Sucessful bf stories from multiple birth mum's

[mumbron]

Hi i'm writing this because my twins are now 5 weeks old and twin one lost lots of weight after he was born and still hasnt regained it he was 2.555 kilo's when he was born but twin 2 is thriving which is good but my concern is with t1 i really dont want to formula feed him but i feel at the moment i have no choice so im giving him a bf and a ff after so he is getting something he has a real weak suck compaired to t2 i would love to hear positive stories that a twin has also had this problem but has eventually fully breast feed.

I feel like im failing him and its getting me down :no:

[TripleTime]

Noms fed her boys for 19 months, Sheer bliss is still going strong at 15 months.

I know 2 mums on AMBA forum who are feeding their 14+month olds, 3 mums who fed their triplets for 5+ months.

[bgbgbb]

Bron, I've only been feeding my boys exclusively now for 4.5 months, but at the beginning they were struggling a little as well. I drank 3 litres of water a day (well, still do) and pumped every 3rd feed to up my supply. Then I put my boys on pretty much constantly and before I knew it they were gaining weight beautifully.

Have you got the twin breastfeeding cushion? I find it makes them so comfy, they can sense when we're uncomfortable holding them and dont feed as well.

[MamaBleech]

I've PM'd you a link....

Are you taking anything for your supply? Fenugreek? Lactation cookies? Lots of skin to skin time? I'm not a multiple mummy so don't have much useful practical knowledge but is there a way to sling two babes at once so they both have access to breast?

[Tweak]

I fed my twins tandem for 9 months before I stopped for my own reasons

I used a big flat firm u shaped cushion I bout from babies galore and placed them in the football hold so heads at the front legs at the back

in the beginning they were losing weight so I would express after every feed and top them up that way

I demand fed but the boys fell into their own rountine very very quickly

I cannot express how wonderful that cushion was I would never have been about to do it without it haha

[FiveInTheBed]

I BF my twins for 9months - I put my weaker sucker on my best boob and kept it so they had their own boob. swapped between tandem feeding and seperate feeding ...always on demand.

Best of luck x

[Nomsie]

Hi Bron,

Like TT said, I went for over 19 months with my boys, and only really stopped because I wanted them to start sleeping through for the night :o

I had heaps of trouble in the first 12 weeks- establishing bf is not fun or easy for many mothers, and it's made especially hard when you have more than one!

I'm going to go and find a thread I started when I was still establishing supply, and you'll see how hard it can be for just about everyone- but if you go into the bf section and ask for help and support, you will get countless mum after mum cheering you on and offering you advice and a shoulder to cry on when you have just about had enough :hugs:

I'll see if I can find that thread for you :sunshine:

[Nomsie]

Ok, here (http://www.bubhub.com.au/community/forums/showthread.php?t=225571)is the thread. You can see from my OP that I was in a pretty depressed state about it all. I remember quite vividly at the time I was HATING bf'ing the boys.

But- like magic- at the 12 week mark it did start to get easier :) If nothing else, I would recommend you at least try til 12 weeks and then re-evaluate whether you want to continue to bf or not. You may decide to put just the one on formula- it's really up to you and your state of mind.

But keep us updated with how you are doing- it's great to have somewhere to vent about how hard it is to establish bf'ing. :yes:

[Sheer Bliss]

:hugs: :hugs:

My bubs were 2.1 & 2.2 born and both lost more that the 10% in hospy and we ended up using tube and cup feeds to comp them (EBM where possible, but also formula) after each feed. DD2 also had a weak suck and she seemed to need to feed for longer than DS and the boob was never as empty after she finished. So I used to alternate each boob at feeds (mostly tandem in the first few months) that way each boob was drained and DS was helping to build supply on both boobs. I'd also express off the side DD last fed on when I could.

All my bubs were prem/pre-term and the paed we had was fantastic. He was very big on breastfeeding, and expressing after each feed to help increase supply when bubs was little and weaker. Then at the end of the day (around 8pm) feed all the EBM expressed to bub (with the twins it all went to DD as DS was feeding well) in one hit after a breastfeed. It helped bub with extra calories to gain weight, get stronger and suck stronger whilst not adding any formula into the mix to mess too much with supply. Offering it as a top-up once a day also reduces the exposure to the bottle (you can use a cup if you are confident cup feeding, but it usually takes longer) and reduces the chance of nipple confusion. I always use a NUK bottle when tiny, as the teat on it was so small, and bubs seemed to struggle on the Tommee Tippee closer to nature ones when they were tiny.

Eventually, once we got sorted, DS was still (and still is) a bigger eater than DD, so DS always feeds from the left, DD from the right, so they have regulated the supply in their own breast. Both are still feeding 2-5times a day (they don't want me anymore when we are out because its too exciting to stop to feed :hissy:) at 15months.

It DOES get easier, much easier!!!

[sm2j]

mumbron :hugs:

I too went through the same thing..DD lost about 20% of her birth weight and had a much weaker suck. I did as sheer-bliss....would express after each feed and all the extra would go to her...by 12 weeks she started to catch up weight wise to her brother, and now at 8 months is about a kilo heavier...lol.... she always feeds longer than ds and always has...

I take my hat off to you, I dont know if I would have been able to press on if the twins had been my first, but because I had already bf ds1 for 12 months I knew it would get easier.

[mumbron]

Thanks girls for your great advice now to put it to good use. And fingers crossed T1 puts on weight (which he has a bit i think) and just wants to be bf and doesnt need any top up ff :( and i'll be happy! :D

I have sucsessfully breastfed my other children i just think that 2 at once is a little harder to begin with but i'm sure being positive while give me a good out come:)