FEEDING TWINS

[twinthing]

HI ALL,

I have twin girls who were born at 35 weeks. They're now 8 wks old- and have been gaining weight slowly. The older twin is doing better at 5lbs 13 ozs and younger twin is still only 5 lbs 3 ozs. I'm worried that i'm not BF properly because they're not gaining much..could it be my diet? I feed them on demand (usually every 2 hrs sometimes less) they both feed well at the beginning of the feeed and then fall asleep- when i take them off they start routing again so i put them back on again...and soemtimes this can happen all nite- effectively giving me no sleep at all! They both have plenty of wet nappies and seem well other then being so small.
Any advice will be very welcome!

Thanks

Hi Twinthing - I cant really advise too much about breastfeeding but I do know how hard it is with twins - I fed my twin boys myself but only managed it for two weeks. I think you have done incredibly well to get as far as you have so far, good luck with it! I found that whilst one was putting on weight well and only needed a feed about every 3 hours in the early days, the other one was practically every hour and didnt put on weight at such a good rate. I am afraid to say I caved in at the 2 weeks and gave them some formula when I could no longer keep my eyes open in the middle of the night (and my husband too!) Whether its right or wrong they then slept for nearly four hours and it was the right thing for me to gradually stop the breastfeeding at that point. Are they latching on correctly - not that I know what is correct ! I found it very painful and from reading this often means that its not being done correctly.

Well done on BF your twins! How much did they weigh when they were born? How much weight are they putting on per week? Are they making lots of dirty nappies, not just wet ones?

I don't think your diet would be the problem, unless you're losing loads of weight.

There are a number of things you can do, to help your sleepy babies feed better. First, I'd recommend that you try to see a BFC, to get your latch etc checked. There are BFCs all over the country, the LLL, NCT, ABM and BFN all have counsellors, and each provides coverage to different areas.

Second, if you try cosleeping, you should be able to feed one of them while getting some sleep, if this is an option for you.

Third, I've heard breast compression can be good for feeding sleepy babies. Here is a webpage about it. You might need the use of a spare pair of hands to get it working right.

I am so proud of people who manage to bf twins.

Hi,
I have twins and two older children and have bfed all of them to around 6 months. What you are describing sounds entirely normal to me, and if you perservere it should get easier. As long as they are gaining I really wouldn't worry, some babies do grow slower than others. As they get bigger they should get more efficient at feeding. Feeding twins is such hard work. I ended up expressing my milk for mine and fed them entirely on expressed milk after a while. I found it easier as I could express and then dp could help feed them, or I could prop them up. It also saved my sanity at night. co-sleeping is a good idea if you have the room - maybe kick dp out for a few nights! I co-slept in hospital - was the only way to get any sleep, but didn't have room at home. some people on here have managed to bfeed twins for quite a while - it can be done.

Congratulations to you on the birth of your twins. And well done for your eight weeks of bfing. Glad to hear that they are happy and well.
I'm not a bfing expert, but I do know that small babies will have very small stomachs (think the size of a walnut) and so it is normal that they will want to feed very frequently. As they get bigger, their tummies will grow too and so they will require feeding less frequently.
Most newborns fall asleep during feeds. They can sometimes be encouraged to feed a bit longer by stroking the palm of their hands, along their spine or on their cheeks , in the area in front of the ears towards the jaw. Obviously, if you are feeding the girls together, you won't have a spare hand for this, but perhaps you could ask dh to try this for you. Otherwise you could try changing their nappies or just laying them on a play mat for a couple of minutes to see if they wake up.
It might well be worth trying a bf advice line(NCT, LLL etc) and see what they advise.
HTH.

My twins were born 7 weeks prem, and fed very frequently, and fell straight asleep.............remember, they grow faster while they sleep so that is a positive thing.

I met a mother in the hospital nicu unit, who was breastfeeding triplets can you imagine.........good on her.

Congratulations Twinthing

Sorry to disagree with you NQC, but some Bf babies of this age only have one dirty nappy every second or third day. Its quite normal - you can read about it on the BF websites.

My DS2 is the same age as twinthing's ( 8 weeks old tomorrow) and he does this. It cant be associated with not gaining weight or not getting enough food as he is on the 75th percentile for weight. He also falls asleep during feeds and cluster feeds for several hours at a time. But thnaksfully not all night!!!

Kristina, twins of this age, born pre-term and of this weight, would be expected to have plenty of dirty nappies.

Your eight week old term baby is a a different situation.

twinthing - your babies are feeding at a normal frequency, but gosh, it must be very demanding for you; your diet will make no difference. It is important that they gain, though - what sort of help have you had with getting them effectively latched on so the feeds are productive?

Congratulations Twinthing. Well done on getting to 35 weeks with your twins.

I bf mine until they were 17 months. Stopped because I wanted to get my boobs back.

What you are doing sounds fine. Whilst it may be next to impossible try to rest where you can. I remember the first 3 months being totally full on with feeding. Mums of singletons find it exhausting and so don't be surprised that you do as well. After all, you are bfing 2.

Make sure that the routing isn't just comfort, but is actually for food.

My two were 5.14 and 4.5 when they were born. DT1 (4.5) was and still is a tiny wee thing. She used to fall asleep all the time when feeding. I think that they are just too tiny and get exhausted really quickly. I tried to keep her awake for a semi decent feed. DT2 feed slightly better.

How much help do you have around you? Are they your only babies/children? Take whatever help you can get.

You can also get advice from TAMBA... Twins And Multiple Births Association here They have a helpline 0800 138 0509.

You can always email me on lovelymarslady at aol dot com (losing the spaces and putting in the @ and the .). That can be for encouragement, moaning, advice (such as it is).

You're doing really well. Keep up the good work, but remember to look after yourself where you can.