Pumping and Bottle Feeding

Our little ones are just 12 days old. We've not started attempting the double breastfeeding technique because they are just too small right now (I seem to need to use both hands for one baby right now). The more I am getting into the breastfeeding, the more I am realizing that if I continue to do back-to-back feedings as their milk demand increases, that I could be spending quite a bit of time feeding. I am contemplating just pumping and feeding them from a bottle, but a huge part of me feels guilty. I love that I have the ability to feed and both have really taken to the breast quite well...any thoughts, feedback?

 

I'd have to say that for the first few months, i felt like a prisoner of my couch since i was feeding them every 2 hours or so, and doing them back to back. it was VERY difficult, but i'm so glad i stuck with it. what helped me the most was investing in a twins nursing pillow. there are a couple styles out there, we got the EZ nurse pillow, and it was amazing. you can get by with 1 or even no hands (eventually) because it kind of angles in to help keep the baby in toward you (instead of rolling of a traditional boppy!) I did pump too so that my husband could help with nighttime feedings, or to have someone else feed so i could get a few hours of sleep. but pumping takes a lot of time too! plus i've found that as time goes on, i'm not pumping as much as when i actually nurse.
Really, it's whatever works for you. it sounds like you'd like to keep BFing. and it will get easier...eventually....i just can't honestly say it will be REAL soon! if i were you, i'd look into the pillow if you dont' have one yet. i was in HEAVEN the first time i used it!!! it ended up saving a ton of time feeding them together.

 

It's possible to pump and bottle feed, but much more work IMO. Yes, in the beginning you pretty much always have a baby attached, but the older and more efficient they get the faster those feedings go. I've never gotten the hang of tandem feeding (although alot of moms do it), it was a sensory overload for me.

It can take longer to pump and bottle feed. By the time you pump, make bottles, feed and wash bottles and pump parts you're still spending a lot of time. You could always do a combination. Let DH take a couple feedings while you pump and then get some rest.

Keep in mind, it's hard to keep your supply up pumping. Babies are much better at stimulating milk production than a pump. Plus, it's easy to get busy and lose track of time and not pump as often as needed to keep up your supply.

Good luck with your decision. You should check out the BF forum - there are a lot of helpful women full of great advice.

 

I never felt comfortable with the tandem feeding either, and we are still BF pretty well, except DD has reflux and issues with my forceful let down. I don't think I actually wore clothes (or a bra!) the first month..there was no point as it seemed I was always nursing! But as they get bigger and older they are able to control their hunger better so no more meltdowns where they're both starving at the same time, and also they nurse less and faster. Like the PP said, bottle feeding is so much harder! My DD gets 1-3 bottles a day that I pump, and I feel like I'm ALWAYS washing bottles and pump parts. I can't imagine how much work it would be if they got all bottles. It is so worth it to actually try and get them breastfeeding. It IS hard at first, but in a month or two it will all be a big blurr and you'll hardly remember!

 

I pumped and bottlefed for 3 months b/c mine were preemies. I was never so happy as the day I quit pumping and was able to just start nursing them! Pumping was SOOO time consuming. I know that it is hard to nurse now, but as they get older they become much more proficient nursers (and quicker!). Also, as they learn to hold their heads up, you don't have to help them as much and tandem nursing will be alot easier. My advice would be to stick with the nursing, it will get MUCH, MUCH easier. Good luck to you

 

I am pumping and bottlefeeding. Mine are preemies and need the neosure supplement. I ideally would like to bf but pumping is working well and it is allowing me to store a ton of milk. Plus, I dont think I will bf or pump beyond 3 months (when I go back to work) so I may just stick with the pumping and bottlefeeding as long as I can.

 

Soon they won't be so small and you will feel comfortable tandem feeding, that will save a lot of time and be much quicker than pumping- so just give it a few more weeks and try tandem feeding again. I can remember someone saying this exact same thing to me and me thinking "i will never get the hang of tandem feeding", LOL thats pretty much all I have done since 8 weeks!!!

GREAT JOB nursing so far!!!!!! :clapping:

 

I've been doing both (bfing and bottle feeding) as my girls were in the Nicu. I agree w/other posters: doing both is a huge pain, and i'm never so happ as when they can each bf.

they are still small for tandem feeding, but I also think the ez2nurse pillow is a godsend - i got mine off craigslist for about twenty five bucks. BUT - i need someone to help me position them (we've just started): it's difficult to do by yourself esp. wehn they are so little.

the bottles are a huge pain - endless washing of parts. I actually just bought some playtex bottles with the drop in disposable inserts (as an attempt to address reflux issues so they would get less air): they are expensive, but if you factor in the time spent bottle washing (and i do none of it, that is my DH's job since i'm busy producing milk and pumping and nursing and not sleeping!) is worth the trade-off to me.

