is breastfeeding twins really that uncommon?

A little background for my question... We took a birth preparation class just for people having multiples while I was pregnant. And since then they have asked us to come back and be guests on their discussion panel a few times - where they have experienced twin parents come talk to the class (which was a great part of the class that we took, so we are happy to do it for others). We have done this twice now. We also just had the reunion with our class.

So between these two panels, and our reunion, we've interacted with probably about 20 families with twins. And of those 20 - we are the only ones still exclusively breastfeeding after only 4 months. Almost every one of them said that they tried for a while but just weren't able to make enough milk to feed twins. Also in the classes when we were on the panel - they had a doula there the same day. And both times the doula made sure to emphasize to the class that my experience was not normal, that it is very rare to be able to make enough milk for twins. The instructor in the class also agreed with this, and said that I was very lucky to have such a good milk supply.

I know I'm lucky - I haven't struggled as much as many others, and I certainly don't take it for granted. And I don't want to stir up trouble. But I'm just curious. Is it really that common to not be able to make enough milk? I don't want to be judgemental - but I couldn't help but wonder if these people really couldn't make enough milk? or if it's just that they quit when the going got tough? We all know it's not easy, but it's surpising to me to find so many people who think it's not possible.

I'd be curious to know what the percentage is of BFing vs. formula vs. mix. Has anyone ever done a poll on the first year board?

 

QUOTE
Is it really that common to not be able to make enough milk? I don't want to be judgemental - but I couldn't help but wonder if these people really couldn't make enough milk? or if it's just that they quit when the going got tough? We all know it's not easy, but it's surpising to me to find so many people who think it's not possible.


It is really UNCOMMON to be unable to make enough milk.

Yikes, will there be no end of people giving out misinformation about BFing??? Even a doula, I am SO disappointed. <_<

 

4months here for me.. and i have to take fenugreek, drink approx 4 1/2 GAllons of water.. and i still dont make enough per session to feed both boys. i have to use back up milk to make it equivelent to feed em. (i'm a pumper)

 

I defintitely got that feeling from the medical world when I was prego and after the birth of my twins. I think the docs are trying to make sure the mom won't feel guilty if it doesn't work out, but it seems to inadvertantly put lots of doubt in the mom's mind. I think that can have such a negative effect on the success of nursing. I remember with the class I took before my singleton (all the mom's were preg with singletons) the LC mentioned the biggest predictor of not continuing with BF was the attitude that - I can always give formula - that and lack of support from SO.
My pedi tells me at every visit "don't feel bad, you will need to give formula, you just won't be able to keep up" (I work 4 days per week) - I love my pedi & I know her intentions are good, but it does make me feel like it is rare to nurse twins.

This site really helped boost my confidence that they are lots of moms out there having great success (after much work in the early months )

 

I, too, am a great milk maker ... My girls have not had formula since they were 4 weeks old ... we had to supplement with the high cal stuff at first ... preemies

It has not been without difficulty ... BF'ing preemies, BF'ing NICU Grad, two babies that are tongue tied ... yada yada ... but the difficulty has never had anything to do with supply.

I have to wonder, too, if the "not having supply" was just the "excuse" to stop BF'ing ... I am a big BF supporter ... but I would hate to think that if anyone just couldn't handle it or just didn't like it ... that they would feel like a bad Mom going to bottle feeding formula and feel like they had to "make up" a legitimate reason to stop. To each her own!

I was shocked at the overwhelming LACK of support for BF'ing twins when I was "new on the scene" =) My Ped is a first time Mom who is BF'ing her 10 month old and still let me know in no uncertain terms that it was OK to not BF them ... She supported me ... but it seemed that she worried it would be too much for me to handle.

We all showed them, eh?!

 

I make 30-40% more than my two need by exclusively pumping. Having said that, the LC's in the hospital were mortified that I was planning on ebf'ing my twins :huh: . They were trying to talk me out of it and were acting like they would starve b/c I was unable to get them to latch. Uh...I was supplementing until my milk came in with no one telling me to do it. I was REALLY SURPRISED at the attitude I was getting. It seems that many people in the medical community seem to share this. Even my pedi was trying to convince me that I didn't *have* to bf or pump. He finally backed off. He's lucky there was another reason I picked him to be their doctor! I really hope with the increasing amount of twins born that more medical professionals will be educated on bf'ing multiples. Btw, I also noticed in my multiples clubs (I belong to two) that most did not bf, but ff.

