Feeding Newborn Twins

I'm 31 weeks and I'm most nervous about feeding the babies once they are here. I'd like to breastfeed but I think I will also need help with feeding. I just wanted to know if anyone has just solely pumped your breastmilk and just did the feedings from bottles only and this way others can help too. Any advice would be appreciated as I'm going to be a new mom and of course our first babies are twins.

 

Congrats on your twins! My boys are 3 months old today and I have been exclusively pumping for them for the whole 3 months! We had issues in the beginning with latching, etc...and other things, so b/fing just didn't work for me. I will say-3 months into pumping...I am tired of it. My peace and quiet moments are spent pumping. And it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE for me to pump every 2-3 hours. That said-I still am able to get most of what they need in a days pumping...My boys get formula at night time-if they wake up in the middle of the night-so I don't have to mess around with heating a bottle. So on average they get 4-8oz of formula/day. And if we go somewhere..it's formula.

That said-it's definitely possible to pump for twins....and definitely possible to b/f twins. There are many ppl on here who have done it. And you could always pump so you could get help with the feedings too. I will say I like that aspect, as well as leaving the house for extended periods of time. But-pumping is not for everyone...Just like b/fing isn't for everyone. But like I tell myself, at least I gave it a try!

Good luck and you will find loads of help on here! You might want to go to the breastfeeding forum-you may get more replies...

 

Yes, please come on over to the breastfeeding forum! You'll find lots of people there who are pumping and/or breastfeeding with all kinds of great advice for success. I know I wouldn't have been able to make it past 3 months without the wonderful women there.

It is nice to have help with feeding in the beginning, and as PP noted, there are lots of situations where you might need to pump and offer a bottle, but it's totally doable to nurse them by yourself, too. I had a hard time learning how to tandem feed them at first - it just took a lot of work to get them latched and keep them on - so there was a fair amount of screaming. It would have been nice just to have someone to hold and distract the other baby, honestly.

Give some consideration to trying JUST to breastfeed for the first couple of weeks. It takes some work for babies to learn how to eat, and if they learn how to eat from a bottle first, they may have trouble learning to nurse (it's just so much easier to get milk out of a bottle). Then, if you find that you don't like pumping or can't pump enough (I have this problem - I make plenty of milk but can't get it out with the pump), you're kind of stuck. My guys never had trouble nursing, even though they got a few supplemental bottles a day for the first several weeks. But I put them to the breast first at every feeding but one.

But tell us more about what you're concerned about and what you want to do...

 

Hi. I solely pump for my boys and only have to give them one formula feeding a day. So yes! It is possible!

My story:

My boys were born at 30 weeks and spent 8 weeks in the NICU. This gave me tons of time to pump and build up my supply. I did try nursing them and would nurse them for about 2 feeds per day in the hospital and then nursed them exclusively when they came home. After about 3 weeks of nursing them, I decided to try pumping and giving them bottles. It has been a lifesaver for me. Both my boys would take at least 30 minutes to nurse so in the beginning, I would just finish changing / feeding / burping / settling the second one and it would be time to start all over again. Since my boys were used to bottles due to being in the hospital, I switched to bottles and would feed them at the same time, propped up in boppy pillows. Now that they are quicker with the bottle, I just feed them one at a time so that I get that quality time with them. Also, I was lucky since I have so much milk in the freezer so I can use that a bit too when I can't pump enough.

Since my supply was so well established, I actually only pump 3 times a day at the moment - 8 am, 2 pm and 9pm. I am hoping to up that to 4 times a day though and have ordered some fenugreek and mother's tea to try and increase my supply so that once my freezer stash runs out I will have enough milk so that we can stay with only one formula feeding.

I think pumping and giving bottles is a great solution particularly if you have other people around to help bottle feed them.

Please PM me if you have any more questions.

