Should I give my twins a bottle?

[veryindecisive]

Have been bfing twins for 4 months and although they are alert, healthy and gaining weight, they are slowly slipping through the centiles...

They were 75th and 91st centiles at birth for weight, but have slipped to 25th and one has just slipped into 9th centile. Heightwise they are 75th.

Just wondering if I should introduce a bottle of formula at 7pm bedtime feed, and see if it makes any difference to their weight gain.

Am worried my milk might decrease (If they will even take a bottle anymore), and also about allergies. DD1 had ezcema and a strange reaction to dairy as a baby...

Has anyone else been in same situation?

fantastic for b/fing twins for so long - well done you and you should be very proud of your self.

Mars or Momma will be able to help I am sure and I will try and steer them over here.

You could always try the regular 'multiple thread'

Can't offer much advise myself as didn't quite make it that far!

You should do what you think is best. I BF my twins for about 12 weeks, but they were always hungry, were low on the centile chart, and I was constantly exhausted. You have done incredibly well BFing for this long! It's tough with two. When I switched to bottles with mine, I did it quite quickly, as I'd had enough, and had no problems at all with them taking the bottle. It made such a difference, as DH could help with feeds, as could any willing visitors. Both mine had excema, but changing onto formula didn't make it worse. The great thing about changing onto bottles is that you can see exactly how much they're taking, which means discussing worries with health visitors is easier.
Good luck! It's so hard with twins, and lots of people don't understand that. Do what feels right for you. Hope that's vaguely reassuring!

Thanks - I didn't even realise there was a multiple thread!!

Is really hard - never put DD1 on formula, she went straight onto cows milk at 12 months when her "allergy" seemed to ease, so I don't really know how much easier it is...

Kembletwins, yes it is hard with two - and it would be lovely for DH to help out with the feeding - especially the middle of the night feeds!!

DH and I made a brilliant deal when my two went onto bottles. He was getting up for work at about 6.30, so if the girls woke for a feed after 5.30, he would do it, as he was getting up soon anyway. So I knew that once I'd fed them at midnight or 1am, I didn't have to get up again. Bliss!

I haven't got twins, let alone breastfed more than one but I have had a baby who slipped down the centiles and I would say it's not worth introducing formula, if the centiles are the only indicator that something is wrong.

If they are happy, healthy and alert and don't look scrawny - and most importantly you are happy to, keep exclusively breastfeeding.

I don't think one bottle a day would wreck your supply as you have double the stimulation, but I would wait for that to be confirmed by an expert as I don't know 100% how it works. Remember every breastfeed makes a difference so you have done so much for them already!

I will answer this as a regular sliding centiles bf question, as that's what it is basically!!

They are bright, alert, healthy and gaining weight. Just not at the rate that the formula based centiles say they should? As long as they are not losing weight then there is nothing to worry about.

Introducing a bottle now may have a knock on effect on your supply, and may also have other undesirable effects like constipation, reduced immune protection and so on.

Bottle feeding twins is only easier if you have someone with you at all times to help with feeds. It is impossible to hold both babies and feed them simultaneously, so if they need feeding together you will have to sit them in car seats etc and feed them without holding them.

It's not impossible to bottle feed twins whilst holding them. You just need a bit of imagination! I managed it perfectly well, thank you.

I have breast fed and bottle fed both of mine at the same time - infact unless someone was there I always fed them together. Double bottle feeding children isn't difficult and I always had them on me and not in bouncy chairs or car seats.

veryindecisive - I am in no way suggesting that is what you do

Oh, and my DD1 was born on the 50th centile and slowly slipped down until she was below 0.4th, but she was happy, healthy, and growing. At nearly 6 she is now back on the 50th centile and perfectly healthy.

The centiles are not everything, it's quite normal for bf babies to have a growth curve like this, the curve levels and climbs at an uneven rate, not in a steady curve like in the red book, do a search for threads on bf and weight gain, you'll see this is a common pattern!

Thanks greenmonkies, I will remember that when if i have another baby, bf and they are too slipping through the centiles like my dd did

Agree with GreenMonkies. It is very common at this age for an exclusively breastfed baby's weight gain to plateau for a while.

Are they losing weight at all, or is it just that they are not gaining loads?

I don't remember the figures exactly, but my ds only gained something like 7oz in 8 weeks between week 16 and 24 (ish). Then, for no apparent reason, after that plateau, his weight started rocketing, on breastmilk alone.

HTH

They are gaining anything between 3-6oz/week but still makes them slip down the centiles!
They lost 10% initially, prob cos we were stuck in hospital...

They slept over 6 hrs straight last night
(woo hoo) - i didn't wake them as I was shattered.

Does anyone wake their babies at night to feed if weight gain slow?!

Sounds like they're actually doing pretty well and you shouldn't worry too much...

Is there are twins group near you? I was a life saver when mine were small (still is) as there are so many people with similar problems and worries.

3-6 oz a week is fabulous weight gain, you should be patting yourself on the back and eating plenty of chocolate, not worrying about centiles!!!!!

Are your or your partner tall and slim? If so, there are much worse genetic heritages to have! And like everyone says, if the centiles are the only reason that you are worrying you might want to try and stop thinking about them for a bit. I had this issue with a skinny baby (just one) who was dropping centiles like nobody's business but I really felt she was fine. I dealt with it by stopping weighing her as I felt that it was stress I didn't need. If your DCs are developing normally in terms of behaviour etc and don't appear hungry then I would personally advise weighing them a bit less often!

Would love to say i'm tall and thin but unfortunately i'm neither!!

HV is weighing every fortnight as they want to keep a close eye on weight gain - she is absolutely lovely but I think she'd be happier if I cracked open a bottle! (although is understanding re allergies etc)

It's hard deciding whether i should try and feed them up a bit!!

How is it going, very?