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Supplementing

yinyang124yinyang124 member
in Multiples
I'm going to discuss this with their pedi tomorrow, but I'm wondering what you ladies think. The boys are 5 weeks today, and I think going through a growth spurt or conspiring to make me as tired as possible. They're cluster feeding like crazy, and I don't know if my supply is keeping up with them. Plus I'm exhausted! They're supposed to get 2 fortified bottles of BM/day, but my pedi said we could drop it to 1 because their weight gain is excellent and I'd prefer to BF. I am trying to get them to sleep better at night, but all they want to do is eat and snuggle and repeat. I'm wondering if they would sleep longer if I gave them a full bottle of formula before bed. Anyone do this with success? I love the snuggles, but I need free time too. 
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Re: Supplementing

  • srbmvpsrbmvp member

    The hard and honest truth? Formula before bed will NOT make them sleep longer. While hunger does play a role to some extent, sleeping through the night is a developmental thing, and won't come until they are ready...

    Your supply is still regulating at this point, and your babies are going through an almost non-stop growth spurt. Give it time, if you can. Maybe pump once during the night and have your DH give bottles so you can get back to sleep faster? I know how hard it is to be sleep deprived and looking for any possible solution, hell, I haven't had a good night's sleep in 7+ months now.... But it will get better! Just give it time, you are still in survival mode... hugs!

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  • yinyang124yinyang124 member
    Thank you both for the input. You both bring up a good point. Tandem nursing is a lot easier for me anyways. I'll keep nursing as long as I have a thread of sanity left. I had such a great freezer stash that they've killed in one week. I feel so frantic when 30 min later they are hungry again and I don't have anything for them. 
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  • Lyndsey13Lyndsey13 member
    I could have written this post when my girls were that age. I nursed and nursed and nursed. It was nonstop. I really worried that when they would nurse a half hour after they just had nursed, that I wouldn't have anything for them. I did though. I think you'd be suprised how fast your body produces it. After my girls were about 9 weeks they stopped the cluster feeding altogether. They are 15 weeks now. And I have such a huge supply that I am feeding my girls and donating about 1/2-3/4 of an adopted baby's diet. Just hang in there!
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  • yinyang124yinyang124 member

    imageLyndsey13:
    I could have written this post when my girls were that age. I nursed and nursed and nursed. It was nonstop. I really worried that when they would nurse a half hour after they just had nursed, that I wouldn't have anything for them. I did though. I think you'd be suprised how fast your body produces it. After my girls were about 9 weeks they stopped the cluster feeding altogether. They are 15 weeks now. And I have such a huge supply that I am feeding my girls and donating about 1/2-3/4 of an adopted baby's diet. Just hang in there!

    This makes me feel so much better! I don't know what I'd do without this board. Certainly be spending a ton on FFing two babies. 

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  • MuseumMavenMuseumMaven member

    Like everyone said, the babies are doing what they are supposed to - they're nursing more to increase your supply.  Honestly, if you start supplementing you can fall into the supplement cycle - the babies get full without nursing so they nurse less, you don't increase your supply, you end up supplementing more.

    I know how exhausted you are - that growth-spurt is a ***.  But it will pass, and believe it or not, the babies will settle into a more normal feeding schedule.

    Good luck - you can do it!

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  • RynleighRynleigh member
    I agree with everybody else. If anything, sup'ing formula specifically at night might make them less sleepy - they won't get as much melatonin transfer from your milk, and formula can be more grumpy on their digestive systems. I weaned within six months with each of the girls because I pumped (emotional reasons) instead of breastfed, and I worked. Once they were eating solid foods at 6mo, that's when we really went full throttle on the formula. I have no objections to formula at all - but I don't think it will help them sleep more :(
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