- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
October 2016 Moms
sjo_thetwins
member
All Things Breastfeeding
sjo_thetwins
member
Hey BTDT moms! I want to hear everything about breastfeeding. From what I have read on other BMBs, some new moms really struggle with the pump/feeding. I am going to try my damnedest to BF both babies, so I want to go into it with a positive attitude. So here are some starter questions and hopefully this thread can help other FTMs, too.
1) How often do you pump?
2) How much should you be pumping per sitting?
3) Is it often that a baby won't take a bottle AND a boob? SO wants to help feed the baby(ies) via bottle and give me some relief if she can, and if I have milk pumped. But it seems I have heard some won't take bottles as well as breasts.
4) Can you feel a change in milk supply in one boob signaling to use a different one? IE: draining one boob, etc.
5) How in the hell am I supposed to BF two babies if they are hungry at the same time? The thought of a schedule freaks me out because they may not also be hungry, and it's not typically the same as feeding just one baby where you can switch back and forth every feeding. I guess I just don't know how to fit in pumping, feeding both babies, and making sure that they are both getting enough PLUS making sure I'm using the right boobs at the right times.
Any help would be clearly appreciated.
1) How often do you pump?
2) How much should you be pumping per sitting?
3) Is it often that a baby won't take a bottle AND a boob? SO wants to help feed the baby(ies) via bottle and give me some relief if she can, and if I have milk pumped. But it seems I have heard some won't take bottles as well as breasts.
4) Can you feel a change in milk supply in one boob signaling to use a different one? IE: draining one boob, etc.
5) How in the hell am I supposed to BF two babies if they are hungry at the same time? The thought of a schedule freaks me out because they may not also be hungry, and it's not typically the same as feeding just one baby where you can switch back and forth every feeding. I guess I just don't know how to fit in pumping, feeding both babies, and making sure that they are both getting enough PLUS making sure I'm using the right boobs at the right times.
Any help would be clearly appreciated.
Re: All Things Breastfeeding
2- this number is so different for everyone and every feed. I could get 8 ounces or sometimes only 1 or 2. It just depended on the day, how soon I fed from that side etc.
3- again every baby is so different. My first would only take the boob, she was about 7-8 months before she would kinda gag a bottle down. My second took a bottle pretty good right away and it wasn't much of a problem at all. With both I just tried different bottles until I found one they liked. Neither kid liked the same bottle go figure.
4- in the beginning I would feel full and heavy and your boobs feel soft after your baby has eaten. It didn't take long for me to get used to either though.
5- my friend nursed twins for 14 months exclusively. She only fed them at the same time when they were small. Each twin was assigned one boob. After that she said they just learned they had to wait their turns. She used a twin nursing pillow and did the football holds on both babies. I don't know a ton about nursing twins, I just know it can be done.
Your milk works on a supply/demand basis, so the more often you are nursing and pumping, the more you are signaling your body to produce. I would probably wait to add pumping sessions until you have started to figure out actually just nursing, unless your dr or lc suggests otherwise. When pumping, basically expect a session to last 10-20 minutes. If you are trying to increase supply, you'll keep pumping for a few minutes after your milk stops flowing to signal your body to produce more. If you are overproducing, you may pump just to express an ounce or so before you BF (so your babies aren't choking when you let down).
You can definitely feel if your breasts are full, and one may feel fuller than the other. BUT, if you always use the fuller side first, you'll just encourage that issue to continue (you're telling that side it needs more than the other, since baby will eat more on the first side than the second). It is totally normal to have lop-sided boobs and an uneven supply. I don't know how tandem feeding will affect that, but everything I've read so far suggests switching which side each baby starts on every time, even though they may have a side preference. For example, my son preferred one side because it flowed a little slower, so he could stay on top of it better.
Sorry for the long response- hope it helps a little! We are in for a whacky time trying to figure out breastfeeding two babes at once.
2) That depends on your body and your body alone, nothing else can dictate the amount unfortunately. But as for a goal, try to shoot for a whole feeding worth, you'll likely be given a guide to how much babies need per feeding as they grow in the hospital. Don't beat yourself up if you don't always get as much as you aim for!
3) I never had an issue with nipple confusion with mine, or an LO rejecting one over the other, but since it CAN happen my only advice is offer a few times, see how it goes, if it seems problematic just offer whatever baby prefers for a while then try again later.
4) When pumping you'll know, you can see when you stop expressing from one and need to switch to the other. With LO feeding, just get used to their body language while feeding, and sometimes it does good to start out by timing one side and the other until you learn your rhythm. Mine looked smaller once drained as well.
5) One on each side maybe? Bottles when both are hungry, and breast when individuals are hungry? This I can't help much with unfortunately, but you'll figure it out and do great! Just whatever you do, be consistent because your boobs really do "learn" what you need, so keep telling them what you want and what the babies want consistently, and they'll most likely deliver!
