Lets talk breastfeeding

michelleraiche · January 2013

I know theres probably a million bf posts but im too exhausted to search. Im going in for my scheduled csection in exactly 2 weeks and suddenly im panicking about breastfeeding my twins. I had a plan of nursing one while the other gets a bottle of pumped milk but is this realistic? I plan on bringing my pump to the hospital and learning as much as i can from the lactation consultant but how did you successfully bf your multiples?I read that if i nurse one then use a bottle for the other that i have to pump the breast not used to keep my supply up. And obviously switch up each feeding who gets bottle/boob. Just looking for insight and tips. Also, how many had to supplement with formula? Im all over the place and in "what the hell am i in for?" Mode.Thanks!

zombiemommy · January 2013

Here's my feeling on it, but I'm not a "success story". Plenty of ladies on her bf and kick butt at it. I found that pumping and supplementing worked best for me, but I am having trouble keeping my supply up. Here's my blog post about my choice: https://doublerainbowtwins.blogspot.com/2012/12/feeding-babies-what-ive-chosen-and-why.html

MuseumMaven · January 2013

Personally, I hated the pump and far preferred to just nurse both babies. I usually just nursed one and then the other, but did a fair amount of tandem nursing, too (nursing both babies at once). I never supplemented with formula, save for 48 hours when we had to take the boys off of breastmilk for a rare jaundice complication. I had no supply issues, which I think was due to 1) luck, 2)eating and drinking a ton, and 3) nursing on demand.

For me, part of the joy of breastfeeding was not having to prepare and wash bottles. Pumping and storing milk seemed like a huge extra step to me when I could just lift up my shirt and have a meal ready to go.

I would see if you can meet with your hospital LC now, before the craziness of two babies hits, so you can talk to her and get a plan put together. There are lots of ways to feed those babies, you just need to figure out what your goals are and what the best way to achieve them will be.

OctoberCAPA · January 2013

I started to try tandem nursing as soon as we got home from the hospital, and I was very lucky in that both my babies caught on quickly. I did use nipple shields for the first six weeks, which was a big help for all three of us - I never had pain from poor latching and the shields help them get their mouths organized. I highly recommend the book Mothering Multiples and the My Brest Friend twin pillow.

Nursing twins is a lot of work. I probably spent 8-9 hours a day for the first few months nursing them. I was eating and drinking water constantly. But I agree with pp - it was much easier for me to nurse them than to make and wash bottles or for DH to bottle feed them together if I was away. We did give them "practice bottles" of pumped milk at least once a week so that they would take bottles, which was a nice way for DH to get to participate in feeding. Once they started sleeping consistently from 7-7, we started giving them dream feed bottles around 10, and I'd pump for that.

We gave some formula until my milk came in when they were three days old, and then after about five months when I wanted to stop pumping so much, we'd supplement their "dream feed" bottle with some formula. That was the right choice for my well being, and consequently theirs too.

Good luck!

JustcallmeGG2 · January 2013

personally i ended up exclusively pumping. my son would BF, but my daughter was having feeding issues so i had to pump anyway for her.

at first i had to supplement before my milk came in. Then, for a short while, i made enough to feed both.

Now they both drink 30+ ounces a day so i could never keep up with that.

(so like 60 ounces a day total) We supplement the night bottles.

PurrCrasher · January 2013

At different times in the last 5 months I have exclusively nursed (beginning), exclusively pumped (following a nasty infection) and I am currently nursing DS and pumping for DD (following a surgery after which DD decided nursing is not something she wants to do anymore). Having done all three I would take EBF over the other two any day. If I had any say in the matter the last thing I would choose to do would be to nurse one baby and pump for the other. It is super time consuming to do both. If both babies can nurse I would recommend planning on nursing them both. When they were still pretty little tandem nursing was fairly easy to do. However you decide to feed your babies just try to prepare yourself for how hard it can be. There can be a lot of issues before you really have it down but just keep telling yourself that it's not the end of the world. Your body and your babies will ultimately decide what works best and then you just have to do what you can. Also, after I got mastitis followed by thrush my supply dropped dramatically and I started having to supplement a little. I think currently they each get one bottle of formula on the average day.

