Feeding "on-demand" SUCKED.

MaygenDL0ve

Just had to share this.  So I decided yesterday to try breast feeding each twin separately instead of tandem for the first time in their lives.  The football hold was killing my nipples (bad latches?) and holding them in front of me was so much more comfy.  They seem to like it better, too.

And for some reason I still can't figure out, (sleep deprivation?? the constant desire to "experiment"??).. I decided to just feed each baby on demand, or whenever they were hungry.  BAD IDEA!!!!  My poor husband came home from work to 2 unconsolable babies, and they stayed that way until about 2am, when I FINALLY got them back to both being hungry at the same time again.  It was horrible.... I'd pick one crying baby up, get him to calm down, then the other would start up.  They didn't sleep between feedings.. it was as if they started to catch on that if they cried, mom would feed them, even if they weren't REALLY hungry.

Just wanted to share that in my opinion, feeding 2 babies on demand is nearly impossible if mom and dad want to get any kind of sanity in their lives!!  YUCK! 

parsleyqueen

It's funny for me to read this, b/c my experience was the exact opposite!!  I kept trying to get my girls on the same schedule when they were newborns, and it was awful.  Someone was always either not hungry when it came time to eat, or hungry before it was time to eat.  It was causing me a lot of stress.  So I just did everything on demand for the first three months, and it is one of the things I credit now as having helped me to stay sane!  LOL!

I guess it just goes to show how there is no one right strategy when it comes to raising babies (especially twins!).  You just do whatever works for you!

MamaPadilla

Omg!  How exhausting :[

 Suggestion..How about when one baby gives signs of being hungry, feed them both!  Still on demand, in a way!

MaygenDL0ve

MamaPadilla:

Omg!  How exhausting :[

 Suggestion..How about when one baby gives signs of being hungry, feed them both!  Still on demand, in a way!

this is exactly what i'd been doing up until yesterday....  im gonna stick with it and not try to change things up again!

i'd LOVE to hear how twin mamas successfully fed each baby separately and still had time to eat/sleep themselves?? 

parsleyqueen

MaygenDL0ve:

MamaPadilla:

Omg!  How exhausting :[

 Suggestion..How about when one baby gives signs of being hungry, feed them both!  Still on demand, in a way!

this is exactly what i'd been doing up until yesterday....  im gonna stick with it and not try to change things up again!

i'd LOVE to hear how twin mamas successfully fed each baby separately and still had time to eat/sleep themselves?? 

 

It wasn't easy, but I found it less stressful than the alternative.  The first couple months were really hard, and I really *didn't* get much sleep.  I pumped in addition to nursing so that DH could help out with feedings overnight, which took some pressure off.  Honestly, there were a lot of days when I didn't have time to eat until the afternoon.  DH and I still joke about the dried up slices of toast he used to find in the toaster--I'd have put them in in the morning and then totally forgot about them.  It was a crazy time in my life, but it was the easiest way I found to keep my girls happy and to keep myself from feeling like I had yet another thing (a schedule) to worry about.

FWIW, my girls had very different eating styles.  One like smaller, more frequent meals and the other like bigger meals more spaced out.  When I tried making them meet in the middle in order to put them on a schedule, no one was happy.

 

mdearrington

hi! I EBF for 9 months and I am just starting to drop feeds. I remember that feeling of "lets try this or that" it never worked. Routine is key. Once you find a sch that works for you stick to it! That's the best because then you will know why your boys are fussing. Hungry or tired. 

They still to this day cry when the other one is nursing. Some days are great and some days are crap because I waited to long to feed. The best advice I can say to that is invest in a swing or bouncer that will keep the other baby happy, distracted. Or if you know Baby A is sleep longer than he should get him up first to nurse while baby B is still snoozing then wake the other nurse when ready.

I stayed on top of If Baby A is nursing then baby B will nurse too that way they'd stay together. That's what worked for me

Please feel free to ask any questions. BFing is challenging the first month or two but it gets easier and faster

MamaCrystal

Oh dear!  I always fed our girls at the same time, which resulted in them also usually sleeping at the same time.  Whenever people ask how we've survived this year, or how we aren't more sleep deprived... I always talk about how we kept the girls on the same schedule : )

Side note:  If the football hold is painful for you, you might want to consider getting advice from an LC (again, if you already have). I had trouble bf'ing my 1st (SO much pain), then really worked at it and ended up successful with my 2nd, and then it went great with the girls.  One thing I learned from all of that is that sometimes the slightest change in how you're latching them can make a big difference.  One tip that helped me was to point my nipple slightly toward the roof of their mouth when latching.  Sometimes it's just a matter of moving their mouth slightly left, right, up or down.  All a matter of what works for you!

KellyD01

I'm sorry you had such a rough day... by I agree w/ the PP that my experience is the exact opposite. If I have them on the same schedule I loose my flipping mind! ESPECIALLY when they were taking at least an hour to feed each time.

Hope your day has been better!

forensicmama

I'm glad I stumbled upon this post. I breastfed my daughter on demand and it worked for me. Now I know that if I have twins, that it might not be as good an idea.

Also, you go girl for nursing your little ones. I love your picture! So darling!!!

leviandlandensmom

Wow you are either brave or crazy! I couldn't feed them on demand. Feeding the hungrier twin first works for me. Mine are sleeping a good 5 hour stretch from 9 pm to 2 pm and then I feed them & change them one at a time and they are back in bed at 3 and sleep until 6 or 7. If your LOs aren't sleeping that big stretch they will be soon, hang in there!

macchiatto

Yeah, it didn't work for me, either! I fed halfway-on-demand; when one was hungry, I would go ahead and feed them both. It worked out pretty well. Even though they are fraternals and SO different in many ways, we did manage to get them on basically the same schedule for eating and sleeping. There were times they'd get off (esp during the night, when we did usually feed one right after the other so they wouldn't wake up as much) and that was miserable so we would try to get them back on the same schedule asap.