Question: if my supply (and baby) will let me, I would really love to stock up on milk so that I can then freeze a bunch of it and, eventually, move to exclusively bottle feeding so I'm not BF and pumping for a year+. I want to be able to get back to a semi-normal life sooner rather than later and not have to worry about... okay, when can I pump during all of this activity. Anyway, my question is, for BTDT moms... is that possible/normal?... assuming that I produce really well and all that good stuff.
My question is about time. I have a friend who would take literally an hour and a half to BF her son. Now, her supply wasn't great. I was surprised she stuck with it as long as she did. If it's taking that much time when baby needs to be fed again in 1-2 hours, and you know your supply is ehhhh, is that when you just switch over to formula? Or is this something that you discuss with a lactation consultant and/or pediatrician??
BFing remains such a mystery to me even though I've been around plenty of people doing it.
DH: 34
Married: May 2011
TTC #1: May 2015
DS: 10/20/2016
TTC #2: June 2019
#2 EDD: 2/20/2020
Great thread! I wasn't super successful my first go-around with BF, but I did EP for 3 months so I can talk a bit about that.
As others have said, a lactation consultant is KEY to the process. The one at my hospital kind of sucked, so I think I definitely lacked support in that area. I did take a BF class beforehand which helped a lot. I would've been totally lost without it all. It's funny how much goes into it that you don't think about.
I was lucky in that my DD took to both the breast and bottle. So while I EP'd and we fed her through a bottle, I got recurrent clogged ducts (2-3 a week..which is ultimately why I quit pumping), she was very good at feeding on the boob when I needed her to clear the duct-thank goodness!
As others have said, continuing to pump every 2-3 hours is crucial to keeping your supply up. However, I've heard that you don't want to bf and pump unless you are trying to build up a freezer stash. Your body will adjust accordingly and make more milk (again, my mistake and why I ended up with so many clogged ducts).
Not sure if my post was helpful at all, but anything I can add from the pumping end, let me know.
@ibabyloveb87 the flow of your milk and the efficiency of your baby does change over time, as you both learn and adapt. It may be really slow and feel like you are just bfing all the time, but if you keep it up it does get easier and faster! Definitely check in with an lc if it seems like baby is taking too long, your supply isn't keeping up, or baby seems sleepy/lazy at the boob.
Does the baby just quit feeding and detach once it's full? Or do you control the amount given to it? Will it continue to feed or suck until it feels full?
Edit: spelling
My milk came in rather quickly even though I had a c-section and when it did, it was very plentiful and overwhelmed me. If I pumped and breastfed, they would fill up again so soon and I would be so uncomfortable. Your boobs produce on command so I had a little trouble figuring out how often to pump so that my body would make enough, but not overproduce. I know this isn't a problem with some moms, but I feel like overproduction is a difficult thing, too.
DD was always a good eater and wanted to nurse often so eventually, I didn't pump unless it was first thing in the morning or when I felt so full that I needed some relief. My body got the hang of it a few months in and my boobs stopped feeling so uncomfortably full. You can usually tell which breast needs to be emptied at the next feeding although I know some moms who would feed for ten minutes on one and then switch to the other. This didn't work for us as DD would only get foremilk and have startling bright green poop. I used an app to keep track so that really helped me at 2 in the morning when I was groggy and couldn't remember which boob to present.
One of the great parts of breastfeeding is that your baby will let you know when they're full. They will just pull off or drift off to sleep and fall away so you don't risk over feeding them.
I'm sorry I don't have a ton more advice about pumping or exclusively pumping. DD never took to a bottle and the handful of times she was away from us, every single babysitter said she would cry and scream until she was so tired and hungry that she would eventually take a bottle. I'm hoping our next baby will be more open to it as it absolutely made things more difficult. I did pump enough to have a freezer stash, but I only was able to use it a few times and when we started baby led weaning, I would use it in baby smoothies or chunky purées so I wouldn't waste what I did save.
Breastfeeding was a terrifying concept for me, too! I had such anxiety about it, but it really was one of the most fulfilling things for me as a FTM and I'm hoping I'll be able to repeat our experience with our second baby.
Oh, and I just wanted to add to definitely invest in some comfortable nursing bras or tops. I learned the very hard way that it matters...I wore a tight underwire nursing bra and had a clogged duct which brought me to tears. Those are NO joke.
Edited for typos
edited again: I found this very helpful article on Dr. Sears' website about nursing bras, but I'm not sure how to post the link? I'm sure googling will pull it up, though!
my boys so I really don't have a ton of advice. Both times, my biggest problem was my supply. It literally wasn't enough no matter how much I fed or pumped. I had to switch to formula with my second because he wasn't gaining enough weight from breast alone. Hopefully, you won't have any problems but a few things I wished I had known sooner...
1. Skin to skin contact is really important in the beginning and helps with your supply.
2. If it hurts, something is wrong. I never figured out what it was with my first and have the scars to prove it. Seriously. But with my second, the dr noticed he had a tongue tie and we had that clipped. Life was much better after that.
3. DRINK. ALL. THE. WATER. And don't forget to eat. You need it for a healthy supply.
My OB said she didn't really think that the BFing class was necessary at the hospital b/c the LCs at the hospital are great. However, after reading through this thread, I feel like I should either pay for the class or read a book? Recommendations/thoughts BTDT moms?
