My twin boys are 2 weeks old and I've been pumping and supplementing with formula. I is a really good eater, while E struggles a little with reflux issues. As a result, I has consistently taken in more than E has (at least 2-4 oz per day). They are averaging about 2-3 oz of pumped breast milk or formula per feed, but E usually lags behind. I think they are both getting close to what they should be getting daily, but we want to try and keep their intake as close as possible, which usually means trying to get in an extra feed for E or offering more per feed.
I recognize we are also more concerned about how much they are getting bc they are twins (tho fraternal) and hope that they're both gaining weight as evenly as possible and that one doesn't surpass the other significantly.
I guess my question is.. Can anyone let me know that we aren't crazy for thinking this way/doing this? Also what was your sleep/feed schedule like with newborns? Thanks
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I tried to force my twins into the same schedule for a long time. Um, up until a few days ago actually! It's maddening if you spend all day feeding one, burping, holding upright, then starting over with other! You'll never get the chance to rest! Hopefully bottle feeding expedites your proceeds though! At almost four months, though, I've finally given up trying to force Alice to conform to Blake's schedule. They are two separate people and have different needs and feeding styles and even though it's a PITA, it's made a huge difference in their daytime naps! At 2 weeks though it's hard to know what they need.
Is there a reason you're so concerned about keeping their weight even? My twins are a pound apart and always have been. Their body styles are totally different too. I think as long as your boys are growing on their own curves, remain proportional, etc. it's probably not that important that they stay the same weight.
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Oh I wanted to add something else - right now it's ok to exist purely in survival mode! What you do to get through this week doesn't have to be what you do next week or even tomorrow. Get through today and remember you can always adjust it and see what works for you and your babies. Two weeks is still so new and you'll learn quickly that no day is ever the same when you have two tiny personalities to contend with.
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So far, it seems that we are able to keep them on similar schedules... One will wake up hungry and want an extra feeding, which can throw the whole schedule out of wack! (well whatever schedule there is... I just want some rest!)
Hmm to clarify, it's not so much that their weights are even, but more so that we want them to try and take in similar amounts. I know their bodies could metabolize/digest the milk at diff speeds and such, but we want to try and offer the same to both. They were both born weighing only 2oz apart and we're the same height.
(and tbh, Dh is way more concerned about them getting the same amount and trying to gain weight evenly.. He's thinking Way down the line but is hoping that the feeds early in their lives help set the stage for them to be closer in height and weight as they grow) -
@msmug: Well, if they were born close to the same weight and the same height their proportions and growth curves would be the same, so that makes sense! Both my kids have reflux although Blake's is more severe than Alice's. Alice (my bigger baby) can now handle significantly larger bottles than Blake and prefers to nap for almost two hours (hallelujah) and then eat a ton. On the flip side, with Blake's smaller size and worse reflux, he needs smaller more frequent feedings.. Otherwise he's been known to spit up what looks like an entire bottle after eating! I track everything in the Baby Connect app (otherwise is have no clue what was going on, haha) and despite their difference at individual feedings, their intake is pretty even by the end of the day. Perhaps E just needs more but smaller readings while I can do less but bigger bottles. Try tracking the qty they take at each feeding and see how it compares over the whole day!
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@twodoghouse: I just walled you my thanks. But to also respond here.. The proportions and growth curves...that makes so much sense. We have been tracking on baby connect also, but sometimes I feel like that is making Dh and I more neurotic about their feedings.
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My twins were the same way! I was really committed to feeding them at the same time, (bottle feeding), which led to some tricky arrangements but luckily kept them on the same schedule. I never worried too much about how much they were eating--I just fed them what they wanted. Babies won't starve themselves, and they also won't over-eat! Both my kids have always gone through phases of eating tons to eating almost nothing. Sounds like you are doing great!
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I only have one,but the nicu nurses put him on a pretty solid 3 hour schedule. We woke him to eat at the 3 hour mark, and then changed his diaper and he was ready to sleep again for the first 2 months. During growth spurts he ate more frequently, but otherwise he did really well on the 3 hour schedule for a long time. I plan on doing the same with my second. Of course if he was hungry earlier i would have fed him, but he got used to taking a full feeding and it was rare that he would vary his schedule.
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I can understand trying to put them on a similar schedule but sorry, it makes no sense to keep their intake the same. Babies will eat how much they want to eat, and I really don't believe trying to keep their intake the same now will necessarily make their height/weight the same in the future. Especially if they're fraternal - genetically, they're no more similarly related than siblings. I know many siblings whose body size/shape is very different from each other, so it seems funny to try to keep them the same. They are individuals.
In the NICU, we always tell parents that when one wakes up, to change/feed the other one too so they're on similar schedules and you can (hopefully) get some rest between feeds. But we've never, ever given the advice to try to keep their intake similar at each feed. Instead we educate parents to feed their babes until they are full, however much that may be.
If they are similar weight, their intake over the day will likely be similar (since we usually base fluids in mL/kg), however how they get there might be different.
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