Breastfeeding twins - how long can it go on for?

[MrsMopple]

My twin boys are now 4 weeks old. They were delivered at 34 + 4 by elective c section due to concerns about their (and my)health. They spent 2 weeks in scbu, where they were tube fed overnight with ebm and where we established daytime bf with nasal tube top ups. I finally got them home at 2 weeks old and they are still exclusively bf at the moment, but it's bloody hard going, especially at night when I seem to have one good night followed by a night when they seem to be constantly feeding, one after the other - my worst night being when this went from 10pm to 4am. I do sometimes feed them at the same time, but it's difficult at night as I've moved into the spare room with them so that DH gets some sleep (he has a physically demanding job that involves operating heavy machinery and I'm not prepared to risk his life for my sleep!)

My HV weighed them yesterday and both have gained 7oz in the last 6 days, but the smaller of the two has dropped from the 2nd to the 0.4th centile and she said that if he goes lower than that, I'll have to supplement with formula. The thing is, I bought some formula after a bad run of nights, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to give it to them, yet!

So I was wondering - is it possible to exclusively bf twins and stay sane? Or do I have to accept that perhaps another week or two will have to be it?

I did it for 7 months and stopped as I was going back to work.

As you are finding it is sooooo hard at first but it really does get easier. My DTs are 6 now but I can still remember that feeling of complete despair of sitting up all night feeding one after the other. Mine never really fed at the same time (still don't ).

I tried the GF routine which really helped me structure the daytime feeding which helped the night time fall into place. She isn't very popular on here though.

They are both gaining weight so you are heading the right direction. As they get bigger they will be able to take more in so feed for shorter periods of time and less often.

Good luck!

Also meant to say - I cried when we gave my DTs their first formula top up (DH had to do it). I felt like such a failure. They slept long enough for me to have a good nap, shower and a hot meal.

Its not poison....

Mine are 13 months and still going. I would now love to stop but they have other ideas! They were EBF until 6 months, and it has been damned hard work and an emotional rollercoaster, as I have a 2 1/2 year old toddler as well. However well worth it, and they are very happy and healthy.

My tips for success? For maximum lactation and weight gain, feed them together, separately, whenever, wherever, forget routines. For the first few months, whenever they cry, just whack em on the boob and let the world sort itself out. Try to have no shame about stripping half naked in public. If anyone cares, who cares? Let them suckle all evening while you watch tv and eat chocolate. Don't be too OTT about your own diet and sanity inducing glass of wine of an evening. Read lots of things on the internet about the benefits of breastfeeding to keep you pepped up. Don't expect them to sleep all night for a very long time and just try to survive the sleep deprivation, it won't last forever. Also don't expect to be able to leave them for long for the first year, as above, it's hard, but short term. Put them in your bed if you can, one either side or swop them when they wake. Don't worry if you supplement either, I didn't need to, I think because I built up a good supply by feeding them whenever they squeaked even a second for at least the first three months. If you do supplement, remember a little breast milk goes a long way. If you are hating every minute of it then stop, a happy mum is more important.

Good luck!

Hi
Sounds like you're doing an amazing job, especially given that your twins were early and in scbu.
Just to add my experience - I breastfed my twins, mostly together on a cushion. I woke the second twin up to feed in the night when the first one woke in the early stages (and actually in hindsight long after DT2 would have started sleeping through!). That worked well for me (or as well as anything does), they both settled pretty quickly when they were very young though, I would probably have been loathe to disturb them otherwise. I was giving them a bottle early evening from pretty early on (I'd decided to do that before they were born, to give me a bit of a break and mean I could put my elder daughter to bed sometimes). There were some concerns with DT2's weight gain and the HV advised me to supplement with formula - so I added an extra bottle for her for a week or so and then just stopped it again. I don't honestly think it made that much difference as she just slept for ages after a bottle and tended to miss a feed as a result.
We had quite a lot of problems with DT1 with colic and reflux etc and at one desperate stage I decided the formula was to blame and went back to exclusive breast feeding. This was when they were about 6 months, and once I did it with him I felt it was easier just to breastfeed both and that's what I did until they were 14 months. I mention this bit just to say that if you do end up introducing formula it doesn't have to be a final decision necessarily. And the breast feeding does get easier! FWIW, I would do whatever it takes to keep yourself sane and healthy and if that means some or all formula feeding then so be it. I found one of the good things about having twins rather than a single baby was that other people were far less judgey about what I did with them (which I know shouldn't matter, but can seem to when you're sleep deprived and stressed!).
Look after yourself and your babies, and it will get easier!!

I did, and it was fine. Give it another couple of weeks and you'll have got through the worst bit. After the 6 week growth spurt, it's all downhill from there as babies take the most milk at 6 weeks as they do at any other time!

Don't let your HV force you to formula. There are other ways, such as expressing and topping up. Or, you could try to squeeze one or two extra feeds into 24 hrs, just means feeding them a little earlier than you have been But to be honest, if she's growing (she should be staying on the percentile roughly but does not need to jump up a percentile), she's settled between feeds and weeing lots and pooing at least once a day, you haven't got much to worry about. Breastfed babies should not be weighed more than once a fortnight to allow for weight fluctuations that happen with breastfeeding

Good luck, keep going. You're doing great

By the way I breastfed for 13 mths. I was going to stop at 6 mths but by that time it was so easy that it seemed silly to make my life more complicated by having to sterilise!

7oz in 6 days is GREAT regardless of the bloody centile charts. You are doing fantastically well!

You could contact LLL or one of the other BF organisations for some properly informed advice about BF, and they might be able to put you in touch with local mums who have BF twins.

You might find that your DH could withstand one night wakening to help you feed them together without it msking him too tired to work safely. Especially if he got to bed a bit earlier. Lots of dads do....don't be a martyr (not saying you are, but just don't that's all! You have got a tough job and you need sleep too).

You've had some fantastic advice here - particularly about hanging in there until after 6 weeks (actually I found week 7 the most difficult, and then everything improved) and about ignoring routines and just feeding on demand. I bf until 14 and 15mo (one lost interest before the other) and EBF until 6mo. My experience is that part of the reason it's so hard is because everyone around you is telling you to top up with formula/give up because you've done so well already. Well of course you have, but if you want to keep going and you don't want to give them formula, you keep going. Plenty of experience on here to show it's possible.

The very best of luck. Also, I found this forum exceptional in offering the support I needed to keep going during the early days.

As long as you like and yes it's possible without costing your sanity.

I fed mine to 18 months.

Hope you're doing well.