Breastfeeding Twins- one not feeding well advice ?

Kit_Kat_Kate

Hi, I m a Mum of twins. They are 6 weeks old. I m BF them both. DD is feeding really well but DS is not latching on he is just tending to lick. Has anyone got any expereince/ advice I have looked on some BF support sites but can't find anything to help? Thanks.

fernliebee

Congrats on the birth of your little twinnies!!

I would suggest contacting a local support network such as la leche league, or breastfeeding network etc to get some hands on advice. In my area they run a breastfeeding support group so you can go along and get some actual help with a trained breastfeeding counsellor.

Only things I can think off the top of my head would be:

Is he going on first or second? Is the letdown too fast/ slow for him?
Is it every feed he does this or just on some? Maybe he isn't as hungry as his sister?
How often are they feeding? Is he not hungry enough yet but his sis is needing more for example?
Does he suffer with wind, as this can make them unwilling to feed as it hurts their tummy.
Is he tongue tied? This can be missed at birth.
Does he seem like he is in pain or is he just not very interested. If the latter then (It might not be the right advice, but I have done it with DD when she became very fussy feeder) but leave it a bit longer than you would normally to feed him, obviously not until he is distressed but just distract him for a while until he seems really ready for it iyswim.

I really hope you get it sorted out. I only feed my DD (15 months) and it is so draining but worth every minute. Just rest assured you will have enough milk despite what some HV tell you, and hope you can find the solution really quickly.

scruffy96uk

Can I suggest you come over to the parent thread and speak to Krystaltips she is a BF counsellor and many others may be able to help.

Scruff

Oh and congrats on the birth of ur twins

leylie

Congratulations on the birth of your twins.
Have you got a twins group near you - you can get advice & support there from people who've had the same problem.
TAMBA do a leaflet about breastfeeding. (Haven't read this one tho')

http://www.tamba.org.uk/Page.aspx?pid=195

I have boy/girl twins (now 16 - it does get better - honest!)

My daughter was a nightmare at BF - she'd have a suck and then look around the room for half an hour (at least it felt like it!) before she'd have another suck! (Dad has just walked in and said 'She's still like that at the dinner table:rolleyes:)

They rarely wanted to be fed at the same time so at times I did nothing but sit and feed for hours (literally!).
At about week 5 or 6 I gave up and switched to bottles - best move ever (for me & them!)
1. It meant that Dad (or anyone else around! )could help with feeding them too (I did try to express, but that didn't work for me)
2. My daughter responded much better to a synthetic teat being shoved into her mouth - even that needed to be quite firm and the right position to set off the suck reflex!

Hope you find the right solution for you all.

charlottecarter

Congratulations on the twins! Mine are 4 now and I breastfed them to start with and my son was a pain! At about 6 weeks I lost the will to live and started expressing and feeding them from bottles - for me it was the best thing I could have done. They still got my milk but anyone could give it to them and they could be fed at the same time but have one on one attention (if there are two people around!). And it didn't feel like someone was taking to my nipples with nail clippers either!! Hope you find something that works for you all soon! XX

Kit_Kat_Kate

Can I ask how you expressed Charlotte? Did it take long to express? I expressed with DS (now 3) if I was going out but she was 5 months. I used a hand help pump and it took me about 45mins to get 4oz! and a sore hand!

Kit_Kat_Kate

leylie wrote: »

Congratulations on the birth of your twins.
Have you got a twins group near you - you can get advice & support there from people who've had the same problem.
TAMBA do a leaflet about breastfeeding. (Haven't read this one tho')


.

Hi there is about 4 miles away. But I had a c section and couldn't drvie till today! So going for the first time on Tues thanks.

leylie

Kit_Kat_Kate wrote: »

Hi there is about 4 miles away. But I had a c section and couldn't drvie till today! So going for the first time on Tues thanks.

As TAMBA is national they do a magazine and leaflets too - so you can still get the support even when you can't get to a meeting in person.

Not related to your feeding problem but might be useful anyway.....
When mine were young, we got free help from a 'trainee mothers help' a couple of days a week. The colleges were particularly interested in people with twins - and even more so if you have a toddler as it's a good opportunity for 'hands-on' practice for the trainees (Nannies and/or mothers helpers).
We weren't allowed to leave her in sole charge (obviously) but it was great having an extra pair of hands around - and she had to join in with washing and ironing and preparing food (as long as it was related to the child care).

Have you got used to being asked 'are they identical?' - lost count of how many people got a short biology lesson !!:D

HelenKA_2

I wonder if you do one child for one side? This was recommended when I fed mine (8yrs old now and life does get easier!). The only way I could remember which child went to which side was by my rings - the first born went on my right side - I wear a signet ring on that hand, the second twin went on the left side and I wear two rings (engagement and wedding) on that hand!

It means that each child regulates their own supply. You might try swapping the sides for a day or so to see if that helps. And yes, you do feel like a milk bar for much of the time but it does get easier as they get the hang of feeding.

Does your son take a dummy? Just wondering if his sucking reflex isn't too great yet - were they born very early?

Try not to get too wound up about it - that can be as detrimental as anything else. If he's content and thiving on what he's getting then just go on as you are.

Your HV and la leche are great sources of help, and twins club should be a great support.

On another note do try to do the absolute minimum housework etc and take up aaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll offers of help. If you are not coping do tell the HV and dr - I got a homehelp when I had S&B as I had 3 under 3yrs. That helped us in the first couple of months immensly.

Try to eat as well as you can and enjoy them - they grow up so quickly!

I wanted to get a t-shirt printed up

Yes
No
Yes

the questions always asked
are they twins
are they identical (though at least mine were two girls)
you've got you hands full

I took to pulling the sun canopy down to touch the top of the carry cot so people wouldn't know there were two in there!