Can I schedule with twins?

I am pretty much breast feeding stupid at this point. I tried to BF my DD, but it all went wrong, and it didn't last for more than a month. I am a few weeks away from having my twins, and I really really want to BF. I am learning about scheduled feedings and on demand feeding. Most of what I have read says with twins you can't do scheduled feeding. Is this true? Does anyone have any experience with this that can pass some advise my way?

Thanks so much!!!

 

I did nurse/feed mine on a schedule b/c when they came home from the NICU they were already on a 3 hour schedule. When I switched from pumping to nursing exclusively I attempted to nurse them no more than every 2-3 hours and I fed one and then the other or tandem nursed them. At night I would nurse one and then wake the other so that they were on the same "schedule" for feedings. HTH Feel free to ask questions anytime!

 

Feeding on demand is one of the best things you can do for your babies! (Best for singletons, best for twins too. ) It takes about 90-120 min to digest breastmilk, their stomachs are tiny, and they are in the process of doubling their body weight - believe me, they need to eat whenever they're hungry! It is also the best thing you can do to build up a good milk supply.

QUOTE
Physiologically speaking, breastmilk is digested in less than two hours, so your baby will probably be hungry again within a couple of hours even if she has consumed a large quantity of your milk. Spacing out the feeds when she is hungry will only serve to frustrate both of you, and possibly reduce your milk supply and compromise her health.

Watching your baby, rather than the clock, allows her to control her feeds. She knows best when she is hungry. (Remember, that on some days, you are hungry at times other than at scheduled mealtimes!) If you arbitrarily decide when your baby should eat, you are teaching her to ignore her body's signals. It is my opinion that this could be dangerous in the long run.


(From this article)

QUOTE
How many times did you eat or drink something today? Coffee break? Water fountain? Gum? Snack? TV nibblies? Most adults have an urge to eat about every 90 minutes while they're awake!

Why do you eat or drink? Hunger? Thirst? Comfort? For social reasons? Just because?

Are you trying to gain weight? If you had to double your weight in 6 months, how would you do it? Would you drink water? Chew sugarless gum between meals? Eat large meals at long intervals? Or would you do lots and lots of snacking, day and night?

When it comes to food, babies are people, too. They're people plus, because they are trying to double their weight in about half a year, with a stomach that starts out no bigger than a golf ball. Of course they eat and eat and eat, especially in the early weeks.


(From this article)

Here's another too. Also, Kellymom is a fabulous BFing resource.

It is by far the kindest and most humane thing you can do to feed the babies on demand. And IMO it is actually much EASIER than trying to schedule their feedings! If you try to keep a schedule, you'll probably spend half your time trying to keep the babies from screaming while waiting to eat anyway...MUCH easier to just feed them and have happy babies.

These were my real lifesavers with twins:

-When one baby is hungry, feed both, or feed one right after the other, even if it means waking a sleeping baby - that way you will have SOME time during the day when you're not feeding babies!
-Put down to sleep at the same time.

Good luck! And big thumbs up for you to planning to BF your twins! You can do it! :clapping: Stop by anytime with q's...

 

I agree, to keep your supply up and to satisfy your babies, nursing on demand is the best. the babies put themselves on somewhat of a schedule at 8 weeks when *I* started understanding their cries!
The previous post is excellent. No one here is going to tell you it is easy those first couple months. You will often feel you always have a baby attached to you. It gets easier though. It gets easier and is always so rewarding knowing that you (and you alone) are giving the babies nourishment enough to grow and fight off virus'. :hug99: I commend you for trying to get prepared (by asking questions) before your babies arrive! :bow2:

 

You have to feed on demand for any baby, twin or not. However, you can develop a routine. For the first 6-8 weeks was feeding every 1.5-2 hours. After they gained a little weight they consistently went 2 hours and now we are on a 2.5 hour routine and sleeping 7 hours a night (11 hours the past two!). I believe in routines for the mom's sanity and the babies can learn to predict what's next. We do eat, play, sleep routine here. We have had a couple of growth spurts and a minor cold and those times I'm nursing a bunch. Also, before 10 weeks they were cluster feeding all evening long.

I will say that I think you should meet with a lactation consultant several times in the first few weeks. Breast feeding twins is way harder than I imagined. In the beginning I was really irritated that nobody told me how difficult it would be BUT, now it is way easier than bottle feeding. It's totally worth the work that it takes to get it down but you need to commit to 6-12 weeks. Just tell yourself you will not quit until you've given it a solid 6 weeks or 12 if you are comfortable with that. Once you make it through that time you will be home free!

Great choice to breast feed - it is so amazing for your babies. Especially, winter born babies who are so prone to sickness.

 

I will second the recommendation that you talk to a lactation consultant a couple of times at least. As other people have pointed out here, their fees can be a little steep, but they're cheap compared to the cost of formula-feeding twins! Before the guys arrived, we met with one to discuss how to manage the first week or so (hospital lactation consultants were ok but I would have been lost if I'd relied on them), and then afterward, I found it so helpful to have someone come and help me get my sleep-deprived brain around what was going on. As PP said, it is hard at first. Really really hard. And really really worth it.

 

I scheduled my babies from day one.. just like I did with my older son. I ALSO fed them off scedule if they were hungry. I mainly tried to make sure they were eating full meals and not snacking. I had a 18 month old to care for when the babies were born so I needed as much normalcy as I could get. I never had a supply issue!

 

The whole schedule/routine thing happens a little later on down the road. For us now at 8 months I can pretty well be sure my babies will eat every three hours---but in the beginning they ate all the time! Honestly, every hour or so for the first month or two. Their stomachs are just so tiny they can't take much in at a time. So, just be prepared to feed them a ton in the beginning but know that it spreads out as the months go on. I had a hard time BF'ing my first baby too---but it's totally different this time around. You can do it! Can't wait to hear about your little ones!

Reyna