Cary

 

I did it until they were about2.5 months. It's TOUGHT I'm not going to lie b/c unlike mom's who breastfeed only or bottle feed only you're literally feeding them twice at every feeding b/c I would feed them which would take 30-60 minutes and then pump for 20 minutes so each feeding took an hour and when they're eating every 2.5 to 3 hours you end up with very little time that you're NOT feeding or pumping.

That being said it was doable for those first few months and I'm glad that I gave my babies as much BM as I could but after 2.5-3 months I just couldn't do it any longer but I know many people who exclusively pumped and bottle fed until 5 or 6 months old so it's DEF possible!

Good luck

 

Thank you - it sure helps to have the support of other mothers of twins. I guess one of my fears is how do you know if they are getting enough from breastfeeding? At least if you pump and it's in a bottle, you can see how much they are getting. And, of course the help from others will be nice.

I'm not nervous about anything else but this.

 

Please visit the bfing forum, you will find tons of women with a variety of experiences!!!

And I totally get what you are saying about not being able to "see" how much they are getting with bfing. It is a mind game that is for sure. But what is really reassuring is that many women have done it for hundreds of years so you know it can work!!!

IMO it is much easier to put a baby to your boob than have to pump, feed, clean. And it is much harder to be discreet about pumping in public than bfing in public.

You can always pump for a feed if you want help, plus there will be PLENTY of other things for people to help with, trust me

 

Hi there, and definitely come over to the BFing forum! The women there are awesome & know everything, and there's a link at the top to lots and lots of success stories (ie proof that it can be done! ).

QUOTE
Thank you - it sure helps to have the support of other mothers of twins. I guess one of my fears is how do you know if they are getting enough from breastfeeding? At least if you pump and it's in a bottle, you can see how much they are getting. And, of course the help from others will be nice.

I'm not nervous about anything else but this.


I totally understand about not being able to see how much they're getting. But it's actually not hard to tell if they're getting enough. If they make enough wet and poopy diapers and are gaining weight well, then everything's fine. It's not quite like being able to see how many ounces they take from a bottle, but it's just a matter of letting go of needing to know exactly how much and trusting the other signs. With twins, everything is a blur in the beginning, so it's a good idea to keep a little checklist of diapers - that way, when it's the end of the day and you're ready to drop dead and you're panicking that the babies aren't getting enough, you can look back and see a dozen pees and half a dozen poops per baby and set your mind at ease.

Agree with pps - there is a learning curve with BFing in the beginning, but it is still SO much easier than pumping and giving bottles! If you're exclusively pumping, that means spending about 30 min sitting and pumping every 2-3 hrs during the day, and at least once during the night. And then you have to wash up your pumping stuff, prepare bottles, feed babies, and clean up the bottles afterward. If you're BFing, you just open your bra! Also, even the best bottles give babies way more gas than BFing, which is another inconvenience.

And BFing is not all or nothing. It's a good idea to give some bottles so that the babies will not reject them, so that you can have someone take over a feeding now and then so you can sleep or get a break. But it's much easier to pump for the occasional bottle than to commit to exclusive pumping.

Also, there are women who pump exclusively for twins with great success, but you're actually more likely to have supply problems pumping than BFing. That's because BFing is all supply and demand. The more milk is removed from your breasts, the more milk you make. And even the best pump can't remove nearly as much as a baby, so that tells your body to make less. Some women find that they can't keep up with their babies' needs in the long run pumping. But if you're BFing, your supply will keep up with the babies.

As far as help from other people goes, I'd let them take over everything but the feeding (except when you need a break). Here are a number of jobs you can (=should!!!) delegate:

-burping and changing babies
-soothing fussy babies
-doing your grocery shopping and other errands
-bringing you meals
-cleaning your house, doing the laundry, taking out the trash

It will be WAY easier to BF and have people do chores like this than pump and have people give bottles!

Good luck! I hope you have an easy delivery, and good luck BFing! It is AWESOME that you're considering giving your babies this wonderful gift.