is this too much?

[PrincessScrumpy]

dtds are mix fed - one ff a day before bed as my milk just doesn't satisfy them at that time and dh can help. They've been having 120mls each for this feed but yesterday were hungry. dtd1 had a top up after the 10am feed as within 15mins she was rooting. I gave her 60mls of formula as I'd fed her then dtd2 and the thought of feeding her breast again was not appealing - nipples can only take so much and she'd had a good bf anyway. In the afternoon dtd2 struggled to latch eventually did but wasn't satisfied so topped her up with 60mls ff. I've only done this on 2 other occasions in the day and they're 11wo.

at night they have 120mls but were screaming - both of them. They ended up having 210mls each. I thought they'd sick it up as they only weigh 7lb 14oz and 8lb 10oz so in theory don't need that much, but they didn't. I'm confused. I don't want to over feed.

Twins are hard work, no doubt about that....

Princess, not sure why you don't just put a 'rooting twin' back on the breast again? I hear what you say about nipples and that's something that can be fixed. It's absolutely normal for a baby to want some more even after the baby has 'finished'.

They're having a lot of formula - they'll be ok as a one off, but if you do this often your breastfeeding will be undermined a lot. 270 ml of formula over a day is a good chunk of their required intake and it doesn't leave much room for breastmilk.

It is a struggle when babies get fussed and frustrated and won't latch on or stay on - the bottle can solve that problem while causing another.

Can you talk things over with an understanding, knowlegable person in real life?

I have dd1 too so don't feel I can feed all day. I could have put her back on but then dd1 wouldn't have had any of my time (3yo). Yesterday was the 1st time they'd had that much and it accounted for one and a half feeds so left plenty of bf.

Probably being oversensitive but comments like not sure why you don't just put a 'rooting twin' back on the breast again? make me feel like saying sod it I'll just give ff as clearly what I'm doing isn't good enough for some and I'm doing my best so what's the point.

It is not normal for my dtd to feed, then want more 15 mins later.

I'll see how it goes today then call hv.

Princess, I am in awe of mothers of twins and it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job. It must be hard with your dd1 also. But it is normal for a baby of this age to feed then want more 15 mins later, isn't it? My ds used to do this every evening for the first 3 months. they could be having a growth spurt and evening is a classic time for fussiness. You will get through this, but it does sound normal to me.

Princess, it's not that what your doing is wrong at all, it's just the more formula the give the less milk you will produce. If your happy to mixed feed, swich some feeds to formula then that's fine. But if you want to carry on feeding them, then the best way to do this is to put them back to the breast to stimulate your supply.

As Moules say's they could just be having a growth spurt in which case they are trying to order in more milk, so you will need to feed them if you want to carry on BF. I'm sure one day woun't make a huge differences and if it help's you cope then great. But you do need to be aware that you could undermine your supply if you give formula to offten.

I think your doing a fab job feeding twin's. It must be hard work with an older one to, can you call in any extra help on fussy day's?

Princess, sorry you took it the wrong way. I meant it as a genuine question - I was not sure why you were not putting the rooting twin on again...it wasn't a comment.

I still don't know why. You have to prepare the formula and still feed the baby....the time difference between doing that and bf again is small.

And sorry - it is normal for all babies to feed and want more 15 mins later :)

Maybe your babies have not ever done this before, but well....they're doing it now.

(Actually, I am rather older than 11 weeks old, and it sometimes happens to me!!)

:)

Me again :)

Princess - I am really very sorry my post made you feel 'sod it what's the point?' It was not meant to be anything other than supportive and informative - I was not challenging you in any way, I promise. Twins are flippin hard work, however they are fed, and even more so when their needs have to be balanced with another child.

I did think you were possibly making life harder for yourself, which is why I wondered why a bottle was offered instead of the breast again.

That's all :)

"(Actually, I am rather older than 11 weeks old, and it sometimes happens to me!!)"

Yeah - happened to me tonight. With chocolate, while I tried to deal with a stroppy boy :) And your milk is better than chocolate from your DT's point of view :)

Have you seen a breastfeeding counsellor to try to improve the nipple soreness? (I assuming it's soreness as it's not totally clear from your post).

What do YOU want to do? Do you want to breastfeed? Mix feed? Formula feed?

I use the formula cartons so takes no time at all and dd1 can have fun feeding one, plus it's quicker IME.

I have seen a bf councellor who was useless and she's supposed to be the guru in my county. Tomorrow we're going to see a specialist re possible tongue tie so that may be the answer but I just think it's the amount of feeding that that's making them sore - not agony but very sensitive - plus they don't have great latches no matter what I do and I regularly have to try two or three positions a feed to get them on properly. DD1 fed beautifully and I could walk around doing housework while feeding etc, I can barely breeth with these two as the slightest movement means they're off again. Tandem feeding is a big no no although I do try it occasionally when they're screaming together.

I want to mix feed as I feel it gives me a break and helps me to feel human - plus I actually like the eye contact they give me with the bottle and the fact dh can join in. I was just concerned at how much they took. Last night I stuck to the usual 120ml but dtd2 (who weighs 7lb 10z) then had a 20min bf too. They want her to catch up with dtd1 as she's so little and below the line graph so probably just a growth spurt.