Baby loses interest after 10 minutes

[Twiceasnice]

Hi,

I have15 days old twins. When they were first born they were admitted to the NICU for being underweight. Initially I said only allow breast milk but was not able to produce enough so they mixed breast milk and formula in a bottle and fed it to them. Now my twins are home and I have enough milk to go around. They latch on with no problem but after 10 minutes they seem to lose interest in the breast so we feed them breast milk through a bottle. Anyone have any advice/tricks on how to keep them interested so we can eliminate the bottle? Does anyone know why they would lose interest? Thank you in advance.

[skycheattraffic]

It may just be that they are efficient nursers and get what they need in ten minutes. Not all babies are heavy on comfort nursing and ten minutes isn't that short a session. If you're very worried about how much they consume, you could go to a LC or rent an appropriate scale and weigh each baby before and after nursing to see how much they consume. I would just phase out the bottles and keep a close eye on their weight gain and wet/poopy diaper output. Baby taking a bottle after nursing is not an indication of hunger, but due to the difference between breast and bottle. I can't comment on newborn nursing duration since my DD was 10 weeks before she latched but very quickly she turned into a quick nurser: 2 to 3 mins on one side and often wouldn't even take the other side. My gut is telling me that you have strong, efficient nursers and as long as their access to the breast is unrestricted and unscheduled, they will take what they need when they need it. HTH.

[skycheattraffic]

Forgot to add that she took 80-100 ml (2.5 to 3 oz) in those 2 to 3 mins and nursed 8 to 12 times a day.

[sarafi]

Originally Posted by Twiceasnice 

Hi,
I have15 days old twins. When they were first born they were admitted to the NICU for being underweight. Initially I said only allow breast milk but was not able to produce enough so they mixed breast milk and formula in a bottle and fed it to them. Now my twins are home and I have enough milk to go around. They latch on with no problem but after 10 minutes they seem to lose interest in the breast so we feed them breast milk through a bottle. Anyone have any advice/tricks on how to keep them interested so we can eliminate the bottle? Does anyone know why they would lose interest? Thank you in advance.

I agree with the scale idea, but if they really are taking a lot more milk from the bottle each time it might be because your let-down has let off. What if you took them off for a few minutes and then tried nursing again?

[Adaline'sMama]

My milk is usually about gone in 10 minutes- it may be that you have super nursers! When you pump, how long does it take for your milk to pretty much stop coming out?