed, you should stop supplementing now. Nurse every single time they seem hungry, whether it's 30 minutes, 1 hour or non-stop. The key to building your supply up is nursing often and on demand.

    Good luck, sweetie. 
    Lilypie Premature Baby tickers
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  • The cycle of BF, supplement, then pump is extremely draining.  I'm only doing it because I ultimately want to BF my twins but my milk supply is still too low to fill them up.  My twins spent 20 days in the NICU and I pumped to make sure they got what I could give them and also to preserve my ability to *hopefully* BF them once they came home.  Transitioning to the breast has been VERY difficult.  I've even had a LC consultant come out to our home to help us.

    If you want to BF I agree with pp; focus on that.  I didn't want to use formula either but at 6 weeks pp my girls still drink more of it than BM.  Formula is totally fine and I've realized how grateful I am for it; it's keeping my LOs alive and well.
    Lilypie - (4vrz)

  • I too have been bf and pumping while my husband supplements with formula. It is exhausting and not what I wanted to do however I am trying to look at the positive and realized that when they get the formula they tend to sleep a little longer. I have had mastitis twice a clogged duct and horrible pain from my c/s so. I too have daily battles with my self about continuing bf or switching to exclusive formula. I wish I had more advice but I too am in your same predicament. I hope it starts getting easier.
  • You have to do whats best for you and the babies. Do what works for you. I felt such guilt when I had my first child. I wanted so very badly to do what was "best", which in my mind was BFing. When she wasnt gaining any weight, I had to start supplimenting. I tried my best to continue to BF but just wasnt able to. It was only later on that I realized I was doing what was best for my child...which was to give her formula so she could grow and thrive. I had to factor many things in and I felt guilty at first (especially because a friend of mine who had a baby 2 weeks after my DD was born made me feel like formula was the "devils nectar", lol) but looking back, I have no regrets. I did what was right for us and thats what matters most.

    With that, I present you with this article for your viewing pleasure... its good to know that my daughter still has a chance. Haha. ;-)

    https://www.babble.com/baby/formula-fed-baby-enters-medical-school-satire/
  • O man it is so hard at first! I also got off to a slow start, and it was challenging to muddle through....I supplemented the entire time though I was able to still BF about 90% of the time (at my peak) for the first 4 months, and then pumped for an additional 2 months. If you are passionate about BFing you can definitely do it! I agree w/ all of PPs' advice (weight checks, working w/ an LC, nurse on demand). If, however, it's causing way more stress and anxiety for you and the idea of using formula gives you a huge sense of relief, then by all means do that! Remember, taking care of yourself is part of taking care of your babies and the happier and stronger you are, the better off they will be, regardless of how you're feeding them.

    Hang in there, mama....the beginning is so rough but you're doing a great job!
     image
  • If your babies are gaining weight by BFing alone, then there isn't any need to go the bf/pump/supplement route. I did that for the first two weeks when the twins were in the NICU and it was exhausting and time consuming.

    My milk took a very long time to come in and I had to supplement for the first ten days or so until my production caught up with them by doing the bf and pump thing.

    The NICU nurses were really big into measuring quantity so that they could ensure my boys were gaining so it took me being firm with them that I wanted to just BF them while I was with them and not supplement and see what happened. Even when we were discharged, we were supposed to do half fortified BM bottles, which means lots of pumping.

    Well, I knew that they were getting enough just from me. My boobs would get soft, lots of wet and dirty diapers, etc so I just BFed them. No supplementing with bottles. And we went for a weight check 2 days post discharge. And they gained. So I got the blessing from the pedi to dial back on the pumping and supplementing.

    Moral of the story for me is that I wanting BFing to work and so I focused on that and advocated for nursing over bottle feeding to get away from the cycle of nurse/pump/supplement. We still bottle feed once every few days but we mostly tandem.

    Good luck!
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  • My twins came 2 months early and we're never really good nursers. We tried for 3.5 months but my milk supply staged dropping and they were getting more formula than milk. I tried medications and everything which helped but then I started having bad side effects causing major depression issues. One night I decided I couldn't do it anymore so we switched to only formula. I felt super guilty but it was the best decision for our family. I stopped feeling crazy and more like myself again. The babies are doing great, are happy and healthy. Ultimately it's your decision and you need to do what's right for you and your family. There is nothing wrong with formula feeding babies.
  • Dragonfly1226Dragonfly1226 member
    edited August 2013
    First and foremost you should do what is best for you and your family. Also, I don't think it needs to be an all or nothing decision right now. You can always BF/pump as much as you can and supplement with formula. Also, if you are pumping you can use that BM to supplement with first before using formula.

    I was on the nurse/pump/supplement plan with DS (because he was severely jaundiced) and the girls (because of weight gain issues). It is exhausting. I would say that your job should be to nurse and pump and that is it. When I was recovering dh changed all the diapers (I was literally in too much pain to stand and change them), burped, put them to sleep, took care of DS, cooked, cleaned... everything but nursing and pumping. We were lucky that he had four weeks of family leave so I always had someone home with me and the kids. (I physically could not take care of DS at that point either.)

    One thing I also did that helped was refuse to pump in the middle of the night. I had a difficult c section recovery (blocked bowel) and needed my rest. For me there was a huge improvement in my overall health between three and four weeks pp. Once I got to four weeks everything just felt easier. If you think that you will regret not BFing then I would encourage you to wait a few weeks before making a final decision.

    The benefit of pumping is that it will help build your supply. Did the LC also recommend other things to help with supply?

    I have been there and know how difficult it is. Taking care of twin newborns is tough. BFing twins is tough. Doing those things while trying to recover from a c section is tough. But it does get easier. Sending you (((((hugehugs))))).
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  • After a rough start with my boy twin, I am now BFing both twins almost exclusively with a 2oz bottle of formula for each of them in the evenings.  DS was in the NICU for eight days and wouldn't latch for almost a month, but I kept trying to put him to the breast and once he actually started latching I hauled them both to the LC and we got him on the breast and off formula.  He is gaining slower than his sister, but both seem to be doing OK.  I do the supplemental bottle in the evening after they cluster feed from like 7-11pm and are generally super fussy despite eating constantly.  Might not be the best thing for my supply, but given that I'm nursing 6+ hours a day total, I can use the little break.  

    I don't pump; if I have to leave the babies for a bit, they get formula.  There's only so much I can realistically do in a day, and pumping is not high on the list.  I do take fenugreek and blessed thistle to try and boost my supply, but if it ends up tanking later because I wasn't pumping, well, that's just how it will be.  

    It is hard, but it gets better.  And if it's not working out, no stress, and no guilt.  The babies will thrive regardless. 

    image
    Grant - 6/2/11
    Glenn and Caroline - 6/19/13

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