EBM for one twin and Formula for another-Im Cracking Up

[valz]

Please help. my twins are one month old, the smaller twin never managed to latch on properly and kept hurting me so i started expressing a week ago for him and bf the other one. i always had a 3oz bottle in the fridge as well as a bottle for the next feed. on sunday evening my extra bottle got used up and last night i found myself expressing for the feed that was due at that time, last night i cracked and was a crying stressed out mess. my husband told me i had give them a month of good start and to switch to formula so this morning i decided to formula feed the bigger twin and continue expressing for the smaller one to help him catch up. i always expressed while bfeeding as i seemed to get 3oz from one breast, however ive noticed that today the feeds i expressed totally from both breasts i still only got 3oz, where as yesterday i would have fed one twin and expressed 3oz also.

So im wondering firstly am I been unfair FF one twin and EBM for the other? and am i expressing wrong or how can i keep up a good supply as if i were feeding both twins? Also what is the best formula to use, i bought aptimel because i was told it is closest to breast milk?!

Any advice would be great.

[LadyStealthPolarBear]

can you not mix feed both?
are you using breast shells to collect from the other breast as you feed?
In general it may not be too late to get help with your latch for the smaller twin
BTW your husband is right - you have done really well. I found bf straightforward and yet still can't imagine what it's like to feed two! No reason why you can't continue I hope.

[1stMrsF]

You won't be able to keep up the same supply through expressing than you would if feeding. One of the advantages of twins is that even if one is not feeding well, the other one can keep up your supply, so if you do want to keep bf, I would do that rather than express. Generally ff babies put on more weight than bf, so the smaller twin is unlikely to catch up on ebm - the other one will probably stay ahead (one of mine was ff for a few days and the other is exclusively bf and there is still a gap between them at 4 months even though they are both now bf). I agree that you might still be able to get the smaller one to latch on - get some help from a bf counsellor. I'm still bf twins at 4 months and it's so much easier than bottle feeding (fast, no washing, sterilising, making up feeds, etc.) SOrry, bit of a ramble of thoughts, but I hope some of it is helpful.

[thisisyesterday]

hi valz, i posted on your other (identical) thread a few days ago.

i wondered if you had been to see a breastfeeding counsellor at all? if you do want to keep providing breastmilk for your babies then really the best way to do that is by feeding them direct.

a counsellor really would be able to help you breastfeed both, if that is what you want to do?

if not then the move to formula is entirely yours to make, please don't be swayed by people online. I was (as well as people in real life, like your husband) and i really, really regret it. I wished i had got more help and carried on breastfeeding my son.