That was very rambling. I hope that helped!

ETA: If you are concerned about having to supplement I would especially try to focus on having both babies nurse instead of pumping for one. Nursing babies are the very best thing for your supply. A pump is no substitute for a hungry baby in terms of communicating to your body how much milk to make.

raraavis28 · January 2013

I had every intention of EBFing before my LOs were born, but right after birth they had some weight gain issues -- basically BFing was just too tiring for them that they would end up expending more energy than they were taking in, esp. my little Baby B -- so in order to actually bring them home when we did, we had to forgo BFing for a few days and give high-calorie formula until their weights stabilized. During this time I also pumped and mixed the breastmilk w/ the formula powder and offered that as much as possible. So, I guess moral of the story there is, even if you plan for one thing you never know exactly what's going to happen (though, if your C/S is already scheduled, you probably won't have the preemie issues that I did so that can help...) Also, the hospital provided a pump for me with information about renting (though I already had both a manual and hospital-grade pump at home).

Since coming home, I have BFed, pumped, and supplemented with formula, and have come to the conclusion that there is no "perfect" feeding solution. I do love BFing for the snuggles, health reasons and convenience, though it can be extremely time-consuming and the breastmilk doesn't hold the babies as long so you can feel like all you do is nurse all day (I might feel a little differently when/if I completely master tandem nursing....right now some sessions are awesome and others are epic failures so it's always a little bit of a risk). Pumping is a pain in the butt (even though you can get a lot of Bump time in lol) but at least it gives you a little bit of freedom for others to feed LOs, you know you're still giving them breastmilk, and you can measure exactly how much they're getting. Formula is probably the least time-consuming in terms of set-up and feeding time (though there is the heating-up-bottles-while-babies-scream issue), anyone can give it to LOs, and it will fill up the babies and hold them longer (for this reason DH and I have been giving formula bottles for night feedings....I feel like it's cheating lol but it helps us get more sleep!!) but it is also the most expensive, and my LOs don't like it nearly as much as breastmilk.

Wow I didn't mean to write you a novel! But there is my experience/take on things.....basically every mom has to decide for herself what works best for her and her family, and don't be too surprised if your plans change or evolve over time. As long as your LOs are getting the nutrition they need you'll be doing great. GL and congrats on the upcoming birth of your babies!:)

Temp123197812503460 · January 2013

MuseumMaven:
Personally, I hated the pump and far preferred to just nurse both babies. I usually just nursed one and then the other, but did a fair amount of tandem nursing, too (nursing both babies at once). I never supplemented with formula, save for 48 hours when we had to take the boys off of breastmilk for a rare jaundice complication. I had no supply issues, which I think was due to 1) luck, 2)eating and drinking a ton, and 3) nursing on demand.
For me, part of the joy of breastfeeding was not having to prepare and wash bottles. Pumping and storing milk seemed like a huge extra step to me when I could just lift up my shirt and have a meal ready to go.
I would see if you can meet with your hospital LC now, before the craziness of two babies hits, so you can talk to her and get a plan put together. There are lots of ways to feed those babies, you just need to figure out what your goals are and what the best way to achieve them will be.

ditto this, i pumped a bit when they were older so i could go out for the occasional hour here and there, but in the end its so much more work than just nursing. if your goal is to EBF I would try to work towards tandem feeding and not pumping.

I wont lie, its hard work, and for the first few months you feel like all you ever do is nurse them. But it gets easier and at a year and a half I'm so happy I stuck with it, its been such a great experience for us in the long run, and its still an amazing source of comfort for them when they are sick or hurt.

I never had supply issues after my milk came in, and I also think the nursing on demand (which in the beginning was like basically all the time) played a huge role in that.

I would recommend you think about your goals for nursing now when all is calm and quiet. Do you want to EBF? Are you ok with supplementing? How will you feel if you nurse x months. Only you can answer these for whats right for your family.

jessican08 · January 2013

We do a little bit of everything - BF, FF and bottle feeding breast milk.

To me, tandem nursing is the easiest to do solo. Bottle feeding both babies simultaneously was so hard for me, especially when they were itty bitty and had no head or neck control. It's much easier now that they're a bit bigger but it can still be challenging at times if someone's not cooperating. I sit them in Boppies facing away from me and bottle feed them that way. When they're newborn, it'll probably be easiest for you to bottle feed both in their car seats or in something like a RnP.