 

Quite honestly, I do think it is uncommon to EXCLUSIVELY bf twins. I don't think it's a case of being physically unable...technically I think almost anyone could produce enough milk...however, some women do have to work harder at it than others. I have to work much harder than the average woman to produce enough for just one baby. It literally takes me 3 weeks to get up to 24 oz of milk production...4 weeks until I'm not literally nursing every other hour for an entire hour. (the first 2 weeks I literally nurse almost 24-7 with maybe 20 minute breaks here and there.) My issue has been genuine, not imagined...I have a baby scale at home to measure how much my baby gets each feeding...so I'm not imagining this...nor is it an issue of pumping not being as effective as a bfing baby. So could I produce enough for twins??? well, I guess after about 8 weeks of nursing every other hour for an hour I probably could. But is that workable for me?? is it healthy for me?? probably not...that's at least 2 whole months of sitting on my butt day in and day out 24-7.... mentally it's just not worth it. And I'm almost obsessive over making bf work to some capacity at all. Every woman has a different metabolism...and for some women it really does take a lot more effort than others. I genuinely believe that. I think, considering the challenge, it's important to let future mother's of twins who hope to bf know what they are up against. So they can decide for themselves if it's worth it. Then if they really want to ebf they can go in armed with information, having what they need to really give it a good, solid try. But then again, i'm coming from the perspective of my experience with my first dd. I went into her birth believing what the au-naturals told me...that my body would work.... that bf was natural... that milk production was simply a matter of relaxing and letting your baby do the work. Well... day three when my dd was up all night long... with completely dry diapers, not pooping at all...no longer wanting to nurse...realizing that I felt absolutely no sign of let-down...no leaking...no feeling of milk coming in.... my mom finally clued me into the fact that my dd was HUNGRY. I gave her formula, and I'm glad I did. Looking back on her pictures from those days are really painful to me. She clearly looked dehydrated by day three. And if I hadn't had a mother with some common sense (and my mom was an au-natural mom...she bf all her kids...did natural childbirth) my baby would've been back in the hospital for dehydration. My milk finally came in on day 7. But b/c bf came "naturally" to my own mother...and b/c no one clued me in that it could be a struggle to get milk production up, I thought I was just defective and nothing would really help. Every lactation consultant I spoke to simply said that her latch was fine and so everything was okey dokey. No lactation consultant out there wanted to talk about possible milk supply problems. It was like it was totally denied as a possible problem. So therefore I couldn't get any answers from them on how to increase milk supply. (Well they did give me an SNS which was horrible to try to use...and only resulted in my dd not sucking properly b/c the formula just flowed into her mouth.) So I'd rather have people talking about milk supply being an issue, then looking for ways to resolve it...than simply saying that any mother can produce enough for twins. does that make sense??

 

I think bfing is hard and they should tell ALL expectant moms that. That you most likely WILL be bfing around the clock for several weeks, that you need to bf on demand to get the supply you need, you should not supplement until there is a proven reason to do so, you will be tired, etc, etc.
That bfing is a mind game, not knowing how much they are getting (especially for NICU moms) can be very disconcerting. Having confidence in the fact that for centuries when have been able to feed thier babies.

Just knowing the facts, the FACTS, would help so many moms, not just twin moms. They wouldn't feel like they are failing when they face struggles, that it is natural process you have to work thru.

I am sooooo appreciative to myself for having done a TON of research, so when my two wouldn't latch, when dd got hospitalized for jaundice, when I had horrible ppd, when I got stuck in the supplementing game, etc that I knew it COULD be done.

 

I do think that there ARE women who have issues with low supply. I also think that medical professionals in general are not well educated when it comes to BF and alot of women suffer b/c of that. I don't blame/criticize anyone for not sticking with it if they haven't been given good information about BF, especially BF twins. I had an AMAZING LC at my disposal who is now a friend of mine and I am confident I would have been lost without her! I went to see her WEEKLY, FOR FREE with my babies the whole 3 months I was pumping to get them to breastfeed. She was a great cheerleader for me. I think if you don't have someone like that and you start off with preemies or babies with nursing problems like a tongue tie or a bad latch that it can all go downhill quickly. I think alot of women are told that they can't BF twins b/c they won't make enough milk, etc. (not counting those that actually do) and this is because of the poor education about BF in the medical community.
BF is hard whether you have one baby or more and I don't think that is something that people really understand (or are told) either. You think it's natural and the babies will just KNOW how to do it when they are born and that just isn't the case. There is a learning process involved and sometimes it's hard and it can be overwhelming to someone who doesn't have the best support.

