Breastfeeding

lmt · May 5, 2010 10:05AM

Hi ladies,

I'm getting myself really stressed out about how i am going to feed my twins when they arrive (not due till aug) and thought maybe you could give me ANY advice/opinions?

I only tried to bf my daughter for 1 day when she was born and gave up through lack of support and it is probably the biggest regret of my life, i still feel guilty about it. It didn't help that she turned out to be lactose intollerant and bottle feeding was just an absolue nightmare, each feed took around an hour & she just screamed the whole time, it was awful. Once she was diagnosed & put on prescription milk things improved a lot but by that point she just associated milk with pain & hated having a bottle. She was also always (& still is) very small and i blamed myself for this too as maybe if i had bf she would not have suffered so much & would have gained weight better.
So now i am having two more little ones and they too are at risk of being lactose intollerant. Obviously i want to do anything possible to limit the risks of this & think that bf would be best for them. I'm just worried that the reality of bf twins with a toddler to take care of at the same time will be unmanageable? I have no family/friends around to help me in any way so other than dh (who works full time) i will be on my own with all 3 kids.
Coincidentaly dd's hv was out today to do a 2yr developmet check & when i said i wanted to try & bf the twins she was not negative but told me that in her experience it can be very hard with twins nevermind twins & the demands of a toddler. It's just made me wonder if i'm being realistic about bf'ing or if i'm being selfish and dd will suffer as i will no doubt be feeding the twins almost all the time!
Does anyone know if bf'ing really will help protect against lactose intollerence e.t.c?
Sorry this is such a long post, i suppose i just wondered what your experiences of feeding were/how you are planning on feeding?

Thanks in advance. xxx

gemmiebaby · Apr 29, 2010 4:33PM

Ok, first of all, dont beat yourself up about bf. LO would have probably been lactose intollerant regardless, you just wouldve found out later. Secondly, I didnt follow my own advice above! lol! My boys were my first, so I have no experience of having a toddler around, but it was bloody hard! I dont eat dairy and this affected my milk supply, and the quality of my milk. However, I fed the boys till they were 8 weeks. As I dont eat dairy, we didnt find, till we put them on formula, that they were allergic to cows milk! I blamed myself, and believe me, they suffered, and still do now, although not so much.

Feeding the boys was so hard and I was glad to do 8 weeks, and give them a good start. The 6 week growth spurt killed me, and I couldnt keep going - but then I didnt know about the effect of the lack of dairy in MY diet.

I loved feeding the boys and will defintely be feeding my next one (If I ever get round to have another one!)

I would def give it a go, and make sure you get plenty of help from the professionals. BUT dont beat yourself up about it xxx

lmt · Apr 29, 2010 5:01PM

Thanks so much Gemma, i thought i remembered seeing that your little boys were lactose intollerant too so your reply is really interesting. Are your boys on nutramigen?
That's really interesting that you not eating dairy affected your milk supply. I had wondered if i avoided dairy then no dairy would pass to the babies and perhaps they wouldn't suffer but obviously that's not a good option if it affect your supply.

Well done to you for managing 8 weeks! I think any length of time is probably better than nothing.
Think i'll give it ago & just see how we get on.
xx

lennie1974 · Apr 29, 2010 5:05PM

Hi imt,
I'm in a similar postition to yourself in that i my son will only be 17 months when these two arrive!!
I think i was lucky and found breastfeeding relatively easy although received loads of support from midwives in hospital and think this really helped, try not to be so hard on yourself breastfeeding is not easy and it sounds as though you had a rough time.
I'm already feeling guilty as i fed both my boys for four months and seven months and feel that i should really give these two the same start but like yourself i have no idea how i can feed on demand and have enough time to watch, care and feed my toddler, and check that my teenage son is doing his homework (lol)!!
I've decided to feed them in hospital and then see what happens when i get home, i'm trying to be relaxed about it and see what fits in best for all of the family!!
Hopefully you will receive lots of support after you have your twins in whatever you decide to do!!
Take care
Lenniexx

lmt · May 5, 2010 5:56AM

Thanks lennie,
It will certainly be a challenge for us having twins and an older child/children. I think if i was you i would put your teenage son to good use & bribe him to help out with the little ones in exchange for extra pocket money or something! lol.
Re bf, I think i will do the same, try bf in hospital & take it from there. I was talking to mw about it yesterday & she said any bf'ing is better than nothing so even if i only manage a week or so at least they have had some of the benefit.

Butterfly77 - I have thought about trying that too. I have heard though that it can take up quite a lot of time also??? Again, it's definately worth a try.
xx

fall3n-ang3l · May 5, 2010 9:50AM

i expressed for 6wks and its bloody hard work,its also really hard work if you have anouther little one as well,when thetwins were born my little boy was 20months and looking after him and expressing was making me shattered,i was fine when the twins was in hospital as the nurses were looking after them but it was much harder when they came out at 5wks,when your expressing its like your doing twice the work,as your expresing milk and then feeding them iyswim but i wouldnt change what i did,sorry this is all mixed up,iam in a rush

sarah

Dotty_Jackie · May 5, 2010 10:05AM

Hi,
It's such a difficult decision to make, I never BF my son (now 10) as i didn't have a clue how to do it and no-one offered me any advice. I am now older and wiser and hope to BF these two when they come along, however if i can't then it's not the end of the world. I've got a hand pump but been told these are near to useless so i may invest in a double breast pump if the babies take to the breast. It will be hard work but i'm willing to give it a try. It's good that your MW advised any is better than nothing, at least you're not being pressured into doing it!! xx

Breastfeeding

Replies

Featured Discussions

Promoted Content