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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How would you help this mum? What would your advice be?

49 replies

mears · 07/05/2005 19:48

Here is a breastfeeding support teaser for you. I will give the outcome later.

Friend is expecting twins and determined to breast feed. She has had 2 babies before and has been unsuccessful breastfeeding before. Did not last longer than a day last time. Didn't feel support was very good.

Feels determined to breastfeed this time round. Cost of formula is an issue - breastmilk is free and it will be more convenient to feed both babies together. Has not even bought bottles.

Has twins normally. Good weights. Babies are disinterested in feeding. Twin 2 has low blood sugars and needs formula top-ups. Twin 1 has not fed properly for 24 hours.

Mum is very confused and unsure what to do. Feels pretty stressed over it all. Babies not interested much. Has tried skin-to-skin contact. Assistance given by midwives. Neds good positioning with lots of pillows to get baby feeding.

You have said you will come and help.

You arrive to find mum in a vexed state. Doesn't know what to do next. Is the next feed breast or bottle? Needs to make a decision regarding feeding.
What do you think I did? What would you do?

Answer later tonight.

OP posts:
Original poster
mears · 07/05/2005 20:01

anyone?

OP posts:
assumedname · 07/05/2005 20:06

Erm - interested - just floored!

Katemum · 07/05/2005 20:06

Nope, don't know. Somehow you needed to calm the mum and get the little ones fed but what did you do?

tiffini · 07/05/2005 20:09

express breast milk, and feed from a bottle

Janos · 07/05/2005 20:20

Well, I was in a similar situation (not with twins I hasten to add!!) with my DS.

Couldn't get him to latch on.

Ending up feeding him expressed milk from a bottle. This depends on whether you can express tho and/or if a store of expressed breast milk is available.

zebraX · 07/05/2005 20:45

Finger feed formula to Twin 1 & keep trying to get both twins to latch on. Phone/Find a counsellor ASAP. Get advice about how long babies can go with minimal fluid intake, and set a deadline to "get it" or at least supplement while keep trying to get babies to feed properly. Babies often aren't that interested in feeding for first few days, anyway.

That's off top of my head...

soapbox · 07/05/2005 20:52

I would forget about feeding both at same time for now and do relay.

Get her into bed and keep her there with small bursts of feeding alternating the babies between breasts.

What is it that is making her anxious - is it T2's low blood sugar? My DD was fed formula for 24 hours to allieviate blood sugar levels on birth and I went onto breastfeed her very successfully!

I would even consider breastfeeding T1 and formula feeding (by cup) T2 for now and then starting T2 on breast once sugar levels are stable.

But none of this is going to be easy until mum is a bit calmer. So think you need to make her the focus for now!

hub2dee · 07/05/2005 20:54

OK. This is fun...

Erm... You saw she was stressed so you made her have a nice hot shower, suggesting she does self massage. After the shower you did some shoulder massage to nice yogic music, gave her loads of water to drink, maybe a hot / cold compress to the breasts to stimulate flow and then stripped the babbas to wake them up and tried some skin to skin and they gobbled like mad ?

How's that ?

Forgetmenot · 07/05/2005 21:09

Hub2dee that was fantastic advice!!!!!

moondog · 07/05/2005 21:14

Whatever you do/did, I think it would be a loooooong visit!

Express and cup feed?

Dad would need to be 100% committed from the start otherwise it would be hard.

C'mon mears,spill the beans!

hub2dee · 07/05/2005 21:19

Yeah, I wanna know if I got a gold star and what CD you played.

throckenholt · 07/05/2005 21:20

calm mother, encourage to do lots of skin to skin, express if possible - will give her confidence that she has got milk. Cup or tube feed babies with whatever you can get - expressed or formula.

Been there (my twins were 35 weekers and wouldn't latch on) - but I had successfully breast fed and expressed before. My twins were tube fed for the first week (went on to bottles in the end because I wanted to go home !).

So - what did you do ?

Katemum · 07/05/2005 21:21

Can we have the answer now please

Mosschops30 · 07/05/2005 21:21

Message withdrawn

JoolsToo · 07/05/2005 21:30

could it be you got the twin 1 successfully breastfeeding and you fed twin 2 (may be with expressed milk) from the bottle?

Caligula · 07/05/2005 21:35

Get her to have a nice warm bath with a glass of wine and then get her to hold baby in the bath with her without feeding until the baby roots? (Keep topping up hot bath water, but not wine glass?!)

Go on then, what's the right answer?!

Caligula · 07/05/2005 21:36

After having ascertained whether she really wants to go on with bf, of course! Did she really want to give up and was waiting for "permission" to, or did she really want to carry on?

yoyo · 07/05/2005 21:43

If she hasn't got bottles I assume she would have to manually express into a cup? Think this would be stressful so my original thought of feeding Twin 1 whilst expressing for Twin 2 would be no good at all. Ah, but you could take a pump with the bottles which would make it easier (assuming you have access to one). If she is that stressed perhaps both twins could have expressed milk in a cup and even top them up with formula just so that the mother could have time out to reassess things.

highlander · 07/05/2005 21:48

I love puzzles!!

I'm assuming mum has had a conventional delivery?

I'm assuming the babies are latching on OK, no tongue-tie or anything?

If so, get her home ASAP and into bed for a marathon BF few days.

Offer boob to babies every 2 hours then top them up with a bottle, with one of those 'have to work for it' teats. After babies have fed, pump for 10 mins on each boob. Start to save what's pumped and bung in the bottles.

Maybe the babies will start to take more boob when her supply is really going?

hub2dee · 07/05/2005 21:50

Hey, did you tell her to get a grip and that your car was on a meter costing 40p for every 7.5 minutes and that if she didn't hurry up you were gonna just go grab a Mcdonalds milkshake and feed it to her dts, and that as it was their first proper feed they'd be addicted for life so she had better disover some let down reflex pretty damn quick ?

LOL.

soapbox · 07/05/2005 21:52

Well judging by how long Mears has been gone I think we can assume that it wasn;t an easy solution

She's probably there chucking red wine down mums throat as we speak!!!

moondog · 07/05/2005 22:00

lol hub2dee

highlander · 07/05/2005 22:00

H2D - PMSL!!

everyone else's ideas are so sensible must learn to read other posts first

pootlepod · 07/05/2005 22:01

Have we got an answer yet, I want to go to bed but know I will forget about this post!

Caligula · 07/05/2005 22:01

Oh do tell, do tell, so that I can go to bed!

(Only it's 10 O'Clock on Saturday night...)