 

I can see how if you were exclusively pumping, it might be harder. But babies are usually so much more efficient that once they really figure it out, your body will respond. But it's not easy to get over that hurdle of exhaustion, helping newborns (and twins of course are more likely to be preemies and have preemie feeding issues) figure it out, and just the gumption to hang in there. People always make it seem like I'm a superhero for doing it. When I really believe that most women could, if they believed they could and had the support.

 

M personal opinion is that it has become UNCOMMON to breastfeed period!!! I have four friends with singleton babies who just did not bother to even try when they left the hospital. The excuse of "I did not have enough milk" was used. And as we bf moms know that is a lot of bull. My own milk supply went down to almost nothing but with lots of patience and pereveance I got it back up and have well, one happy bf baby (athena wont sit still, she is to busy he he he). I think that it has become rare to have bf moms let alone bf twin moms.

 

Here in Australia Bf is fairly common and wow I had great midwives and lactation consultants at the hospital and I have them come and visit me. I do use some formula maybe about 150 per day but mostly out of convenience for me. Today I was at the mall so I poured some formula. I did try Fenugreek and got a terrible rash that took forever to go away. I then tried Motilum to increase and I think it helped some. I wiened myself off it and things are good. the best advice I have got from midwives...

1. no such thing as nipple confusion since breastfeeding is such a natual instinct. Too many mothers have had to stop feeding for a period of time (pumped or expressed to keep up supply) and the babies returned to bf NO PROBLEM.

i AM An example of this. My one girl just wasn't getting it in the beginning ... so after a couple of weeks I was just giving her the bottle of expressed milk. Nearly a month later... my husband asks me if I'm going to get her back on. one night she is crying so I stuck her on the breast ..... great feeder ever since and now it is hard to give her the bottle !!

I also met a twin mom with 26 week old born twins. Pumped for 3 months while in hospital and then she bf them for one year !

2. Stimulate every 3 hours and only 5 hours off for night sleep. They say stimulating your nipples by expressing in those first few days sets the ground work for bf.

3. If you drink to thirst -- that is enough water.


Hope this helps someone too.

Heather

 

I think breastfeeding twins exclusively is not all that common. I also think it's pretty rare for women to actually not be able to make enough milk.

Here's what happens, IMO... Moms of twins are quickly overwhelmed by the stress of having 2 infants. Breastfeeding is a technique that moms and babies need to learn and it takes practice. Moms assume BF is "natural" and if you run into any troubles at the beginning, something must be wrong and it's not working. And combined with the stress of having 2 babies to take care of, learning this technique seems like too much to handle.

Combine this with the fact that many nurses/doctors are telling them, "no way you'll be able to make enough milk for twins!".

Then there is the technical aspect: Moms may have trouble getting preemies (many twins) to latch. The hospital nurses encourage them to give formula. Then the milk supply takes longer to come in. Babies are sucking down WAY more formula or EBM out of the bottle that they would normally take from a breast, because it's easier to get it out of the bottle nipple. The mom now assumes she'll never have as much milk in her breast that's in that bottle. Combine this with pumping and the mom REALLY starts assuming she doesn't have enough milk. When she pumps, she only gets an ounce or two, but the baby is sucking down 4 oz out of a bottle. So the mom thinks she doesn't have enough and gives more formula. There hasn't been a supply problem up until now, but now that more formula/pumping is added into the mix, mom's supply DOES start to go down. Eventually, mom can't take the stress and worry any more and quits BF.

I think a lot of times, it's this combination of misinformation, assuming the milk supply is low (when it's not) that creates a circular effect and causes the supply to truly go down.

Once you start adding in a lot of pumping and formula, it gets way too confusing and this can sabatoge the whole effort.

This is often a problem for a lot of twin moms because their babies end up in NICU, where babies start off with EBM and formula and this confuses things.

I think if moms stuck to breastfeeding (and avoided pumping/supplementing) and BF often - every 2 hours at the beginning, they would be a lot more likely to have success and stay with it.

