Meal plan for breastfeeding twins

MrsP419 · August 2014

Hello!

I am looking for some breastfeeding advice. I have been basically exclusively breastfeeding my twins for almost 12 weeks now. Occasionally we would do a bottle in the middle of the night to give my nips a break when I had thrush, or I would give a bottle if we were out every once in a while, but for the most part, we are still nursing. They are eating about 8-9 times a day for about 10-20 minutes at a time, and seem mostly content.

With that said, they have been giving me some signs here and there that they may not be getting enough. They have sufficient diapers and weight gain, so I am not worried about failure to thrive or anything, but they have been going through what I think are growth spurts where they nurse for a while and want to keep eating after they can't get much more out, or eating every hour and half and then being hungry not long after. Sometimes I give them a bottle after a feed when I am really desperate, and that seems to help. I am not against supplementing, but I want to boost my supply. A fellow twin mom friend thinks that I am not eating enough, and I read you should be eating an extra 1000 calories a day when exclusively breast-feeding twins, but I don't know what that looks like. I have two other young kids at home, so I don't have a lot of time and ability to prepare lots of high calorie meals, so I need quick options. I am also hungry ALL the time. What did you all eat when nursing young twins?

SV917 · August 2014

I eat a ton. I eat two breakfasts (a bowl of oatmeal, a smoothie, cereal, or coconut milk yogurt with granola & berries). I eat leftovers or a veggie burger for lunch. Dinner is usually rice, quinoa or pasta with tofu, beans, or seitan and veggies. Veggie burgers, tacos, pizza are all fast options, too. I eat more than a serving size. I also have snacks- granola bars, peanut butter and crackers, trail mix, popcorn, cereal, hummus & pita chips. I eat something at almost every feed/pump (but I'm down to 5-6 times/day at 10 months).

carrotcake06 · August 2014

OMG I was hungry all the time. I ate all the things.

In all seriousness, I would try to eat high protein/low fat, and good fats. Calorie dense foods. I ate a lot of eggs - dippy eggs w buttered bread, hard boiled eggs as a snack, egg salad. I'm not much for meat, so I ate a lot of eggs and beans.

And oatmeal. Lots of oatmeal.

And then good fats like avocado and nuts. Lots of peanut butter and jelly. And trail mix! I would keep it at my desk in the afternoon - nuts, dried fruit and m&ms.

Greek yogurt is good too. And sometimes I just wanted a steak (which goes against my limit want for meat, but whatever).

Make sure you're drinking enough water.

My twins are 14mo and they lost interest quickly after a year. It took a few weeks for my appetite to subside, but it's back to normal now.

auntjessy · August 2014

I dropped BF after 3 1/2 months after several issues, won't go into them here, but from what I've read and understand, babies go through those periods naturally as a way to boost your supply.

4legsRbest · August 2014

I don't think your caloric intake is affecting your supply. You would have to have a super cruddy diet and be underweight for that to be the case, IMO. Any bottle you give them will go against your supply. There are true growth spurts where you just need to nurse nurse nurse and cluster feed when necessary. I ebf'd my singleton and do remember being hungry all the time, but the only thing that helped my crappy supply was medicine but I know a lot of women who have success from boosters like brewers yeast, whole oats, fenugreek and the like. GL! Maybe a visit to an LC is in order?

rachelkongsore@hotmail.com · August 2014

I agree with person above me. Growth spurts are totally normal and sometimes it will feel like all you do is nurse and nurse!! That is the best thing you can do for your supply. I did use fenugreek and mothers milk tea but never really had supply issues. Eating more healthy fats can help thicken up your milk (per my LC). Stick with it!!

PinkinProvence · August 2014

I just ate anything and everything when I was hungry, which was all the time. Basically, I always had granola bars and cookies and string cheese on hand, along with all the regular meals, etc.

I have heard oatmeal and lactation cookies boost supply but I don't have personal experience.

basil2 · August 2014

I agree with the others- if they're hungry the best thing to do is nurse more!
Also I think sometimes babies fuss at the breast for non-hunger reasons- they're tired, gassy whatever - it can feel like they aren't getting enough when in reality the issue isn't hunger.
If you're always hungry, you probably need to eat more. I had some hungry stretches when I was pregnant- smoothies with fruit, full fat yogurt, peanut butter and a little maple syrup were one thing I'd make to add calories. I munch on nuts a lot at work.

MrsP419 · August 2014

Thank you so much for all the advice! It is really helpful. I EBF'd my two singletons so I definitely have been through the growth spurt thing; everything just feels different with twins. I think with having to pay attention to so many kids, I am not as keen in my ability to tell if they are actually hungry, or if they are doing like PP said and just fussing at the breast a lot. It would seem that way since sometimes I think they are hungry, and then they eat a little bit but not very much and fall asleep. I really am trying to nurse through it as best as I can, and we are about every 1.5-2 hours during the day. It is just logistically hard with two other fully dependent kids to be nursing nonstop. Not to complain- I am just still trying to figure out how this all works!! I thought the twins would possibly be ever 3 hours by now

. I am looking forward to trying your snack and food suggestions; I definitely was not eating the right foods sometimes.

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