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Multiples
For those who tandem BF
Please help!
I have been working with a LC and she came to the house a week after I had my girls and she was able to get me to tandem nurse. Gracie needed a nipple shield at first and had a really hard time latching. Lately Gracie is doing so much better and latching without the shield. Since birth my girls have been getting a combo of breast feeding, pumped milk, and Neosure 22 cal formula. Typically Ava will nurse during the day and Gracie gets pumped milk and then the get formula at night. The problem with my girls is that they don't stay on very long. 15 min max! My LC came again today and I was able to get them to tandem again for 30 min. She makes me feel so encouraged and it's great. She brought her scale and we did pre and post weights. With the BF they only took about 1 ounce. Typically with bottles they take at least 1.5 ounces and up to 3 ounces. The problem is when she left my girls wanted to eat every hour. I literally sat on the couch feeding them and letting them sleep on the EZ2 nurse pillow from 3:00-7:30pm. Finally at 7:30 DH and I broke down and just gave them pumped milk bottles.
I really would prefer to tandem nurse than bottle feed. I find it much easier to do when I am home alone. I stress however about how much they are getting and I can't deal with feeding them every hour. I feel so bad because I want this to work and want to do this for them and feel that it is best but I really can't sit all day with them and feed them and I can't even imagine doing it at night. I feel like if i had just one baby that I could just BF at will, but with two, I think I may lose my mind.
I am wondering how long did it take for your babies to get good at getting enough food in a more timely manner? And did you literally just feed all day and night? I would love to hear how you do it. My nipples are killing me as well!! Would love to hear how you made it work and any words of encouragement. TIA
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Re: For those who tandem BF
I have been tandem feeding since the boys were born...a whopping 2 weeks. All I can say is that some days are good and they eat every 3 hours and some days are harder and they will nurse for 45 minutes be off for a half hour and want to nurse again. I have heard a lot of people talking about how their kids cluster feed and I think that is what is going on. They'll feed forever for several hours then sleep for a long bit (unfortunately the sleeping for a long bit is generally during the day and the cluster of nursing is generally at night) It has been wonderful and awfully frustrating and painful all at once depending on the day. What keeps me going is that I've heard that it gets better. Can't give you a timeframe because I'm not there yet, but I can say keep trying. It will get better.
Its only normal for your babies to drink less at the breast than what they take in a bottle - all babies do that. with a bottle, they "top themselves off" and they dont do that at the breast.
i guess my only advice is practice. i had 2 lazy suckers both with the inabilty to latch, and yet we just kept at it, through the screaming and crying and hour long feedings. We're now good old pros.
Funny, at the time, I hated the long feedings but now that they nurse in under 10 min, I miss all the feeding! It was such a nice break, haha. I'd just make yourself as comfortable as possible, with the TV remote around, a good book and a few snacks.
But it does sound like they are comfort nursing so if when they start to doze off, you can remove them from your breast and let them take a structured nap.
Hmm... it sounds like you have a few different issues going on!
Did the LC also work a lot on a proper latch with you? If your nipples are really sore, it's important that you keep working at a proper latch even if it takes a few minutes and the girls are really hungry (I mean breaking their latch and then waiting until they open wide again, and trying to re-latch. Sometimes it helps if you point your nipple slightly upward toward the roof of their mouth). I had horrible cracking/soreness with my 1st so that's the biggest lesson I used with my 2nd. If something didn't feel right, he didn't eat until it did. With 2 babies that can be much more consuming, but it's worth it to make sure you're comfortable.
I wouldn't worry about the specific ounces that your girls are eating at the breast. My girls never eat for 15 minutes! More like a max of 10. They're usually satisfied for 2.5 to 3 hours though. It may have been a fluke that your girls wanted to eat every hour... mine did the day before yesterday also! Sometimes they hit growth spurts and just want to eat and eat. Or sometimes they fall asleep even though they're not full. If they are falling asleep, try to rouse them awake and see if they're still hungry so that they're not "snacking" all day long : )
What has kept me sane has been feeding our girls at the same time, every time. (If one seems hungry very shortly after a feeding, then I'll just feed the one, but usually it ends up being more of a comfort thing.) When one wakes up hungry, I wake the other and feed both.
Good luck and hang in there!! It's wonderful that you've stayed committed. Keep at it and I'm sure it will all work out : )
How long is your LC wanting the babies to stay on? I ask because I was told anything longer then 25minutes was just for comfort. DD#1 never BFd longer then 10minutes and she was a great BFer. Efficient is the word I use. lol
I agree with PP....sounds like cluster feedings to me.