JMHO,
Michelle

 

I didn't bf (personal choice) but I do have a friend that was determined to bf both her kids - she found herself in a situation with her son (firstborn) where by day 3 or 4 his soft spot was sunken and he wasn't crying tears - she tried nipple shields, LC's etc only to find she didn't produce anything past the colustrum...she tried pumping etc only to finally have to give him formula - same thing happened with her daughter (second born) - she did tons of research, mothers milk tea, fenugreek etc...she lasted a week or 2 with her daughter - same situation - she just didn't produce anything past the colustrum no matter what she tried! She was truly devastated and it was even harder when people told her she just didn't try hard enough! That experience made me very anti-guilt - there is no reason that a woman regardless if she has a singleton, or HOM should be guilted because it didn't work out - I realize by reading this board and the wonderful advice that is given that no one here guilts anyone - but I've had friends that feel that bf is the be all end all and you should just basically bf until your nipples fall off so it "works"...how is that supposed to be supportive?

anyway I want to let you all know from a bottle feeder you guys do give great non guilt trip advice and you should all be very proud of yourselves (and you should all be LC's in another life! :hug99

 

I did have a nurse tell me in the hospital I would never be able to nurse twins. (With my first son I told the dr and intern I was going to nurse and the dr then asked me if I wanted something to dry up my supply. The intern kind of looked at him, I guess wondering if the guy doesn't listen to any of his patients.)

I did express for my first, because I was working FT after he was 3 months old. My second would not touch artificial nipples (a "skin baby," the midwife told me), so I knew when I had the girls that I could nurse without pumping. The LC also told me I would have to pump or I would not get enough supply. I did not pump, except the one time in the hospital that she made me, which mostly only made my nipples bleed.

I did not have any problem with supply and I nursed my girls for 27 months. They were not preemies, which I am sure helped with latching.

I think women should be told that for the first few weeks they will have to nurse frequently to build supply, and it will be exhausting because their sleep will be interrupted so often. Once over that hurdle, it settles into a rhythm.

I do know some women have supply issues, because my sister (who has a singleton) found that after 6 months she has trouble keeping up. However, my sister is a serious exerciser and a fanatically healthy eater, so it is possible she does not eat enough fat calories to create an overabundance of milk. Her son is almost 1, so he eats solids now anyway, and it hasn't been much of a problem for her.

 

LOL... I guess I am pretty naive because I've thought it was fairly common, as I spend so much time on this board and all of us do it :laughing: ! I am still sometimes surprised by the admiration and shock I get when others find out I EBF the twins. It is flattering, but at the same time, I am only doing what feels "right" to me, and while I am proud, I don't feel that I deserve accolades or awe. I have been fortunate in the wealth of knowledge I've been given on breastfeeding and the continued support of those around me.

 

QUOTE
Having confidence in the fact that for centuries when have been able to feed thier babies.


Call it common sense but, that was my thinking when it came to BF. We are not the first women in history to have twins, therefore women back in the day before formula did it, why should not I be able to do it? My body grew these babies, it knows it is gonna have to make enough.
Yea in those first weeks it IS HARD AS HE!!, but if you want it bad enough you will get it, your body will get it and your twins will thrive from it.

I think it is too much negativity out there that persuades some who are already not looking forward to BF or are scared to persuades them to just do formula. Yep it is probably the easy thing to do i the beginning, but when everyone knows what to do it is so much easier. Had I gone the formula route, there is no telling how much formula I would have wasted by simply not knowing what my babies wanted...I have always offered the breast first to make sure they aren't hungry. Most times they aren't and it is a pesky burp!!

Anyway, sorry for the rambling, but I am getting frustrated with alot of people saying it is not possible to BF twins!

 

I tell you people look at me like I'm nuts when I say I still nurse my 16 month old twins and did so exclusively. I needed to take Fenugreek and I had to maintain a diet comparable to what I ate when I was pregnant. Not nursing was not an option after I spent months reading the success stories on here... when people say its impossible I quote the BF forum daily. I made it in part because you ladies told me I could.

 

I think it's perfectly possible to BF twins and for most people to produce enough milk, but that it requires a HUGE effort at the beginning. I guess one of the issues is how confident you are that it's possible from the start: it's hard to put a huge effort into something if you're sure that it's not going to work. And it's hard to believe that BFing twins will work if those around you (especially the 'experts') are telling you that you won't be able to. So many mothers try but are rapidly overwhelmed, believe the experts, supplement increasing amounts, face diminishing milk supply and gradually stop.