This is just my opinion but I would think nursing one while bottle feeding the other and trying to pump one breast all at the same time is going to be very challenging.

On the weekends and in the evenings (when I'm not at work), I try to pump when I'm bottle feeding both of them so I can get it out of the way and then focus on holding and playing with the babies when we're done. Pumping, even hands free, really ties you down.

Here's our schedule now:

7:30am - tandem nurse

8:30am - I pump on my way to work after dropping them off at DC

10:30am - breast milk bottle at DC - I pump

1:30pm - formula bottle at DC - I pump

4:30pm - breast milk bottle at DC - I pump

7:30pm - formula bottle - I pump

10:30pm - dream feed/tandem nurse

3am - 5am - they wake to eat and I tandem nurse

I had two visits with a LC and they felt my supply was probably adequate for both babies but I didn't have an issue with supplementing with formula anyway. By doing this I was able to amass a really nice freezer stash of breast milk and I feel I'm keeping things flexible in case my supply suddenly drops or the babies are away from me for a time and have to have formula.

I was rotating who got formula and who got breast milk bottles but that got to be too confusing trying to remember or having to write it down so I just put them on the same schedule.

GL in whatever you decide to do! The LCs were a big help to me, especially in the beginning.

megs2011 · January 2013

My girls were born at 34w4d and were in the special care nursery for 4 weeks so they ate very little at first (less than 10ml). I pumped for that entire month and built up my supply. My girls were getting fortified BM and High Cal formula while in the hospital so I had time to build up my supply. Had I had them home right away, I would have probably BF and then pumped after. I tandum feed when I have help (ie during the night) and do one at a time during the day. My girls feed pretty quickly now (10mins) so I can do them separate and I'm not constantly feeding. For the 1st 2 months of their lives they were bottle fed because of needing to gain weight, now they are pro BFers and EBF for the most part. I HATE pumping and have been highly slacking on this.. I pump 1-2 times a day to keep up my freezer stash.

Jen0204 · January 2013

I wasn't successful with BFing but my friend had twins at 34 weeks and is still going strong (they're about 11 months now). From both of our experiences I think the biggest thing is to ask for help whenever you hit an obstacle or feel down. And also, the beginning is likely going to be extremely tough and that's normal. Both my friend and I had babies in the NICU who were little and didn't latch well so we were tied to a pump 24/7 for the first couple of months. Hers caught on to latching after a couple of weeks and she nursed every feeding, and then would pump, but after 6 or 8 weeks she was exclusively nursing and hasn't pumped since. Both of us met with LCs in the hospital and then a few times after coming home, and those appointments were helpful in terms of advice and morale.

I would also try tandem feeding. Nursing both would save time for the feeding and save time because (eventually) you won't have to pump. In the beginning it would probably be most beneficial to nurse each because the first few days you just have colostrum and babies are more effective at getting it out then the pump. What we did was I would nurse one, pass her to H for a bottle, then nurse the next, bottle feed her, then pump. In the beginning the process took 2 hours, but by the time we left the hospital it was down to 1-1.5 hours (including pumping for 20-40 minutes).

As I said, ultimately I wasn't successful. My body just never produced enough milk (I maxed out at 18 ounces and that was only one day). But I am glad that I tried and I'm glad that the girls got some breast milk for 12 weeks. From my experience I would say try the best you can, ask for help when you need it (not only from LCs, but the nurses in the hospital are awesome as well), and try not to stress about it and beat yourself up. I cried a lot about my "failure" but it wasn't a failure. I have two beautiful, healthy babies and did what I could for them in terms of BFing but just because I couldn't do more there doesn't mean I'm a bad mom and can't be there for them in other ways.

Good luck!

missypg · January 2013

My boys get both breastmilk and formula, and I tandem nurse whenever possible. Now that I'm back at work, I pump when I get up (DH gives to them when they wake up), they get 3-4 bottles of BM/formula during the day (while I pump 3x at work), and I nurse when I get home. I had planned to EBF, so I've learned that no matter what you plan to do, be prepared to be flexible!

