BF for twins?

mpstochlinski8 · November 2011

Im not making enough milk yet to fill up my boys who are 3wks and a couple of days old. Its killing me to have to supplement. did any of you have to supplement with twins? for how long? how did you help your supply increase? TIA

Mrs.Greg · November 2011

Are you working with a lactation consultant? If not, I would contact one ASAP. I pumped after every day time feeding until my babies were about 4 weeks old to help increase milk production. It's a lot of work, I know, but even if you can pump only 3 or 4 times a day, that's great! Also, then you can supplement with your own breastmilk in addition to helping yourself make more milk. The lactation consultant I worked with suggested an herbal supplement to help increase milk production. It's called Motherlove More Milk Plus. It comes in drops and capsules, totally organic, and it contains the 4 herbs. She told me to start taking it at the first sign of low milk production. I ordered a bottle right away but haven't tried it yet. You can buy them on Motherlove.com but it's much cheaper to order them from Amazon.

Temp123197812503460 · November 2011

I had to supplement for 1 week. Ditto on the LC. Also, why do you say it's not enough? I feel very strongly that the reason I make enough for them now (at 3 months) is that I was very aggressive with stoping the supplementing as soon as I could and just nursing them all.the.time. A baby will take 1-2 oz from a bottle after eating even if they aren't really hungry. For me, I stopped supplementing as soon as they were not rooting like crazy after they ate. One of my boys gained a bit more slowly than some of the nurses were pushing for, but he got the hang of it and is doing just fine. I watched him closely to make sure he had enough wet diapers. But don't weigh them all the time, and don't let people push you into supplementing if the boys seem happy and are having wet diapers just because they aren't gaining as fast as they could be (obviously if they need it I'm not saying you shouldn't give it to them). A doctor explained to me that it's critical those first few days to keep their blood sugar stable but that a lot of supplementing after that is about treating anxiety of the parents and the health care workers, no one really knows how fast they need to be gaining. Hang in there, drink tons and tons of water and mothers milk tea and offer the babies the breast as often as you can (I had them there literally every hour in the beginning, and often more in the evenings). Also, no pacifiers until my supply was enough, if they wanted to suck they got me.

schoolsoutbride · November 2011

Really good advice above, especially on the "how do you know they need supplementing" part. If they're having 5+ wet diapers a day and gaining weight (rent a sensitive scale from a BFing supply store or see if there is a BFing support group where you can take them for weigh-ins), you're good. Also, drink lots and lots and lots (like 100+ oz a day.) Nurse on demand, not a schedule. If you can, strip them down to a diapers. Above all, find a good LC. I'd call the local LLL and ask for a rec. In my experience the ones I saw at hospitals were awful.

megs_glo · November 2011

I used the More Milk Special Blend (drops) as recommended by my LC and it definitely helped (I bought them on Amazon). She said that the drops worked better than the capsules - I also read that the alcohol free tastes better.

I had to supplement on and off for the first 8 weeks until things got straightened out. I was also pumping at least 3 times a day, using a hospital grade pump for the first 8 weeks too. Eventually things worked themselves out.

Now the girls get some formula, only on some of the days that I work, just because I can't always pump enough (I am sure if I wanted to I could make it work but it isn't worth the stress for me - pumping is not my favorite thing to do). At most they get 4 oz. of formula 1-2 days a week.

Just keep at it - I am so happy I did. I definitely wanted to quit many times, but I am so glad I didn't. It is so much easier now just to BF them, they are so fast (10 minutes max) and nothing to clean up. GL!

ashes1010 · November 2011

I think that all of the advice that others have given is great, so I won't repeat it. I had to supplement for the first few days. Once my milk came in, I fed and pumped religiously for the first few weeks. That's how I got my supply up. Now I exclusively BF my twins.

RClaffee · November 2011

All of the advice above is great! I just wanted to add that it can take a while for your supply to fully establish itself, especially if you had a c/s, so don't get discouraged. Even if it turns out that they do need to be supplemented for a while, it doesn't mean that it will always be that way.

jxd215 · November 2011

Great advice from PPs. However, I did all of the above, followed Mothering Multiples by the book, took domperidone, but still couldn't make enough milk for both. I nursed and supplemented for 11 months. Like you, it killed me to supplement, and everything I read made me feel like I couldn't make enough milk because I just wasn't trying hard enough. I was really depressed about it until my 4th LC helped me understand that i was doing my best but sometimes it's just genetics, every bit of breastmilk is better than none, and the most important thing is that the babies grow. Just wanted to share my experience - GL to you and hope you can boost your supply!

ColleenS629 · November 2011

My twins both had to be supplemented in the hospital for different reasons. R was in the NICU for breathing problems and it was their policy that if he didn't breastfeed (their definition of) "enough" in each session that he got formula. A had to have some formula too because his blood sugar was getting too low to the point where he would have to be sent to the NICU too if he wasn't supplemented supposedly (I later found out that his level was much higher than it was portrayed to me). Every time they were supplemented I pumped. I saw an LC every day that I was in the hospital to help get both babies feeding well on the breast. When we left, only one baby was taking most feedings from the breast. I pumped after every feeding so that I could give A bottles of breastmilk instead of formula since he wouldn't BF. I was using a PISA but it was taking forever to pump (like an hour) and I wasn't getting as much as I did with the hospital grade pump. I was going to rent one but I ended up finding the Ameda Elite (the one I used in the hospital) on ebay for less than what it would cost to rent for 5 months so I bought it. This helped get my supply back up and let me pump for less time. I also had an LC come to my house and work with me and both babies. Now they both BF at every feeding (with the help of a nipple shield). I still pump once in the morning and once at night to keep my supply up and build up a freezer stash. I'm obviously still new at this but my advice would be to keep BFing as much as you can, keep pumping whenever you supplement so your body knows that your babies need that milk, and see if you can get an LC out to your house to help. Keep at it but don't beat yourself up... you're doing the best you can!

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