Breastfeeding

dmurrie · January 2014

Has anyone been successful breastfeeding twins after failing with a singleton? It was partly my supply, partly poor latch, partly poor appetite. I know several people who were successful with their second singleton, so I wanted to try again, but now with twins on the way... I'd still like to try, but I'm not feeling as confident in my chances of making it work.

TheDairyQueenx3 · January 2014

It is MUCH eaiser for me. Nursing my twins is by far easier than it was with my singleton. We struggles with a few issues but kept going until he self weened. My twins I have leaned from my previous mistakes and so far it's going super well. We feed on demand and have around 200 oz in the deep freeze! Kellymom.com saved us. I was super under educated and had no support ( I was the first to breast feed ever in my family and his so it was not accepted) this time around I actually knew what I was doing and basically told the to shove it and just worry about me and my kids lol. when they were in the NICU I just was so determined. It did take a while for my milk to come in and it was a struggle but now almost ten weeks in we have really got the hang of things. I had very little appetite postpartum with all my kids and this time I got over that quicker than my first. Lactation cookies helped a ton too. But kellymom.com is a very good resource! The breastfeeding board is great support and lots of knowledge too once babies arrive!

dmurrie · January 2014

Thanks! I'm trying to figure out if I should prepare to nurse or get all the formula stuff. Our local consignment shop had a twin breastfriend nursing pillow that I stopped and stared at for a little while today, but I just didn't know what to do. I'm the first in my family to breastfeed. My MIL nursed but she wasn't much help and seemed to want to use it as an excuse to merely preach about how great she did and how terrible pumps were back then and how lucky I had it now.

DD and I had issues which ended with me (per my LC's directions) trying to nurse for about a half hour then pumping and bottle feeding DD. This lasted about 7 months before DD made it clear that she wanted to play instead of being forced to nurse, I was having on average 1-2 breakdowns a day, and DH said he simply wouldn't allow us to continue on that way. She continues to have feeding and appetite issues as a toddler, though, so I don't know how much was me and how much was her. Despite our best efforts, pediasure, and an ubgodly amount if oil and butter, she weighed in at just under 20 lbs at her 2 year check-up. After seeing a GI doctor and being started on an appetite stimulant, and she gained 10 lbs in the last year. It's amazing to finally see her eat!

Sorry to blab on. I'm glad someone else had success with twins after a rocky start. It makes me think I still have hope. I didn't see kellymom last time. I'll have to check it out! I haven't tried the lactation cookies. Last time, it was fenugreek and mothers milk tea they told me to try. Where do you buy the lactation cookies?

JessaPrimate · January 2014

This is my fear too although thankfully I have family support. I'm going to go easier on myself this time. I had some pretty mean thoughts about myself when my supply sucked. I made it to 10 months pumping and supplementing with formula.

JodiAriel · January 2014

I didn't have a singleton but I was able to nurse for 14 mos and counting including a significant supply drop that required domperidone to bring it back. The most important thing I did was find a good lactation consultant and join a breastfeeding support group. In the beginning I went 2 x a week because I knew there was someone there to help me with the babies and I kept going most weeks until the girls were a year old. Just being around other people going through the same thing made such a huge difference for me.

TheDairyQueenx3 · January 2014

You make the cookies! I have a ton of different recipes I have came up with on my own as well as finding some in google. I have the my Brest friend twin pillow ( I'm currently wearing nursing my two guys

!) it's comfortable I put it on in bed and nurse away! Otherwise I use a boppy and two blankets in my lazy boy. I'm not going to lie even at almost 10 weeks I'm still nursing every 45 mins to 2 hours and pump twice a day (for freezer supply) so it's a lot more time consuming more than I expected. But I was so worried that I wasn't making enough so I had a nurse from the health department come out and do weighted feeds it out me to ease a lot. The obsticals are hard to over come but remember each baby is different with feeding length, suck strength, interest, etc. only way to find out is to try! And I have learned it's super rare for a twin mom to nurse so you will find tons and tons of support! Everywhere we go especially if I nurse in publc I have moms give me the "way to go" just ask lots if questions when ever you need!

TheDairyQueenx3 · January 2014

Once babie are here if you do choose BF seriously ask every any any question on the BF board. I felt like a total dummy when they had answers for me and I was like "well this explains a LOT why last time didn't work!!" This time would of been the same story but I learned a lot and now all those issues are no longer the case

dmurrie · January 2014

JodiAriel, our singleton was small enough we did our own weighed feeds with our food scale. Is was both ridiculous but helpful at the same time. That's partly how we knew all was not well. At our in person visit with the LC, she said everything looked awesome! And then she weighed DD. It was so frustrating, partly because she walked out on us just as DD started nursing funky. I think I'm going to ask for the other LC at our hospital next time.

Melissalynay90, if I get to bake, too, that makes it even better! There's a mom at our church who had twins last summer and exclusively nursed, so she'd probably be able to help me out, too. Maybe I'll just go back and pick up that nursing pillow...

jennyshawn0808 · January 2014

I had a very low supply with DS1 & had to use a shield because of some latching problems. It was hard but we stuck it out until he self weaned at 10 months. It has been SO MUCH easier this time. I have a good stash in the freezer & no signs of slowing down. It did take longer for my milk to come in with the babies & they did use shields for a couple months.

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