A sense of certainty that it's possible and, eventually, easier to BF twins for me came from this site. Where I live there just aren't any LC etc. The nurses at the hospital were supportive but not necessarily well informed. From TS I also got a realistic sense of how very difficult it would probably be at the beginning - round the clock nursing (hour on hour off for 2 1/2 months), sore nipples, exhaustion etc etc. Because I had a real idea of what to expect, I was able to persevere.

Given the right circumstances, I do believe that almost all mothers can produce enough milk (I know there are medical issues with PCOS etc that can affect milk supply). But people aren't alwasy lucky enough to have the right circumstances: not everyone has the time or other help available to nurse 24/7, particularly if twins are not the first children; if the twins are preemies it is much much harder to get going; it's definitely harder to build supply if one is pumping.

Having said all that, I do believe that every mom should be encouraged and supported from everyone in order to build supply and BF their child. It's such a wonderful thing to be able to breastfeed and to give our children that gift.

 

QUOTE(li li @ Feb 14 2008, 12:38 PM) [snapback]621916[/snapback]
A sense of certainty that it's possible and, eventually, easier to BF twins for me came from this site. Where I live there just aren't any LC etc. The nurses at the hospital were supportive but not necessarily well informed. From TS I also got a realistic sense of how very difficult it would probably be at the beginning - round the clock nursing (hour on hour off for 2 1/2 months), sore nipples, exhaustion etc etc. Because I had a real idea of what to expect, I was able to persevere.


I think this is so true. I wish I'd been on TS the whole time I was pregnant and had read everyone's stories. I think it might have helped me last a little longer with BF, maybe not, I don't know for sure. I was never really comfortable BF in front of people and never did in public. But I think knowing more and knowing it was normal to have latch problems, etc., would have definately encouraged me to try longer. I made it to 8 weeks and quit when I went back to work PT because I didn't want to mess with pumping. Maybe in another life I'll have another pregnancy and I'll get a second chance.

 

QUOTE(SeattleLisa @ Feb 13 2008, 04:21 PM) [snapback]620657[/snapback]
Is it really that common to not be able to make enough milk? I don't want to be judgemental - but I couldn't help but wonder if these people really couldn't make enough milk? or if it's just that they quit when the going got tough? We all know it's not easy, but it's surpising to me to find so many people who think it's not possible.


I've been thinking about your post/question but haven't had a chance to tap out a response until now. I sooo agree! I think very few people actually cannot produce enough milk, but everyone blames their choice to formula feed on this. I want to tell them, don't feel bad you chose to FF! It's a perfectly valid choice, for a variety of reasons. I also want to tell them to stop telling me I'm "lucky" that I can BF. Yes I do feel lucky but I think my hard work and determination had a lot more to do with it than luck did.

For twin moms whose babies were very preemie or didn't latch and who were exclusively pumping -- now these ladies I really take my hat off to, I think that is so hard and in that situation I do think not being able to produce enough for the pump is a common reason for quitting.

 

Wow I read some posts but not all. I didnt think it was all that uncommon... I actually know a lady who EB trips!! I didnt "have enough" for one, but have plenty for two??? I eat nothing special, probably dont drink enough and have never taken any meds to help supply. I guess I am luckier than I thought.

 

I just wanted to say that I'm going on 4 months of exclusively breastfeeding my twins. I know that there's plenty of moms who don't try or give up really quickly, and at the hospital, I wasn't going to be able to make enough milk, ect. I breastfed my oldest son, and was determined to this time, too. Let me just say it hasn't been easy, but it HAS been worth it. I had recuring mastitis for over a month and a half that ended in me having to have an abcess removed. There was a few days that I was so dehydrated, that I pumped and pumped and got baby an ounce. Luckily, I had a supply in the freezer. It took me a few days, but when I was better, I built my supply right back up. I think alot of it is a matter of how bad you want it and persisitance.

 

QUOTE
Here's what happens, IMO... Moms of twins are quickly overwhelmed by the stress of having 2 infants. Breastfeeding is a technique that moms and babies need to learn and it takes practice. Moms assume BF is "natural" and if you run into any troubles at the beginning, something must be wrong and it's not working. And combined with the stress of having 2 babies to take care of, learning this technique seems like too much to handle.

Combine this with the fact that many nurses/doctors are telling them, "no way you'll be able to make enough milk for twins!".