Bfing has DEFINITELY gotten easier as they get bigger, and it is incredibly rewarding, althoug those first weeks when i was p umping round the clock were a nightmare, I would say try and stick it out - eventually it will be great to have your mobiel milk bar and not have to worry about pumpinga nd carrying EBF.

although it feels endless, somehow the time passes.

 

QUOTE(MommyTo3andCounting @ May 22 2007, 01:01 AM) [snapback]263779[/snapback]
It's possible to pump and bottle feed, but much more work IMO. Yes, in the beginning you pretty much always have a baby attached, but the older and more efficient they get the faster those feedings go. I've never gotten the hang of tandem feeding (although alot of moms do it), it was a sensory overload for me.

It can take longer to pump and bottle feed. By the time you pump, make bottles, feed and wash bottles and pump parts you're still spending a lot of time. You could always do a combination. Let DH take a couple feedings while you pump and then get some rest.

Keep in mind, it's hard to keep your supply up pumping. Babies are much better at stimulating milk production than a pump. Plus, it's easy to get busy and lose track of time and not pump as often as needed to keep up your supply.

Good luck with your decision. You should check out the BF forum - there are a lot of helpful women full of great advice.



ditto! I find the pump/bottle feed MUCH harder! I am in agony over here with my son still not fully on the breast yet. Ugh!

 

I actually found it easier to feed both at the same time in the beginning, at first I did one at a time but it just took so dang long and I was by myself most of the time and would hate to hear the one cry while I fed the other, so I had the EZ pillow and one day just set up the couch with pillows behind me to support me and a pillow on each side of me to lay a baby on, had the EZ on the couch, grabbed a baby and put him on a pillow, grabbed the other baby, sat down, laid the pillow on my lap, put the baby I was holding on the EZ, picked up the other baby and put him on the other side, helped them latch on ... and I've been tandeming ever since. I, too, comtemplated just pumping and bottlefeeding, both because one at a time can be so time consuming and so that others could help feed, but I ended up just always tandem-feeding. I think it helped that I tandem-fed in the hospital so I knew it could be done. The first month is crazy, they do these cluster-feedings at night where they just want to eat and eat and they cry and you feel like you are just a cow! But I would just get snacks and water and park on the couch with them.

Just as a side note, it is so hard to nurse at the stage you are at and every day I told DH that I just wanted to quit. But somehow I stuck with it and now we are at 5 months and it couldn't be easier. Nursing only takes about 5-10 minutes now, about 5 times a day. Super easy and a great way to bond with them.

If you were interested in a pillow, I got mine for 20 bucks off of eBay, you can find them pretty cheap there or on Craigslist.

 

I had a hard time tandum feeding, too. Our boys didn't seem to lay still or latch on for me to hold them correctly! I was also so obsessed with making sure they were eating enough, that I liked pumping so I could equally divide my milk into their bottles and record their intake. I regret that now because I think only pumping affected my supply and by the time they were excellent nursers, my supply had gone down significantly.

That's just what happend to me, but had I'd read or someone told me (maybe they did and my pregnant brain didn't register it) that pumping would do that, I never would have relied on it so much.

 

In the beginning it is daunting if your kids eat separately -- but they do get more efficient and they can be taught to eat together with the football hold. most moms use the ez to nurse pillow and getting tandem feedings can happen earlier, but you may want to start at 4-6 weeks -- once they are better at it. So you'll have a short term effort of lots' of feeding and then you can start consolidating-- babies willing.

I'd keep up what you're doing and keep the pumping idea on the back burner right now -- for a few reasons:
1) your supply is still not established and keeps ramping up thorugh 12 weeks or so -- so pumping exclusively could have a negative impact on your overall longterm milk supply.
2) pumping is hard. I've had to do it for one son for 9.5 months and have a goal to get to 12 months, but I vacilate every day -- cause it's a big commitment of time and effort. BF-ing at the breast is just so much easier and requires a heck of a lot less bottles and bottle washing.
3) the first 8-10 week so bf-ing twins is HARD -- but, it gets sooooo much easier after that, that you just can't make any decisions until you get to that mark... Every mom I've talked to, who as bf-d twins says the same thing.

So, keep threading here for moral support, and keep up the great work -- you'll stop being a 24 hour restaturant and get more manageable hours soon.

Teri D

 

I agree that the EZ2 Nurse pillow is a godsend. In the beginning it takes a little bit of work to get the babies set up on the pillow but after awhile you get the hang of it and it gets easier for them to latch on. I've tandemed bf my girls since they were born. It is such a time saver! Especially when they were newborns and would nurse for 30-45 mins at a time. I can't imagine nursing them separately for that long each. As they get older they are more efficient nursers and can get more milk in less time. My girls are 10 months old and we are still tandem nursing on the EZ-2 Nurse pillow.

