Hi ladies. So I'm getting a little frustrated and am hoping you have advice or encouragement or tips for this first time mama. My boys are 6 days old and my milk also came in on day 4. I was really encouraged by that and the fact that my boobs were engorged (even tho it was uncomfortable). My supply seemed to be slowly increasing... But I noticed today that I'm barely able to produce 1oz total from both breast. Tell me this is normal? And share how I can increase my supply when the boys are preferring the bottles we had to use to supplement. Thanks!
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And when they say to feed every 2-3 hours, does that mean start to start? Or end to start? In other words, if they start eating at 12 and it takes them an hour to finish, would I feed again at 2?or 3?
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Congrats on two babies!!!
Are you eating plenty of good nutritious calories? Foods like oats, flaxseed etc? Unlimited access to the breast? Skin to skin? Any other info you can give us?
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@msmug: start of a feed to the start of the next feed!
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@msmug: Breastfeeding twins is so hard! I think you should be proud of any amount of breastfeeding you can manage. I breastfeed my twins and supplement after each time. According to pumping and weighted feeds, I get about oz from left side and .5 oz from right side. I think I actually used to get a little less, but I ditched the shields and increased the # of BF sessions and it helped my supply some. Are you tandem feeding them? Once I figured out tandem feeding it really helped me because I wasn't rushing one baby's feeding to get to the other. For me it came down to accepting that I just couldn't make enough milk for two babies and it was ok to do formula on top of breastfeeding. But my LOs still want to nurse all the time despite getting bottles so that helps. I know there are other twin moms (trail mix?) who have had success exclusively a breastfeeding/pumping for their twins!
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I heard it's normal to only pump that much (or even less) per pumping session. I could barely get .5 an ounce in the beginning. If your LO's are having plenty of wet diapers I wouldn't stress too much. Make sure you are eating a drinking enough
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I have to drink a TON of.water and eat constantly, or my supply goes down. Also, it took me a while to build up my supply.
Congratulations on your boys, by the way! I missed that they were born. You're doing a great job, Mama!
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Are you letting down when pumping? Sometimes it helps just to peak in at the babies or look at a picture or something to help your milk let down. Congrats on twins!!!
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Like @Bao said, in the beginning it is normal to only pump a small amount. The babies' stomachs are so small they only eat a little at each feeding. I found the days I ate more and drank a lot of water my output was more. I also found "Mother's Milk" tea to help.
These articles helped me in the beginning too:
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/pumping_decrease/http://www.nancymohrbacher.com/blog/2012/11/27/how-much-milk-should-you-expect-to-pump.html
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I don't have anything new to add (try for as much water, food, and sleep for yourself as possible, which I know can be so hard in the early days!) but wanted to say good luck and congrats on your new boys!
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I don't have any experience with twins but I found my pumping output was low at that stage - a few weeks later it was much higher. In terms of gaps between feeds they usually mean start to start
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Thanks for the tips. I didn't really know what to expect with pumping.. And didn't know I should be pumping every 2 hours. Just didn't seem possible given we are trying to make sure the boys are fed every 2 hours and one has reflux and has to stay up right for a while after feeding and also drinks really slow. Plus they were refusing the boob when I offered it so that plus pumping plus trying to get them fed (formula) while sticking to feeding 2 babies every 2 hours was so stressful for Dh and I. Plus Dh insists that I rest and sleep a lot so I can recover faster. So it's been hard. (I know I'm preaching to the choir.)
@twodoghouse: how did you get tandem feeding to work? My boys won't latch everytime so it's hard to get one latched and sucking and then try to get the other one also latched. Did it just naturally happen when they got a bit older?
@kemma: my mom and mil have insisted I eat/drink the seaweed soup for just about every meal. And I have been eating a lot of fruit. Do oatmeal and flaxseed help with supply and milk production? The babies haven't had unlimited access to the breast for the same reasons above.. They don't always want to latch and refuse the boob and are screaming their heads off for food and get so upset.
I will have to increase my food intake. Water is pretty good imo bc I feel thirsty all the time.
