breastfeeding premature twins - please somebody give me strength!

[eeyore2]

Hello! I am breastfeeding my twins who were born a few weeks early and are now almost ready to go home from hospital. They are 37 weeks corrected now and are finally both breastfeeding reliably. But it is never-fricking-ending. I've done it before with singleton babies and am totally down with the whole 'little and often' thing but he problem with twins is you have another one kicking off every time you start feeding the other baby. Plus I have to try to find time to pump as well. Please please could someone tell me some positive stories about how they managed this. Thanks!

[mouldycheesefan]

you are doing better than me, my premmie twins did not manage to latch on once in four whole flipping weeks in hospital never mind actually have a feed! Neither of them! I expressed for the first 6 weeks but then switched to formula because expressing then feeding would take hours. the longest feed I did took 2.5 hours by which time it was time to start again. mine were very slow feeders reflux etc each took an hour to feed even 4oz.

I would say give expressed milk in a bottle so your partner/friend/helper/mother/anybody! can share the burden of feeding. if you have quicker feeders it is not so much of an issue and plenty of my friends with twins did manage it

good luck

[foolonthehill]

well done you are amazing.

My friend had prem twins and managed....she had 2 v shaped pillows one for behind her and one for round the front of her tummy so they could both feed at the same time. It's not dignified nor terribly easy but it did mean that about half the time she was able to position both and get a break after from the continuous tag team feeding. She did feed them singly as well...one fed more often anyway...but this did help. Initially the local breastfeeding counsellor would come over 2-3 times per day (!!!!!!) to help with position and latch.

she found that both coped well with the "rugby ball hold" with heads to centre and legs under her arms...this gave her a hand under each head for position and control.

It certainly is a labour of love and although possible requires a lot of support from those around as nothing much else will be done for the first few weeks. On the other hand once they are stronger and bigger life becomes so much easier.

Good luck. and remember there are lots of ways to feed your lovely babies so if you do end up with a mixture or shorter time BF than you plan be kind to yourself and remember you all have to stay sane and healthy.

[Kemet]

Hi, my twin girls are 18 weeks. I'm breastfeeding on demand This is my main role at present. I'm looking forward to weaning so can get some relieve. Have you tried feeding them at the same time? I prefer to feed one at a time but sometimes have to feed together to save time or because both want feeding at same time. It's hard work but have to get on with it!

[eeyore2]

Thank you! It helps just to hear from other people who have been there. It certainly is a labour of love! I don't know how long I'll manage to keep it up for but hopefully all this breast milk is doing them some good for the moment. I can see myself in years to come after a teenage strop - "and I breastfed you both round the clock...and this is how you repay me..."

[TheEagle]

Hi eeyore, well done, it's hard having premie babies in hospital and pumping is such a chore!

Hopefully you can drop the pumping when you get home and that will take one job out of the equation.

Mine were born at 35+6 and I won't lie, feeding them has been the toughest thing I've ever done. I thought the cluster feeding would finish me off!

However! They are 7mo now and tucking into solids with gusto. After the 6mo growth spurt they've cut back on their feeds a lot. It's great.

My advice would be to rest whenever you can (I know it's not easy with other children at home) and try to get tandem feeding as this will save time and help with supply.

Feel free to PM me if you like.

Congratulations, twins are fantastic

[InFrance2014]

No experience or advice, just want to offer support - in my opinion anyone bf twins for any amount of time is incredible. Sending all the good things to you!

[FreeButtonBee]

Twin feeding cushion is essential.i had a mybrest friend on and used extra cushions/ muslins and blankets to prop them up into position. I tandem fed during the day for every feed, waking the sleepier baby even if she didn't want to be fed! At night, I was more relaxed mainly cod it was comfort to feed kne baby at a time and I could occasionally manage a lying down feed which was like heaven in comparison. Fed exclusively for a year although I think it was a bit crazy in retrospect particularly in comparison with how easy one baby is (ds2!is 3mo and I barely remember he's around most of the time)! I would suggest the odd bottle of formula probably isn't the end of the world, particularly at bed time. However it will take a good while to get your supply up - I had manic crazy cluster feeding EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT for the first 3 months.

[Whatevva]

Mine were tube fed every 4 hours in hospital so were in a sort of routine when they came home.

I wrote down who I fed and when in a book. I then made this into a feeding schedule based on when they liked to feed. After 6pm, they fed pretty well constantly and this helped at night. The entire schedule was skewed towards getting them to bed by 8pm and me to bed by 10pm This also enabled us to get out to a toddler group or friend in the afternoon.

If one woke about feeding time, I fed and winded her and then woke the other and fed her (during the day). If they both woke, then I fed the first one and rocked the other one in a chair with my foot, swapped the fed one for the unfed one, then did the same for winding (praying that there would be no sudden vomiting).

The first few weeks were constant feeding, changing and changing sheets. Family visitors helped with meals, my toddler and held babies and winded them.

I let them do their own thing at night, kept a nightlight on by the changing mat so I did not need a light, and only changed them if necessary.

My expectations were very low, as I had the baby from hell the first time, with regard to sleeping and eating. My twins slept through the night before he did . We have lots of pictures of sleeping babies