Then there is the technical aspect: Moms may have trouble getting preemies (many twins) to latch. The hospital nurses encourage them to give formula. Then the milk supply takes longer to come in. Babies are sucking down WAY more formula or EBM out of the bottle that they would normally take from a breast, because it's easier to get it out of the bottle nipple. The mom now assumes she'll never have as much milk in her breast that's in that bottle. Combine this with pumping and the mom REALLY starts assuming she doesn't have enough milk. When she pumps, she only gets an ounce or two, but the baby is sucking down 4 oz out of a bottle. So the mom thinks she doesn't have enough and gives more formula. There hasn't been a supply problem up until now, but now that more formula/pumping is added into the mix, mom's supply DOES start to go down. Eventually, mom can't take the stress and worry any more and quits BF.

I think a lot of times, it's this combination of misinformation, assuming the milk supply is low (when it's not) that creates a circular effect and causes the supply to truly go down.

Once you start adding in a lot of pumping and formula, it gets way too confusing and this can sabatoge the whole effort.

This is often a problem for a lot of twin moms because their babies end up in NICU, where babies start off with EBM and formula and this confuses things.

I think if moms stuck to breastfeeding (and avoided pumping/supplementing) and BF often - every 2 hours at the beginning, they would be a lot more likely to have success and stay with it.


VERY well put, Michelle!

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Feb 15 2008, 08:29 AM) [snapback]623211[/snapback]
VERY well put, Michelle!

Yes, Greymom has spoken truely words of wisdom! You beat me to it Holly!

 

I don't know how common it really is -- none of the twin moms I know in real life exclusivley breastfeed.

I had hoped to exclusively breastfeed -- but so far, it hasn't worked. My little Eric was a weak eater, and lost lots of weight, so I needed to supplement. I had hoped to supplement with EBM, but I couldn't figure out how to pump, when I had babies on my breasts all the time. Feed every two hours? How about every hour. When I did have an opportunity to pump, I would only get drops, so I had to supplement with formula. Now, at almost 6 weeks, I'm still supplmenting. I'm trying to build my supply back up, and have mostly eleminated forumla during the day, only supplementing at night.

I felt I was "giving up" when I gave my baby formula, and I cried everytime I did it. I felt like a failure, I kept wondering, what else could I do. But I know that if I hadn't fed formula, Eric would have ended up back in the hospital.

About having enough supply? I think it truly can be an issue.

I think the argument that "women have had enough supply to feed their babies for centuries" is kinda of absurd -- no offense. For centuries, there was a higher rate of infant mortality, and some of that was failure to thrive, caused by malnutrition. Also, there is a higher rate of twins now, with fertility treatments, which may have been necessary because of hormanal issues, the same issues can hinder milk product. So, no, I don't think low supply is an excuse, I think it is real.

 

AKangel -- I just want to say kudos and that you are doing great. Lots of us supplemented with formula in the beginning! Don't feel like you failed because you had to supplement. Mine had to take formula too because I had supply issues in the beginning (my milk didn't even start to come in until day 6 and it was a *slow* build from there). You are doing great, hanging in there, not quitting, and giving it everything you've got. You've had so many small successes, give yourself credit for that.

I have no doubt that supply issues are a real problem. However -- I think the percentage of people that that truly applies to is small. The people who said to me, "oh I just didn't have enough milk" -- IMHO they did not try as hard as you are trying, or did not receive the support and information that would have enabled them to continue BFing.

 

I think with enough support, education, and the right set of circumstances, any woman can exclusively breastfeed twins if she wants to. Our bodies are designed to make enough milk.

That being said, very few twin moms have all of those things in place. Greymom described perfectly what I think is probably the most common scenario for why twin moms give up on breastfeeding. In those cases, the moms really *aren't* making enough milk, but it's because of the circumstances, not because their bodies phyically couldn't do it.

It's totally possible to overcome a bad start, NICU babies who won't latch, etc. -- but it takes time and patience, and a bit of superhuman strength.

In my own experience, I started with the basic problem -- preemies who wouldn't latch. Then, throw in some crazy high blood pressure that landed me on bedrest after delivery for a few weeks (instructed to be flat on my back by the OB, as he was afraid I'd have a stroke), plus one baby with laryngomalacia, which prevented him from coordinating suck-swallow-breathe and latching altogether. After surgery at 11 weeks, he did a little better, but still couldn't nurse without gasping for air.

