having a breastfeeding wobble

[curiositykilledhaskittens]

Twins were born 16 days ago. Twin1 weighing 3.26kg twin2 weighing 2.45kg at 10 days twin1 weighed 3.21 and twin2 2.41 and at 16 days (today) twin1 has gained and is 3.39 and twin2 has lost and is 2.40. Midwife did lots of shaking of head but didn't explain if this was something to worry about or not or what it coudl be. Is this really bad? The twin2 feeds fine, is very alert and has plenty of wet nappies, she doesn't poo often but when she does it is nice and soft and yellow. I was feeling really optimistic and confident but this has knocked me. I feel a bit emotional!

Congratulations on the birth of your twins! And well done on starting breastfeeding.

I would worry that twin2 isn't feeding that effectively. When you say she doesn't poo often, what do you mean? At this age, babies should be pooing 1-2 times a day (a poo needs to be bigger than a 50p coin).

Her weight being only a tiny bit down suggests to me that probably she dropped a fair bit and is now making her way back up - but I would want to see her weighed again in a few days.

How is your local BF support? If someone professional could check twin2's latch, there may be minor adjustments you could make, that would make her feed more effectively. If you're happy to say what town you're in, I can have a look around for options.

Alternatively, you should call the BF support lines (BfN, NCT, ABM, LLL) but it's hard to know which of the four is strongest in your area. I would expect they would be very eager to help you, exclusively breastfeeding mothers of twins are rare, and people want to help out.

She poos once every couple of/three days, it's getting more regular now. The midwives were not concerned about this - they say it is normal. They also say latch is fine - checked it today.

I have a local breastfeeding service, will give them a ring in the morning. Back for weighing on tues and fri.

I think she's alright, looking at her there's no problems with her development, she's not a sleepy baby and she feeds for a long time and often. I just hope she starts putting on some weight now.

Hmm, irregular poos at this age can be a sign of the baby not getting enough milk. I'm glad she's not sleepy.

Midwives aren't focussed on breastfeeding, and often miss signs latch is not ideal.

She certainly doesn't sound like she's in any danger, but I think a breastfeeding specialist may be able to make things a bit easier for her. (e.g. feeding for less time, because she's getting the milk out better)

I don't remember dd pooing very often at that age, often a few days would elapse between poos, and once nearly two weeks! That was similar for frends with babies the same age too.

It sounds like you are fairly confident that twin 2 is doing ok, if she's not cranky or lethargic all the time, has wet nappies and is feeding well, which you feel she is, that she's just slow to gain weight. Midwife sounds a bit hopeless, vague gesticulation is no good, you need clear information about her concerns. Perhaps you should quiz her when you get them weighed in a few days about the head shaking and what she thinks the problem is.

NotQuite's suggestion of a breastfeeding expert sounds good, if only to reassure you. I think all the weight gain stuff can be so worrying when they're little, and you need to nip any qualms about breastfeeding in the bud so you can stay confident about it and prevent any paranoia setting in.

Great great great on bfing twins though, that's a fantastic achievement.

I think you are doing amazingly well. Id REALLY encourage you to look up your local breastfeeding support network - they will probably come to your house, or to call La Leche League. Both were invaluable to me and I kept feeding my girls till they were past 1 (but I had singletons). However in both cases the midwives freaked out a little at about the age yours is. Keep an eye on the weight but don't be governed by it. Call La Leche they are great. xxx

thanks everyone. Feeling a little more confident now. Will phone the feeding support people in the morning. I'm pretty confident her latch is good and I can hear and feel her drinking milk, I know I'm making milk too. We'll just have to see how things go. It's mainly the pooing coupled with the not gaining weight that's worrying me. My mum gave me a good talking to and looked at her and thinks she's fine. She's so alert, I can't imagine she's really not getting enough milk. Just have to carry on and hope she's putting on now.

curiosity - understandable you feel a bit emotional I'd agree with NQC....there's not enough info in your post to be able to say 'oh, everything sounds fine', which of course it could well be

The weight of twin 2 is obv only part of how she'd be checked over, and the slight variation in her weight suggests plateauing rather than a loss (no scales can be accurate enough to measure a 10 gram loss or gain....so 2.41 is more or less the same as 2.40). But she's not up to birthweight so she needs futher weighing and assessment to make sure she's on the right track.

Infrequent pooing in a baby this young is unusual but not a sign in itself of anything wrong - but coupled with static weight, it just means a need to be watchful and to ensure lots of effective feeding, day and night.

Hard work, I know....

Lol, thanx momma. I do the breast compression thing anyway I didn't realise it was a thing you could do until you posted a link to it yesterday for someone else! Think hope she's growing she has wanted to feed every hour overnight and so was back in our bed and feeding constantly.