With that said, the LC at our hospital is ehhhh. But I think I've mentioned before that the PA at the pediatrician's office is also an LC so I'm going to depend on her for any additional help.
DH: 34
Married: May 2011
TTC #1: May 2015
DS: 10/20/2016
TTC #2: June 2019
#2 EDD: 2/20/2020
Weird thing that I didn't know about until it happened to me - women can have too much lipase in their milk which makes frozen milk unpalatable to some babies. You can fix this problem by scalding the milk before freezing it. However, I had no idea this was a thing, so I ended up throwing away a freezer-drawer full of frozen breast milk. (I didn't find out because I'm a stay-at-home mom and too freaked out about nipple confusion to let my son take a bottle until he was almost six months old. When I finally wanted to let someone else feed him, he wouldn't take it because it tasted off to him.)
If you guys want to know anything about EP'ing, hit me up. I (basically) EP'd for 13 months.
My best advice is to get all the info, and then don't be sad if things don't turn out the way you expect (hey: this works for birth plans, as well as the rest of parenting too).
Nipple confusion is a lie. Kellymom.com has the answer to at least 99% of your questions - including the ones about taking ___ medication while BF'ing (Lactmed is the definitive medication resource, other than your doctor/ped of course).
Unless you are suffering from oversupply and discomfort, don't spend the first 3 months of your child's life stressing about pumping between nursing sessions in order to get yourself a freezer supply. You WILL go insane, and you may give up altogether; your time is much better spent trying to enjoy your new LO (and maybe eat/sleep/shower once a week or so). Remember - they eat every 2 hours, and sometimes more - esp during the witching hour/cluster feeds. DS ate every 2 hours while awake for twelve friggin months.
Do your best, but know that formula is not defeat - if/when that day comes.
Fell in love: Dec 2005 // Married: Feb 9, 2013
Little Miss Rosalie Harper--Born Jan 9th, 2014
Fell in love: Dec 2005 // Married: Feb 9, 2013
Little Miss Rosalie Harper--Born Jan 9th, 2014
I'm A breastfeeding peer counselor and I'm more than happy to answer questions at any point, too.
There are several twins specific breastfeeding support pages on facebook, if you have one.
To sum it up, I had a love/hate relationship with it. I desperately tried to make it work, but it seemed like I ran into problem after problem and it was getting to me emotionally. So, ultimately, I gave it up at 5 months. But, I have a goal for 1 year this go round, and hoping for longer.
Set goals. Get there. Reevaluate. And set another one if you want to continue. Never give up on a bad day.
Growth spurts suck. You will feel like your baby/babies are eating 24/7. There's no such thing as over feeding when it comes to babies and breastfeeding. As they get older, they get more effiecent at suckling, and sometimes will do a whole feed in 5 minutes. That's nice!
I had a clogged duct that quickly turned into mastitis when DD was 2 weeks old. If you start to get a fever, chills with a clogged duct, call your doc ASAP and get some antibiotics. Mastitis is no fun.
If you can, get your baby check for lip and tongue ties at the hospital by an LC. My daughter had both, but it wasn't caught until we called an LC to our house when she was 3 months old. She couldn't latch properly, which caused her to suck in a bunch of air whenever she nursed. Needless to say, I always had a very unhappy newborn. We weren't able to get it corrected until she was 6 months old. There is only 1 pediatric dentist within 2 hours of us that will laser both (a lot of doctors/ dentist refuse to android not think it is beneficial to get corrected. VERY WRONG). Right after she got both corrected, her latch was perfect and it was like we had a brand new, happy baby.
I did get cracked, very chapped nips at the beginning. It hurt like hell. Make sure you use some kind of safe cream (lanolin or coconut oil) A LOT at first.
I had major oversupply issues. I made the mistake of pumping at 5 weeks. It takes about 12 weeks for your supply to regulate, so if you don't HAVE to pump before that, I wouldn't. And once my LO started getting a bottle (because I wanted a damn break) she absolutely refused to nurse for 4 weeks. So I had to EP those entire 4 weeks.
Whenever you come to a problem, or something that doesn't feel right, just ask the board
Fell in love: Dec 2005 // Married: Feb 9, 2013
Little Miss Rosalie Harper--Born Jan 9th, 2014
1- if you couldn't get the ties fixed until 6months, why have them check in the hospital? Or were you unable to get it fixed sooner bc you waited? (ETA- not saying that in a judgy way. Purely curious and want info so I know for when it matters for me in a few months)
2- do you think the clogged duct was bc of overproduction? How do you prevent those, or can you?
I love PEPS! I joined a newborn group and I did baby peppers and am close with bith groups still (DS is almost 3). I'm thinking of doing the 2nd time around group, too.
Clogs can and can't be prevented, it just depends on what's causing it. Frequent removal of milk from the breast can help prevent them, but if you have an oversupply and can't remove the milk fast enough, or if babe has a lip/tongue tie and can't efficiency remove milk from the breast then those issues need to be addressed in order to try and prevent future clogs.