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wow, breastfeeding twins amazes me! They definitely mean start to start with feeding. When I was working on getting my supply up what we would do is breastfeed, and then I would pump for 10 min immediately after BF while my husband gave our daughter whatever I had pumped after the last feed, and then he would give her a supplement of formula if she was still hungry. I'm not going to lie-- it is HARD. Those first few weeks feel so incredibly impossible because you spend literally half (or more) of your time working on feeding your baby. And you have two! If I were you I would work on breastfeeding them as often as possible, pumping as often as possible, and doing as much skin to skin as possible. While also staying hydrated and eating as much as you can. It is SO hard at the beginning but keep in mind that you're only 6 days in (my milk didn't even come in until day 6!) so things can definitely still improve drastically from here. Also I'd consider seeing a lactation consultant if you can find time. I found ours really helpful. Good luck!!
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@msmug: Well, I would say keep working on your boys' individual latches before forcing tandem feeding. Are they small? Were they early? I know both of those things can have an effect on how well they latch and suck in the early days. Blake was 4 lb 15 oz though and has always been my better breastfeeder, so it is possible for a little guy to eat ok! Right now I would start getting them on a little schedule. I still believe in feeding on demand (and often!) but we had to schedule feedings because when there are two babies to feed if you aren't pretty regimented things can get chaotic quickly. You don't want baby 2 to get super hungry/angry while baby 1 is eating, you know? I'd set a phone alarm (I think I started with every 2 hrs) and if they haven't eaten yet start the process of feeding one than the other. If they are both hungry and fussing let DH feed baby 2 a bottle while you work with baby 1. Then next feeding switch. I know it doesn't sound ideal, but Eventually when their latches are improved everything will flow smoother. It was very hard on me to hear one crying baby while I'm trying to BF the other. I needed to be relaxed in order to let down and enjoy BFing. One thing that may help is varying your position until you find what works for you. When mine were itty bitty (first 3 weeks at least!) we only did football hold. Thus helped prep them for tandem feeding too.
Ok so I'm no pro or anything, but this is what's worked for me for tandem feeding! My Breast Friend twin pillow! Couldn't do it without this thing! When they were small I would prop their heads up with burp cloths to position them well. Make sure you have everything you could possibly need ahead of time because once you're strapped into that thing with two babies you're stuck for a while. My kids regularly take one of their naps on it with me stuck in the middle even now at 3.5 months.
You've probably read all the techniques about tandem feeding with boppies on each side, etc. that works for me now, but at first I had to have someone being me the babies and lay them on the pillow. Sometimes my husband would sit there and support one head while I supported the other through a whole feeding. Just remember they won't be this size forever! They grow and get better head control and it gets so much easier!
My kids have reflux too and have to stay upright. Once they got big enough it was great to put a bouncer on the floor in front of the couch where I feed them. That way I can bF, give a bottle, burp and set one baby into the bouncer. It holds them upright enough (more so than the swing or RnP) to minimize reflux.
I don't know if you are committed to exclusively BFing eventually. If so maybe this won't hold true for you, but one thing that's great if you're supplementingn is that you can breastfeed for comfort and bonding and know that they are going to get extra calories from the formula. It helped me feel a lot less stressed about how much they were getting from me, or if I have to cut one baby's time short because the other is flipping out, I know I can make up for it with a bigger bottle. Again, probably not the best attitude to take if you are committed to getting them off formula, but it's saved my sanity as a mom of twins!
Hope this all makes sense - I've typed it up in chunks while I've been pacing the living room with a grouchy Alice. Please let me know if you have questions about ANYTHING! I'm happy to share my experience!
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I haven't had a successful BFing journey yet, so take this for what it's worth.
After a LOT of research I think my problem was calories. I was not eating even close to enough. I've read a lot of conflicting information, so I'm summarizing based on a collection of all different opinions about the matter.
I'm a number person, so seeing this really helped me understand why I can't cut calories. Breast milk needs 30 calories/oz, and will start producing after your body has enough calories to sustain (not going to starve your body to produce extra milk). You need 1,800 calories to maintain (?) and each baby needs 20 oz of milk a day (?). 1,800 cal + (20 oz * 30 cal)*2 babies = 3,000 calories per day to make 20 ounces for each baby. Exercising and burning calories means you need to eat more calories.
Again, this is a rough explanation. Some sources said 15 cal/oz, some said 50 cal/oz. Your base calorie necessity to maintain can be anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000. It will take some playing around with calorie count to find the right balance.
Some people might think this is crazy, I don't know - I just think it's why it didn't work for me. Hoping for better success this time!
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