mom of twins struggling big time ! need advice !!

Butterfingers, God Bless, hope your DD is better now. No, you are not only one, who is struggling. Good luck to you

Hi Butterfingers, I've twins DD and DS. DD was 2.870 and DS was 2.600kg. I also had large aureolas and they couldn't and I also didn't produce enough milk, I could pump 20ml of milk from both breasts. I just gave them formula, bc I didn't have choice and they were hungry. DD didn't burp, and after every feed which usually took 1 hour, I would sit in my bed and look at clock and see how long it will take her to burp. Sometimes it would take 45 min, to get one burp from her, and also she would get sick if I would burp her. I gave up, she slept like angel, no problems at all. I also had c-section. On day 7 after surgery I was in safa park and on day 9, I was in Al Ain zoo with my 9 days old babies and niece, bc I promised to my niece, while I was in hospital, that I will take her to zoo, she likes giraffes :). Yes I know I'm crazy, that is exactly what my OBG said and everyone who heard about it :). When start giving them 180ml of milk, my boy would eat all, my girl still would eat 120ml, she couldn't eat 180ml, so I had to get up for her every after 4 hours, when my boy ate every after 5 hours. It wasn't easy, but I did enjoy. They going to be 6 month old 7th september. And I still don't understand how quick they grow, how time flies. I don't want to be negative, but there always something comes up. My boy got his first tooth when he was 5 month and 2 weeks old, he was struggling and I had hard time with him. He didn't want to sleep in his bed, he wanted me lullaby him in my arms, he is much heavier than his sister, I also pull my back muscle when I try to pick him up with his car seat, so can you imagine walking with 8kg baby and try to make him sleep, when you have sore back. He cried, he screamed, but I had to carry him and make sure he sleeps. My girl is much lighter. She got her first tooth at 5 month and 3 weeks, she is much calmer, she didn't almost cry.

Hi Butterfingers, I've twins DD and DS. DD was 2.870 and DS was 2.600kg. I also had large aureolas and they couldn't and I also didn't produce enough milk, I could pump 20ml of milk from both breasts. I just gave them formula, bc I didn't have choice and they were hungry. DD didn't burp, and after every feed which usually took 1 hour, I would sit in my bed and look at clock and see how long it will take her to burp. Sometimes it would take 45 min, to get one burp from her, and also she would get sick if I would burp her. I gave up, she slept like angel, no problems at all. I also had c-section. On day 7 after surgery I was in safa park and on day 9, I was in Al Ain zoo with my 9 days old babies and niece, bc I promised to my niece, while I was in hospital, that I will take her to zoo, she likes giraffes :). Yes I know I'm crazy, that is exactly what my OBG said and everyone who heard about it :). When start giving them 180ml of milk, my boy would eat all, my girl still would eat 120ml, she couldn't eat 180ml, so I had to get up for her every after 4 hours, when my boy ate every after 5 hours. It wasn't easy, but I did enjoy. They going to be 6 month old 7th september. And I still don't understand how quick they grow, how time flies. I don't want to be negative, but there always something comes up. My boy got his first tooth when he was 5 month and 2 weeks old, he was struggling and I had hard time with him. He didn't want to sleep in his bed, he wanted me lullaby him in my arms, he is much heavier than his sister, I also pull my back muscle when I try to pick him up with his car seat, so can you imagine walking with 8kg baby and try to make him sleep, when you have sore back. He cried, he screamed, but I had to carry him and make sure he sleeps. My girl is much lighter. She got her first tooth at 5 month and 3 weeks, she is much calmer, she didn't almost cry.

Hi Butterfingers, Have you joined the TTOM group for twin and multiple mums. You can email them for the registration form and then join the group on facebook, lots of information on there. [email protected] I am pregnant with twins and have found this group especially helpfull as there is a large community of twin mums out there with lots of tips and advise. Hope this helps MB x

I'm a twin mom, my bubs are now 2.5 months old. I alternate between formula and bf. I too had problems with bf ( still do to some extent), but I tried to beat it by breast feeding as much as possible. My children had the same issues like you mentioned, reflux and pooping while being fed. We are settled a bit now, mainly because they outgrew them. Pls keep trying and eventually we should get somewhere. You can also email me at [email protected]. X <em>edited by little_zuzu on 23/08/2012</em>

Suggest you work with a good LC, as soon as you can manage you want to be feeding them both at the same time, so that breastfeeding takes half the time. While you are still bottle feeding you could perhaps have someone bottle feed one baby while you breastfeed the other, then the other way around for the next feed so they both get equal time at your breast. Also if one is a better feeder than the other then alternate the breasts so that the good feeder is giving both breasts stimulation. You really need a hands on LC to hep you with the positioning, its common for newborns to spend a long time feeding, and to feed frequently as you describe but even more so if the latch is not right so it would pay to work on perfecting the latch and hold with a professional. The puking is also common and could be a reaction to the formula, or taking in a lot of air while breastfeeding due to a bad latch, or just normal reflux, especially if they were born early (as twins tend to be). Try burping them before a feed and maybe not disrupting their breastfeeds for frequent burping as the vomiting generally won't hurt and its probably better they focus on learning how to feed well at the breast rather than being popped on and off. My guy didn't have the best latch, that took around 10 weeks to perfect. He had simple reflux and puked for the first 4 months of his life, but still gained weight well and eventually moved from long feeds (yep he could take an hour easily) to being a really fast feeder (5 min or less) Some women don't get a lot when they pump, (I never did) but still have plenty of milk and there are medicines and supplements you can take if you truly have a low supply. If you can manage pumping while feeding directly on the other breast then you might find more milk comes out. Here is a list of breastfeeding support and trained lactation consultants in the UAE http://www.expatwoman.com/dubai/monthly_pregnancy_babies_Breastfeeding_Support_In_Dubai_8935.aspx