updated 6/19 first post. Please help me: Nursing twins.....not going well

[Katigre]

(((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))

With the projectile spitting up, have you considered doing dairy-free diet for you and dairy-free formula (or hypoallergenic) for the boys? Both of my kids were so dairy sensitive that when I ate it they had the projectile spit up and fussiness, and when I cut it out they rarely spit up and the other symptoms went away too. It would need to be gone from all of their diet - your milk and the supplements.

[ashleybama24]

So sorry you are going through all of this! Big hugs and hope things get easier the older they get. With that said you are an amazing mother to do what you are doing. Most people I know would have already given up so kudos for hanging in there. If you switch to formula to save your sanity and give yourself a break/time with your older kids/a nap that is ok!

[bubbaray]

I EBFd 2 singletons, neither of whom would take a bottle ever and I know how rough that was. I am in awe of you BFg twins, with reflux, and with older children. If it will keep you sane, help your older ones adjust to the larger family and basically just keep the family on an even keel, *I* would totally consider supplementing and/or pumping just a few times a day and moving to bottles.

GOOD LUCK!

[LMPC]

OMG after reading your update, I would say that you are amazing!!!! Just wanted to add that I am sending PT's your way and a HUGE virtual

[egoldber]

We went back on 6/14 and guess what?????? One of the boys gained 19 ounces in 12 days and the other gained 15 ounces. They were well passed birthweight. We were told to keep doing what we were doing......which is killing me. I am nursing , pumping out what is left and then, if the boys are cranky, supplementing it right away or saving it.

Well first off You are doing amazing!

I know I only had a singleton, but I did a similar routine (nursing, pumping and supplementing) for younger DD who was discharged from the NICU at 5 pounds. After she started gaining weight consistently and well, we were told that I could stop the pumping and just nurse her. So that is what I did, and it was much, much easier.

If it were *me*, I would probably just nurse them. If they seem like they need more, then I would offer a supplement of formula. But if they are gaining 19 and 15 ounces in 12 days, they probably don't even need that supplement. You could try going without the supplement for a week or two and then see what their weight gain is like.

We already had to adjust zantac for both of them and I think it needs to be done yet again.

Again, my younger DD ALWAYS had to be at the very highest dosage of Zantac for her weight, which meant we were upping her dose all the time. My peds were OK with giving me verbal dosage changes based on her weight at office visits. In retrospect, I wish I had pushed for a PPI reflux med like Prilosec, Prevacid or Zegerid.

DD told me she is mad because "I am cheating on her with the babies" and I cried. The boys were one month yesteray, and I want to get to two months. After that, depending on how the reflux is, I may call it a day.

I hate to say it, but stopping breastfeeding may not help this a whole lot. If you are the primary caregiver, then you are still responsible for most feedings and that is the time consuming part. Also, my younger DD's reflux was greatly exacerbated by dairy (she had a milk protein intolerance when she was younger) and she would have needed to be on a formula like Alimentum vs. a standard milk based formula. Many reflux babies need a specialized formula and they don't always tolerate it well.

I'm not saying I understand what it is like to be in your shoes, nursing twins with 2 older kids, because I clearly don't. But I just wanted to point out that you can make things easier on yourself so that perhaps nursing does not feel as draining as it currently does. And moving to formula does not cure all ills and can make reflux-y kids worse.

[Beth24]

OMG after reading your update, I would say that you are amazing!!!! Just wanted to add that I am sending PT's your way and a HUGE virtual

Can't say it any better than this!

[veronica]

Again, my younger DD ALWAYS had to be at the very highest dosage of Zantac for her weight, which meant we were upping her dose all the time. My peds were OK with giving me verbal dosage changes based on her weight at office visits. In retrospect, I wish I had pushed for a PPI reflux med like Prilosec, Prevacid or Zegerid.



I hate to say it, but stopping breastfeeding may not help this a whole lot. If you are the primary caregiver, then you are still responsible for most feedings and that is the time consuming part. Also, my younger DD's reflux was greatly exacerbated by dairy (she had a milk protein intolerance when she was younger) and she would have needed to be on a formula like Alimentum vs. a standard milk based formula. Many reflux babies need a specialized formula and they don't always tolerate it well.

I'm not saying I understand what it is like to be in your shoes, nursing twins with 2 older kids, because I clearly don't. But I just wanted to point out that you can make things easier on yourself so that perhaps nursing does not feel as draining as it currently does. And moving to formula does not cure all ills and can make reflux-y kids worse.

Fist off, thanks to all for the continued words of support. It gets me through the next feeding!!!

As far as the post above.....yes, we have already been through this with ODS. He developed blood in his stool , at a few weeks old. I stripped everything from my diet, and it kept up for weeks. We tried pumping, while we offered forumula (reg. and then soy) , and nothing was tolerated. he ended up on two doses of prevacid a day and Alimentum for 15 months. he was not diagnosed until 4 months old and I was emotionally spent from everything we were told to do and try.

with the twins, I am all over it already. I've already mentioned going to Alimentum from the get go and am asking for prevacid, at least for Myles, at his checkup on Friday. There is no way I will go through 4 months of all the hoops we did for Cooper!! Poor Myles, his whole body just brings up what he takes in and he tries to sleep through it. And.....the latest is that Griffin is now crying at the breast, while he nurses, same as ODS did , when his symtoms showed up. I just hope the ped. we get on Friday is sympathetic to what we already experienced and knows we can not do it again x2!

[egoldber]

I hope the ped is open to giving you Prevacid right away! You all sound so miserable.

[AnnieW625]

Hugs to you. We never tried Prevacid with DD2 as we were able to finally get decent results from Zantac at .06ml. Also if you bottle feed I can't recommend the Playtex Drop Ins enough. These seriously helped DD2's spit up and gassiness a lot. DD2 is now almost 14 months and hasn't had Zantac in almost 2 weeks so there is hope. I'll be thinking about you guys.

[gatorsmom]

I have my nursing pillow almost permanently attached to me. I miss my older kids so much. School is out now and I just don't know if I have it in me to go the long run, especially with all of the issues. If I could just pump 5-6 times a day and get enough to bottle feed both all day, I would . But for some reason, I can only get a total of 6 ounces per pump session at the most (yet I'm still nursing all day so I imagine I could get more if I did not nurse). That's less than I used to get with ODC's.

DD told me she is mad because "I am cheating on her with the babies" and I cried. The boys were one month yesteray, and I want to get to two months. After that, depending on how the reflux is, I may call it a day. I hate to type that but , emotionally, as well as physically, I am not handling this well. It's the guilt of stoppping BF that keeps me doing it. If I could stop, and not feeli guilty, I likely would. In the meantime, I keep trying....

thanks for all the encouragement. I could not have made it this far without all of you!

What a great update! I'm thrilled your boys are doing well. That alone is a fantastic achievement.

I completely understand what you mean by having the nursing pillow attached to you. And I also understand what you mean by the guilt of stopping BF keeps you going. That is the only reason I kept going up til 7 months. It is so exhausting.

I wanted to offer this idea if you do continue to bf. Sisi had a terrible latch. She just could never get any milk out. However, Greenbean had a fantastic latch and I noticed that when I tandem fed them, he managed to stimulate flow so that I had let down for both babies. If it hadn't been for her brother, she would never have been able to bf as long as she did.

As for the guilt of stopping bfing, don't be hard on yourself. Like I said before, you have to do what's right for your WHOLE family, that means you too. Twins come with an entirely different set of rules.