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Breastfeeding
robinsokj
member
I think my dreams of (almost) EBFing are about to go down the tubes.
robinsokj
member
We never had the choice of EBF b/c of a NICU stay and low birth weight. They started off on bottles. They have had good and bad days with latching, but it seems like they are going backwards. They both take a good 10 minutes or more to latch on, and with twins, its just too much. It has become too time consuming and it stresses all of us out.
I am pumping and giving them only BM, so they are getting the drink of choice, but this is disappointing b/c even before we knew we wanted kids, I knew I would BF.
I can still BF on demand b/c they latch like champs then, but to keep on a schedule (which is how we keep our sanity) its necessary to bottle feed them. 
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Re: I think my dreams of (almost) EBFing are about to go down the tubes.
I'm sorry. I don't know the first thing about how to handle twins, but could you alternate who gets bf'd and who gets bottle feeds and still try to do somewhat of a demand schedule this early on? I'm not trying to downplay the difficulty twins brings, but I just wanted to let you know that even with singles bfing is VERY difficult in the early weeks. It's really just the very beginning for your babes, so you might find everything will improve if you can stick it out for a few more weeks.
Hopefully a mom of twins can step in and give you some good advice about how she made it work. Hang in there, and if you can't bf, you're doing an awesome job pumping to give them breast milk!
Just wanted to throw out my perspective- The first month of breastfeeding twins is so hard. If you really, really want to do it- stick with it. If you are producing milk and they are able to latch on, the chances are HUGE that it will get better.
I had such a rough time in the beginning. DD latched on great, DS did not. So we ended up buying a pump and I would pump one side while I nursed DD so that my husband could then mess with DS. After a couple weeks though, I was able to get DS to latch on and after a few more weeks, they both were eating like champs.
I know how frustrating it is and in the end, you have to be happy with your choice. And there is nothing wrong with doing a mix of nursing, pumping, bottle feeding and even formula. Breastfeeding twins can be a full time job so anything you are able to give them is great.
You're doing good, hang in there!
Just give it some time. If you have to use bottles sometimes that is fine. If you can alternate who gets the breast at each feeding (or even each day) they will stay used to it and when they stop eating as frequently you can go to EBFing. Believe it or not, before you know it they will only be nursing every 3 hours and you will be able to work out a BFing schedule with them.
There is one goal for the first month: SURVIVAL
Do what you have to do right now and when things calm down a little you can start doing what you want to do.
As long as you keep them on the breast some you shouldn't have a problem getting them back to it 100% of the time. My son was 100% bottle fed the first 7 weeks of his life and now we EBF.
Good luck!
Awww Robin hang in there. I have zero words of wisdom, but it seems like some of the moms here with multiples have offered some great advice.
The only thing I know is that the first month is really hard - so I can only imagine how hard it is with two of them! :::cheers for Robin:::