Another issue was my older DD. I had a lot of help, but still, she needed her mom. I wasn't willing to *always* put off her needs to work on nursing the babies around the clock.

Through all of that, I pumped and fed EBM. And yes, my milk supply was compromised, so I supplemented. I was never able to pump as much as I should have to build up enough supply. I'm still pumping today, and still supplementing.

Anyhow, to answer your original question -- sometimes it's an issue of giving up when the going gets tough, and sometimes it's extenuating circumstances. Mine was a little of both.

 

QUOTE
Anyhow, to answer your original question -- sometimes it's an issue of giving up when the going gets tough, and sometimes it's extenuating circumstances. Mine was a little of both.


I don't think anyone could call you a quitter, Becca! You rock! :bow2:

 

QUOTE(Becca34 @ Feb 16 2008, 07:07 AM) [snapback]624655[/snapback]
I think with enough support, education, and the right set of circumstances, any woman can exclusively breastfeed twins if she wants to. Our bodies are designed to make enough milk.


So well said. And, [bowing down and kowtowing to you] WOW on still pumping. If I had to exclusively pump I don't think I would have made it this far (almost 10 months old now).

I do think a small subset of women exists where they truly cannot make enough milk. I have an IRL friend (who had a singleton, not twins) and she tried everything to BF. I made a bunch of suggestions, and she worked with two different LCs. Both LCs ended up telling her that she is in that special subset and that she probably won't be able to make enough milk no matter what she did. But again -- I think this is very rare and most who say they were not able to make enough milk, fall into the categories you name above.

 

QUOTE(poppan @ Feb 16 2008, 02:47 PM) [snapback]624888[/snapback]
So well said. And, [bowing down and kowtowing to you] WOW on still pumping. If I had to exclusively pump I don't think I would have made it this far (almost 10 months old now).

I do think a small subset of women exists where they truly cannot make enough milk. I have an IRL friend (who had a singleton, not twins) and she tried everything to BF. I made a bunch of suggestions, and she worked with two different LCs. Both LCs ended up telling her that she is in that special subset and that she probably won't be able to make enough milk no matter what she did. But again -- I think this is very rare and most who say they were not able to make enough milk, fall into the categories you name above.



I do think it is rare but it does happen. Through history it must have happened too because the occupation of a wet nurse came to exist. So not all women were able to BF prior the invent of formula. I think formula just offered another way to feed our babies.

 

QUOTE
I do think it is rare but it does happen. Through history it must have happened too because the occupation of a wet nurse came to exist.


From what I've read, having a wet nurse was as much a status symbol as anything - another way for the wealthy of bygone eras to flaunt their wealth (as well as outsource parenting - aristocrats often had a whole in-house child care staff, nurses, wet nurses, nannies, maids, governesses, etc.). I think I also read somewhere (can't remember the source now) that formula was initially marketed to the rich as a status symbol - "Look, I can afford not to BF!" - with the idea that the less well-off would scrape up the money to follow the trends set by the wealthy.

But yes, absolutely, true milk supply problems do exist - rare but it does happen.

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Feb 16 2008, 03:24 PM) [snapback]624948[/snapback]
From what I've read, having a wet nurse was as much a status symbol as anything - another way for the wealthy of bygone eras to flaunt their wealth (as well as outsource parenting - aristocrats often had a whole in-house child care staff, nurses, wet nurses, nannies, maids, governesses, etc.). I think I also read somewhere (can't remember the source now) that formula was initially marketed to the rich as a status symbol - "Look, I can afford not to BF!" - with the idea that the less well-off would scrape up the money to follow the trends set by the wealthy.

But yes, absolutely, true milk supply problems do exist - rare but it does happen.


That is part of it. There is a really great book called The Social History of Wet Nursing in America that outlines the other reasons, one being infant feeding problems, and wet nursing being a solution until the invent of formula.

 

That looks like a really interesting book! I'll have to check if my library has it. Thanks for the link.

 

I breastfed exclusively (still haven't weaned), and I know 2 other moms IRL that have nursed exclusively as well. I think if it is uncommon it is because it is so hard in the beginnning, and if you don't have the help you end up being to tired to nurse all the time, bottles just seem easier. But give it a couple of months and it is smooth sailing I do know one mom who seemed to have a legitimate supply issue, not sure if she would of had that with a singleton.