JodiAriel · January 2013

For the first 3 weeks I dont think I got off the couch except to pee, I even ate my meals there nursing. Then it got better. My girls are 12 weeks old and EBF. I usually nurse one and then the other. I only tandem feed when they are both frantic at once because I don't like the way it makes me feel physically and it is a PITA to keep them both latched while tandem feeding. They get a bottle of pumped milk with a probiotic in it every night before bed so my husband can help me but aside from that they only get bottles when I am not around. I found it is just easier to nurse them both one after another then to try to bottle feed one while breastfeed. I pump twice a day, first thing in the AM before I feed them and at night after they have gone to bed. This allows me to have enough milk for their nightime bottles and put 6-8 oz in the freezer everyday so I have milk stored when I go out. The best thing for me was finding a breastfeeding support group. There is one at the hospital where I delivered that meets 3 x a week. I have been going at least once a week since they were 3 days old. In fact that is the first place I went alone with them since I knew there would be other people there to help me and who would understand if they were crying. HTH!

ColleenS629 · January 2013

I didn't read all the other posts but... yes you CAN do what you plan to do but IMHO, that would be hell. I had to do it for 2 weeks (one wouldn't BF) and I was losing my mind. At that point, I finally found an amazing LC that got them both on the breast and taught me how to tandem nurse. That totally saved my sanity. I went from spending 1.5 hours every 3 hours BFing/ pumping/ bottle feeding to about 30-45 minutes every 3 hours tandem nursing (which got shorter as they got better at it). My boys were EBF until they started solids at 6m and are still BF at 15 months, never any formula (not that formula is bad, it's just an accomplishment to me). Check out the book Mothering Multiples now before you give birth. There is a lot of great info.

flgator · January 2013

somewhereincali:
MuseumMaven:
Personally, I hated the pump and far preferred to just nurse both babies. I usually just nursed one and then the other, but did a fair amount of tandem nursing, too (nursing both babies at once). I never supplemented with formula, save for 48 hours when we had to take the boys off of breastmilk for a rare jaundice complication. I had no supply issues, which I think was due to 1) luck, 2)eating and drinking a ton, and 3) nursing on demand.
For me, part of the joy of breastfeeding was not having to prepare and wash bottles. Pumping and storing milk seemed like a huge extra step to me when I could just lift up my shirt and have a meal ready to go.
I would see if you can meet with your hospital LC now, before the craziness of two babies hits, so you can talk to her and get a plan put together. There are lots of ways to feed those babies, you just need to figure out what your goals are and what the best way to achieve them will be.

ditto this, i pumped a bit when they were older so i could go out for the occasional hour here and there, but in the end its so much more work than just nursing. if your goal is to EBF I would try to work towards tandem feeding and not pumping.
I wont lie, its hard work, and for the first few months you feel like all you ever do is nurse them. But it gets easier and at a year and a half I'm so happy I stuck with it, its been such a great experience for us in the long run, and its still an amazing source of comfort for them when they are sick or hurt.
I never had supply issues after my milk came in, and I also think the nursing on demand (which in the beginning was like basically all the time) played a huge role in that.
I would recommend you think about your goals for nursing now when all is calm and quiet. Do you want to EBF? Are you ok with supplementing? How will you feel if you nurse x months. Only you can answer these for whats right for your family.

agree. I EBF my 1st 2 singletons for 14 and 16 months and am currently EBF my 2 month old twins. I've never done formula, and I only tried pumping a few times with my 1st. I thought it was more work than just nursing so I never did it again. I always nurse on demand and have not had any supply issues. As mentioned above, I eat and drink a ton.

Nursing is hard and not that fun at the beginning with your first children (and I learned with just 1 child so can't imagine with 2); it's like a full time job. It hurt a lot at first too. But besides being best for the babies, it is rewarding and gets enjoyable. I talked to a mom with children older than me, and she said looking back, her favorite was the time she nursed her children. I set small goals about how long I would nurse with my first and just kept going. A bonus for nursing is that there is supposed to be something in the milk that makes them sleepy, and the poop doesn't stink, which I first appreciated when my oldest started eating food.

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