Breastfeeding only one twin.

[NP2B]

Another breastfeeding question.  Not sure if I should post this in the BF or Multiples forum. 

Has anyone only  breastfed one of their twins?  My girls were born 4 weeks ago (at 33wks6days).  One of the babies(E-the bigger one) is breastfeeding well and I still cannot get the other baby(A) to latch on.  I've been pumping after each feeding, so both babies are getting breastmilk.

I don't know how much longer I can continue to breastfeed(E), then pump, then bottlefeed(A) for each feeding. 

These are my 2nd/3rd kiddos and I BFed my son until he was 21 months. 

[herdingkittens]

Hey there.  I can sort of answer your question.  I nursed both my twins, but it took them until they hit "term" (they were induced at 36 weeks) until they actually could nurse.  Until they got it, I would let them try (they got very very little), then I bottle fed them my milk, then pumped.  It was super time consuming and exhausting, but it was worth it.  During that time, they had a weak latch and suck.  Eventually they were able to nurse, but it was just waiting for them to develop to that point, you know?  

Maybe just waiting it out on your little one who doesn't yet have the hang of things?  She may just need to get to the point where she is actually able to nurse.

Also, if you already have not done this, I would contact a LLL leader in your area over the phone and/or get with a GOOD lactation consultant.  I have had wonderful advice from these ladies in the past that was so so helpful.

If it encourages you any, after their rocky start in life, our twins just turned 3 and still occasionally nurse (they kept it up the longest of all our children).  Once they got it, they really enjoyed it!  

[dolcimama]

My boys were born at 33 weeks and 0 days. Today at 5 months they are a hefty 18 and 16lbs. The previous poster is right that they may not be developmentally ready to nurse yet. One of my twins is a confident nurser and the other one is. not. interested. ever. I both breast feed B and pump for A so he is getting the benefits of BM even though he won't nurse (has no issue taking it from the bottle). I also use formula to supplement both (even with domperidone, I don't produce a lot). I spent a lot of time and agony over this and paid for additional lactation conslutation beyond what my hospital offered. It is not what I wanted (I never was able to use my gigantic twin nursing pillow) but at least I know that A is still getting BM. I decided that for me, happy and healthy were enough and I'll keep pumping!

Best wishes,

Gabrielle

Mommy to Franklin & Callan

[Lilymomma]

I only nursed one of my twins for nutrition, though both nursed (28 weekers).  I had to 100% supplement for my daughter and she loved to suckle at my breast.  My son- he was mostly breastfed, but needed some supplementing.  My daughter just never learned to transfer milk :(  

The first time my daughter actually latched though (she was the smaller/sicker baby) was after resting her bare body against my bare chest and we just chilled for 20 minutes.  After those 20 minutes, she started creeping towards the breast and with only a little help, she latched for the first time.  Of course she de-stated and sputtered as soon as the milk let down and we ended up using a shield for the first 4 months,  but it was pretty amazing to see that :)  I think she was 33 weeks gestation at the time (my other twin had already been nursing for 2.5 weeks).  I have heard a lot of preemie moms say that it took their babe until term to learn it!

Good luck to you!

[Barefoot Farmer]

Well, I am currently nursing 2 out of 3, with my trips, so it is sort of like 1 out of 2.  With the trips, DS1 was born with Down Syndrome and had a lot of difficulty learning to latch. I pumped and pumped and pumped.  Eventually at 4-5 months age we started to supplement with other people's breastmilk and formula.  I still gave him an opportunity to try to latch every day, on a good day 2-3 times a day.  At 7 months old, he latched for the first time!  It was incredible.  Over the following weeks, I scrambled to balance the nursing of 3 (again) as I wanted nurse as much as his siblings.  My body got really taxed; as his bottles of formula/donated milk went down, so did my energy.  I need to re-evaluate what was best for the whole family as well as for DS1.  We settled on 1/2 nursing, 1/2 bottles. . . until 10 months of age, where he bit to blood.  We were never able to recover from his biting.  He hasn't nursed in 2 months now.  There are times that I worry about treating him differently than his sibling (1 older, and 2 triplet siblings), but then I remind myself: I am just as much his mama.  Nursing is one (incredible, beautiful, and vital) aspect of mothering, but it isn't all of it. HTH.

[~Adorkable~]

Mine are clearly showing improvement as they get closer to their EDD. And the bigger boy clearly has about a 3 day advantage, so I usually feel confident that she will follow suit. My girl is just now starting to figure out what to do with a real mom nipple about 1 in 5 times and she would have been 38w2d today. I would give it time, I'm so there with you on the hassle and worry of nursing and pumping.