Feeding on demand with 2??

Kb103109

Hi everyone,

  The girls had their 2 month appointment Monday and both are doing perfectly!!  H is 10 lbs (6lb 1oz at birth)  and E is 8lb 10oz (5lb 2oz at birth).  Their Pedi told us that we do not need to wake them every 3-4 hours anymore and that we can feed on demand.  We tried it for the rest of Monday and Tuesday, and it made me very stressed because I had a hard time telling if they were actually hungry because they were crying a lot (I guess from the shots), so we went back to our regular schedule.  My question is that how do you feed on demand with two.  My girls eat about an hour apart with the schedule I have them on right now, but what happens when they are hungry at the same time.  I can't stand their cries when they are hungry, it's heartbreaking.  How do you guys do the feeding on demand and not on a regular schedule?  Also how much do you feed them when they are fed on demand?  I just put my girls up to 4 oz, but according to the information the Pedi gave me they should be taking at least 6 oz.  How do I know when to increase their amount per feeding??  Lots of questions I know, but I appreciate your input.

cookiemonster03

Over night we fed the second when one woke until about 12, maybe 15 weeks.

As far as during the day, we offer bottles every 3 hrs if they are not hungry before hand. They're on a loose 3 hr schedule now. We fed them back to back for the most part (so 15 or so min apart), though now they're sitting up better and we can feed them together in high chairs or boppys. We had trouble with this for ages to be honest.

We always offer 6 oz. They usually take 3-5.

RClaffee

I always woke the second to feed her too because if I didn't, I would have never slept. I preferred to feed them separately when they were little, but I did learn how to feed them both at the same time when necessary. When giving them both a bottle, my husband used my pregnancy body pillow and bunched it up into a little nest and propped one of the girls in there. He would sit on the floor and put the other up on his knees, which were bent in front of him. Now we have a chair that we use. 

I increased their amounts when they started eating all of the milk I put in their bottles on a very regular basis.   

Haven1

Feed on demand during the day or during the night? I'd keep them on a 3/4 hour schedule during the day. (And I'd get them on the same schedule too. It's so much easier to not be feeding constantly. How do you get anything done?) Mine were on a 3 hour day feeding schedule for months.

As far as the night, no, you don't need to wake them, but how often do they wake on their own? Every 3-4 hours? More? Less? Many people (myself included!) support the "one up- both up" rule for night feedings. Assuming they are falling into a predictable routine and are actually hungry, when ones wakes, wake the other, feed quickly, and go back to bed.

Nerwak

Not to wake them at night and feed them on demand only when they wake up, right? Our pedi told us that was the beginning of them STTN  when ours were at that age because they were doing fine weight wise as well. We still kept a strict schedule during the day. We had to get up with them when we started, but they slowly kept sleeping longer and longer through the night and then we didn't have to get up with them at all. I think they were 10-11 weeks.

macchiatto

I found feeding on demand pretty impossible with twins. Basically in the beginning, when one was hungry we'd go ahead and feed them both. They both took a looong time to eat for the first several months and also got upset if I had to pause during a feeding so if I'd started feeding one baby and 15 mins later the other wanted to eat and I had to get them ready and situated, it would've gotten ugly. We followed the EASY routine with both of them and honestly they got in sync with each other without *too* much trouble; only took about 2 months.

MrsLnt

Feeding on demand is a lovely idea and I'm sure there are some MoMs who figure it out but for us, a schedule was key. Not just a schedule, but the same schedule. I very quickly figured out how to tandem bottle feed them and that's the only way I had any downtime. Even now, at 15 months, we still eat together and sleep together.

When we decided to let them tell us when they needed to eat overnight, we'd still feed them both, just wait until one was up, then both were up. And really, mine almost always wanted to eat at the same time. 

 

mpstochlinski8

my boys are on the same schedule for the most part. I still try to feed every 3 or so hours during the day but at night I feed on demand, pretty much when they wake up their hungry. If only one wakes up, I wake up the one sleeping and feed them together. If I didnt do this odds are once Im back to sleep the other one will wake up to eat so this way I can rest more. Are you nursing or FF? I nurse first them supplement with formula. I use a twins nursing pillow and some boppy loungers to nurse and sit them in either swings or carseats and bottle feed them at the same time using a binkie while I burp the other, so far my system is working for me. If someone else is around then we hold them to feed them. If they are still showing signs of hunger after they have finished their bottles, try a binkie, if that doesnt make them happy then I'd try a little more food, maybe an oz. I have just recently noticed upon trial and error that if I feed on demand during the day they are up more at night since they will go longer than 3hrs sometimes so I just feed them every 3hrs during day now even if they dont eat much, it seems to help them sleep longer stretches at night. GL

Kb103109

Thanks everyone!!  I definitely agree with what some of you said about keeping them on a schedule.  My girls seem to do much better on a schedule and they actually sleep 6-7 hours through the night without waking up to eat.  I have been trying this feeding on demand thing this week and I think it has messed them up and made them very fussy which in turn has made my life miserable all week.  We are going back to the schedule we had of feeding every 3 hours.  I know all this is trial and error and everything, but I feel so horrible that I changed their schedules and messed them up like this.  

Haven1

Don't feel horrible at all. I'm guessing your pedi wasn't very clear with their definition of "demand feeding". At this age, you should be moving toward a structured day schedule, not away from it.