Hang in there! After the first few months breastfeeding much easier than bottle feeding.

Jennifer

 

I was a big fan of pumping and bottle feeding my twins. I look back and would not have done it any differently. my big push was to keep them on a tight schedule and pumping when it was convenient for me and then feeding them with fresh or frozen breastmilk in tandem worked with my busy lifestyle. yes the washing was more tedious and breastfeeding is easier in many ways, but I was pumping at my peak 8 oz per breast in less than 10 minutes so realistically, it did not take more time to pump and give in bottle than to breastfeed two babies back to back (or in tandem!) Also - a hidden benefit of this (if your twins are your first children or if you have a sitter / husband at home to help) is that when you have to pump, you actually get 10-20 minutes to yourself to read, to watch something on TV you want as no one will question you when you have to pump.

My only pieces of advice if you plan to go this route are (1) pay the extra money to rent a hospital grade pump. it makes all the difference in the world to keeping up and increasing your milk supply (2) buy a lot of extra pumping supplies so that if the wash did not get run the night before if you fell asleep early, it was not a stressor b/c you had extra shields/containers (3) invest in the lansinoh storage bags as they are the best, thickest and have a double seal at the top with room to write with a permanent marker that is not on the milk storage part and (4) buy "more milk plus" by motherlove either on line or you can get at local health store. Amazing product that really works and can work too good if not careful (i.e. too much foremilk for size of baby)

NOTE: I did exclusively breastfeed my third, but he was only a singleton and that was really easy.

good luck!

:itwins:

 

I know how overwhelming tandem feeding seems at first - but YOU CAN DO IT! I tried and failed a number of times before we all got the hang of it. Now it's easy.

There's nothing wrong with pumping and bottle feeding. But be aware that even the best pump is far less efficient at emptying your breasts than a baby, and probably won't empty your breasts completely. So your body may perceive that as less demand and start supplying less. A singleton mom I know was pumping & bottle feeding (her daughter spent a wk in the NICU and had trouble BFing, and at about 4 months, her supply had dropped very, very low.

Good luck! Nursing can be tough in the beginning, but before you knokw it you'll feel like a pro.

 

I've been pumping and bottle feeding for 6 weeks now, because my kiddos came early and didn't latch right away. There are a few advantages -- feedings were quicker, because it's easier for small babies to take bottles. And, I was able to see exactly how much they were drinking, and could monitor their intake...plus, like someone mentioned, I did get a few minutes to sit down and check my email, etc. while pumping.

BUT, there are far more disadvantages. For one thing, I have the Medela Symphony -- one of the best hospital-grade pumps -- but with it, I currently pump about 40 oz. a day, but my kiddos combined eat 56 oz. So, I have to supplement. If they were both nursing directly, I think my supply would increase to meet their demand.

Also, my two wake up overnight to eat at about 2am and 5am. (I pump around 10pm and go to bed myself, while DH or my mom, who is here helping, does the 11pm feeding.) There is nothing worse than doing the 2am feeding, then pumping for 30 minutes (I don't get enough if I pump for less time), making bottles for the fridge, then getting barely an hour's sleep before waking to do it all again....and I loathe waiting for bottles to heat up while I have two screaming babies in the middle of the night.

I always have the stress of making enough milk for both.

I think everyone mentioned the endless washing of bottles and pump parts. My mom is leaving this weekend, and she's been doing all of that, every day -- I'm really going to struggle having to do it myself.

My little girl is just now latching, so I've been nursing her, although it's a learning curve for both of us -- but my little guy has a sucking/swallowing issue, so I have to pump/bottle feed him for some time yet -- and I'm finding it beyond challenging to do both.

I, too, can't WAIT until they're both nursing effectively, and have enough head control for me to use the EZ pillow, which is sitting in my closet just waiting. I feel like life will be so much easier....

So, if both of yours are nursing well, I'd advise you to enjoy it!! I think it gets easier by the day. My older DD used to take 30 minutes when she was tiny, but when she was a bit older, she could empty a breast in 7 minutes.

 

I have been mostly pumping and bottle feeding since my babies came home from the hospital with me, but because neither one would latch on correctly, we have just started having some success in that area, but i have continued to pump after every feeding and supplementing with it theoretically when needed, but at this point, it's been needed every time...

i don't see much inconvenience in the system i've developed up until now, and have considered continuing the pumping indefinitely, just to keep building my stash and to monitor intake...

i say do what works for you, and don't feel guilty, but do be aware that your supply will probably not be the same if you're not nursing (which i can't really speak to since my babies hardly nursed up until 2 weeks ago...) who knows, maybe you WILL have enough on just EBM....

sandra