Ok- I know I have read posts about BF'ing but I have been telling people I plan to breastfeed the twins and it seems to be funny to them? I keep getting the "Yeah good luck with that, it's hard enough with one" OR "You can try but I bet you can't produce enough for 2 it's hard enough to keep the supply up with 1"
Well I know it won't a walk in the park but EVERYONE seems to think I am crazy for planning on BF'ing.
Am I being unrealistic here? I didn't think so
Re: Breastfeeding Multiples
The exact opposite happened to me...everyone and their mother told me how wonderful BF'ing is and "of course you can make enough for two!". Totally not the case for me. Like SpinningJess said, it's beneficial to the babies so I'm trudging along, but I am HATING every minute of it. I am confused, frustrated, and in pain. I also feel like I'm strapped to a chair around the clock trying to feed these kids and my milk doesn't satiate their hunger anyway. It's so frustrating and demoralizing. Sorry to be so negative but I'm being honest when I say from my own experience that it's damn hard and the people who made those comments to you aren't that far off the mark. I almost wish someone would have given me a clue earlier so that I wouldn't have had my hopes and expectations so high.
just go into it knowing it might not work out- and it might work out- either way as long as your babies are eating- they will be happy... so go with an open mind- but that's ANY mom- not just MoM... b/c many singleton moms fail with nursing for various reasons, too - and it's all OK.
BFing IS hard, and I don't think people are really prepared for that. BUT, I don't think BFing twins is necessarily 2x as hard. There can be a lot more roadblocks (NICU time and early babies make it really hard to establish BFing b/c the pump just isn't as good at establishing a supply. I don't know if I'd have enough for 2 if that had been my experience.)
The thing I find hardest is tandem BFing them by myself. I can't do it without wrenching my wrists (I now have tendonitis from early tandem attempts), so I do them one by one. They're fast, but we still have some times where one lays next to me crying while I feed the other. Makes me sad.
With my older DS, things got magically easier around 6w. Thsi time it was closer to 8 that it started getting easier (better head control, faster eaters, etc)
I think with twins the thing that frustrates me is that so much of the sleep advice revolves around FFing. (Stretch them to 3 hrs, reduce oz they get at night, etc.) BFing doesn't work like that. If you start counting oz in, oz pumped, etc, you'll go nuts. You'll know you're making enough if they're gaining appropriately and have 5+ wet diapers a day. If they need more, they'll nurse longer and you'll make more.
ETA: I should I add I wouldn't be able to do this without an awesome DH. He gets the babies up at night, brings them to me to feed in bed (only place I can currently tandem), and then puts them back down. It would be really hard if I couldn't tandem at night and get it done quickly. I'm also lucky to have quick efficient eaters.
People said the same thing to. Some even laughed when I told them I wanted to BF. It p!ssed me off and made me more determined to do it. It's definitely not easy. The first 6 weeks were harder for me than any part of the pg or the c-section. After that though, it was pretty easy. I EBF until we introduced solids at 5-1/2 months. I BFd until the girls were 16.5 months and only weaned because I'm pg.
You can do it! You do, however, need to be prepared. Attend a BFing class at your hospital, read "Mothering Multiples" and have the contact info ready for a LC and your local LLL chapter.
It's definitely not easy, but plenty of us have done it.
People are so obnoxious. If they were trying to help you, there are a million other ways to provide "helpful" information. People rolled their eyes at me and laughed when they found out that was my plan. So silly.