No supply to breastfeed twins

[Nimisha31]

I'm new to mumsnet and I've just had twins. They are almost 3 weeks now and I've only bottle feed after the 1st feed. I've had a c section and the blood sugar was low and not enough milk initially so midwife suggested to top up. Their sugar is normal now but I haven't been able to breastfeed ! I've tried stimulating my breasts and expressing but hardly anything comes out. Both breast just fill about 25ml to 30ml which is not even enough for 1 let alone 2! I'm quiet worried, they are gaining weight and are healthy with formula fed milk but I really want to breastfeed them !
Should I continue still trying to breastfeed ( to which they make faces now as the supply is very low) or just give up trying and bottle feed with formula ?? Please help !!!

Have you tried fennel tea to help? Also are you putting them both on breast at every feed before you top up? The issue is the more you top up the less you produce

If you want to exclusively breastfeed you need to get the supply up by putting them on regularly. What you express is by no means how much you have. There's nothing wrong with topping up but they won't be working on your supply as well if they are getting it else where.
Your looking at a couple of really tough weeks but it'll be worth it!

Do you have a specialist you can talk to about this? If you are not sure I would phone up your health visitor and ask her as she will know.

Yes, I do try to feed them before they are given the bottle but they become so impatient and don't want to do the hard work and they don't even try latching on :(

I haven't tried the fennel tea, but I will now!

Yes it already getting tough now ;( your right Verticalvenetianblinds ! They are happy to get supply from other sources :( I'm really trying hard and my Breast also ache with all stimulating and endless expressing.

I spoke to Camden feeding centre and they visited me twice and they said same stimulate and express 8 times a day and in night as supply is a bit high feed them more before topping up

I found oats very useful to increase my supply. In fact I would notice an increase in the afternoon if I had porridge for breakfast!

Good luck. Hope you get it sorted :)

I will get oats tomorrow and give it a kickstart ! Thank you, hope it works for me too :)

I think expressing is hard for many, unfortunately the only thing that stimulates more is them feeding. Also skin to skin can help, so try feeding them in just their nappy with blanket over them and your top completely off

Ok god you poor thing, been there.

First thing, what you are doing is monumentally hard, whether you're feeding twins by boob or bottle, so be really kind to yourself. Trying to bolster supply, pump and mixed feed for both is another level hard.
Did they stay in NICU too?
Exclusive bf can be achieved, and I tied myself up in knots researching it but just couldn't see how to make it work for me. What I did go before DTs had figured out bf was pump as much as I could, and I got my gp to give me a prescription of domperidone, which really helped. And ate a shit ton of flapjack and porridge! No idea if that helped but gave me some energy to carry on!
I bought a medala rechargeable pump which meant I could pump in bed, much comfort than getting out of bed to sit by the plugin hospital one. There is a great La Leche leaflet about hand expressing - the expressing didn't work for me, but the massage techniques to get let down did.
Being warm, comfy and relaxed really helps - some people said look at a picture of your babies when mine were in NICU, but I found that too stressful and used to put Kirsty and Phil or something equally non stressful on iPlayer instead!
Otherwise if twins are home and will feed, put them in the boob first then top up with formula. If you can bear it, let them stay on your boobs for the early evening cluster feed. Lots of people say skin to skin but that's not always practical with twins, but you might have one cuddle monster who likes to sleep in your top.
I mixed fed for 6 months. Some weeks the bf went well, some weeks the pumping went well, every week they gained much needed weight,and their immunity definitely was helped - mine were autumn. Abuse too, and v prem, so we were terrified of winter chest infections but got through relatively unscathed while mixed/bf.

Good luck. Xx

So many typos there sorry, on phone. Should say 'mine were autumn babies too...'

Omg User147.. I feel you !
Mine were prem as well but not in NICU. They lost weight 8% in 1st week now gradually putting on.
Thank you for your support, it gives me immense strength knowing I'm not alone in this journey ! Yes it's already tough with twins and this feeding issue it's getting on to me now :(
I will try to look up online regarding the massaging techniques and I think need to pay a visit to my GP as well if he can prescribe me something as well :) Is there any side effects of the medication ?
Thank you for your help and guidance xx

ArtandCo- Have tried feeding them like that, only twin 2 stays on me for longest time :( but twin 1 just cries..

Feel your pain. Mine were on NICU/SCBU for 8+ weeks.

What I found helpful was nipped shields - the 'teat' is much bigger than a nipple and makes it easier for them to suck so it's not as hard work. Used them for about 5 weeks until they were bigger, had got better at feeding then just put them on the breast as normal and they latched normally.

Are you trying to stick to a routine? I would ditch any kind of feeding pattern you have and just keep offering them the breast whenever they grumble for a few days - will be tough but worth a shot if you want to feed them. And yes to oats - but more fundamentally eat and drink for England.

But having said all that - give yourself a break and don't put too much pressure on yourself. Twins are bloody hard work and you're doing great x

I did buy the nipple shields and tried once but as milk supply was short it didn't really help :( but well worth a try again !

Thank you namechanged15, twins is a hell of work xx

It's a vicious circle - little stimulation, lower supply so maybe try them for a feeds -so your babies are stimulating your supply so it increases, feeding gets easier etc.

I've been there too. Do you have older dcs? We have two so had an idea of the trouble we were going to be in! We were still on our knees in the early days though.

Two wks in hosp with prem tongue-tied twins, birth weight dropping and jaundiced so had to ff.
got them home, got ties cut and just fed them as much as possible to get supply up. Expressing was the first thing I dropped as it's the worst of both worlds - extra washing up & stuff to carry about plus all the exhaustion of feeding.
Cut down the bottles a little a day and then got rid completely. Really tough for a few weeks then so much easier. Definitely worth a go.

Hi OP. Just to add to the encouragement you've received on this thread. My two were a little early and we were asked to pump and bottle feed so docs could measure their intake. It absolutely is the worst of both worlds and an almighty faff! It took twin 1 6 weeks to wean off bottle feeding and twin 2 10 weeks but was 100% worth it as feeding is now an absolute dream and a million times easier than preparing bottles! I second the use of oats in all forms for supply, putting them on the boob at every single opportunity and using a nipple shield to help latch (twin 2 still occasionally needs this). Do you have a tandem feeding pillow? I have the Brest Friend one and it's great. Feeding them both at the same time will help stimulate supply (and save time). Always offer boob first then top up and google 'paced feeding' so they're not getting too used to bottles. Well done you for persevering - that's amazing! And twins are hard!

SleightOfMind - I'm a first time mom and so I have no experience what so ever. I'm highly relying on my instincts, articles and midwife guidance ! I have started to latch them on before every bottle feed. Process is slow but let's see where I get with it.

Chillipopcorn1 - thank you for your kind words. Twins are indeed a tough job along with c section recovery! Hearing your story of twin 1 taking 6 weeks gives me a big of encouragement as my twins are on their 3rd week so I'm still content that there are chances of bottle feeding them. Yes, I have started having oats, just been 2 days but I'm waiting to see results (hopefully). I have the single feeding pillow, thought I could not feed 2 at same time ! But as u said will try to get them on at same time :)

Thank you so much everyone for your encouragement, it's means a lot ! Now I just hope everything works out for the best of my twin boys

Are you actually pumping 7-8 times a day? Unless your breasts are having milk removed that frequently you won't be stimulating your supply enough. It's a tricky balance between the babies not getting frustrated at the breast because they're not getting much and making sure they don't develop a preference for the bottle. It'll be very hard but definitely worth it, good luck.