I have been exclusively pumping for about 6 weeks now and have gotten myself into somewhat of a slump. When I first started pumping, my freezer had so much milk stored in it I swear my boys could have gone a year if I never pumped another drop! The last couple weeks my boys demand has increased quite a bit and my supply is barely keeping up. I'm afraid I'm going to run out of milk and will have to supplement with formula, which I DO NOT want to do.
Does anyone have any suggestions about how to increase my supply??
have you considered putting them on the breast?
First off, well done on deciding to provide your twins with breastmilk. Second, well done on lasting this long with pumping!
I breastfed my twins for 14 months, and for the first few weeks while they were in the NICU, I had to pump. It wasn't easy - cleaning the pump attachments, cleaning bottles, etc. I was so glad when they came home and I could ditch the pump.
Pumps are not as efficient at babies, so your milk will lessen gradually. My suggestion is when you feel you're not pumping as much, put your babies on the breast a few times a day for a couple of days or so, if the babies don't mind that is. If you have a hard time putting them on the breast, I suggest pumping often for nipple/breast stimulation for a couple of days or more until your milk catches up.
Good luck!
I have been breastfeeding my
I have been breastfeeding my sons since they were born (they are 4 1/2 months old). I had previously given the boys a bottle at night of expressed milk but found that I couldn't keep up. In talking to the lactation people at my hospital they suggested pumping more often, not necessarily for longer. The babies demand will increase and since they are not directly stimulating your supply you may need to pump more often. Have you considered breasfeeding them? Once they get a little older it's fairly easy to nurse both using the football hold
I have to supplement at night so dont get yourself down if you need to. You are doing a great thing my providing your milk to your babies. I hope this helps....
exclusively pumping
have you heard about the exclusively pumping forums? browse:
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppexcluspump
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPers/
The yahool site you must request to join, the other anyone can examine. There are tons of tips on the ivillage site about increasing production. Off the top of my head, of course the type of pump you are using is extremely important. I have used a rented hospital grade pump (medela symphony) since day 1 and it has worked great. my babies have never been able to breastfeed and I have been exclusively pumping for 6 months as of yesterday!
Good luck with it...I think it's worth doing if you can keep it up and produce enough. But if you can't, try not to be too hard on yourself. This is just one short chapter in the life of your twins!
Kathy
Pumping exclusively - a different ending to a similar story
First of all, you should feel proud that you are working so hard to provide breastmilk for your little ones. I think that all the suggestions are great so far and I certainly hope that they work for you. I gave up pumping completely after 4 months and gratefully embraced formula. My girls were born at 32 weeks and while their little bodies began to catch up, my milk supply didn't. I tried all the suggestions, read many books, consulted with my doc and their pediatrician, tried a prescription suppliment - all to no avail. My body just didn't work the way I wanted it to. My girls (and I thrived) after I stopped feeling guilty and made the right choice for us. They gained weight quickly on formula and didn't have their first illness until they were almost 2.
I sincerely hope that pumping works out for you. But if it doesn't, please take comfort in knowing that you have many, many other things to offer your children over the years. This isn't a deal-breaker even though I know it feels like it. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you.
re:pumping exclusively
I don't know if this will work for you, but my OB suggested this and it worked well for me. I remember watching the freezer quickly fill up with those 4 oz. rainbow colored bottles, then just as quickly empty back out and I understand that feeling of concern.
My OB suggested co-sleeping with the babies -- one on either side, a different one each night, every other night -- whatever works for you. Sleep without your shirt or if you leak at all, with only a nursing bra. Skin to skin contact is important. Lay your baby so his face is near your breast for easy access. It is a natural survival instinct for babies to sleep light, wake often, and nurse during the night. Human mothers have practiced this for thousands of years (and Europeans/European Americans are the only culture who have stopped this practice and also the cultures with the highest SIDS). The other benefit is that it stimulates your milk production during a time your body usually receives no signal to make milk for 8, 10 maybe 12 hours. Babies sleeping alone through the night is a catch 22 for nursing mothers. Plus, remember, this arrangement is only for a matter of months. You and your babies will both win.
We did this regularly at first and less and less later (mostly after one twin would wake during the night) and my 5'4" 130lb. body with barely B cup breasts actually continued to produce enough milk to nurse them until they were 2 1/2 and 3 years old. My freezer supply eventually ran out when they were about 8 or 10 months old but I could still pump enough each morning to cover one bottle feeding for each per day. By that time they weren't exclusively bottle fed anyway so it wasn't a big deal.
Also, don't worry if you have to supplement with formula now and then. We did on occasion, esp. when traveling. It's not that bad and not once did they stop preferring mommy's milk over formula.
We are such modern thinkers now, sometimes we forget to look back. Replacing modern practices with ancient practices can often find surprising solutions. My twins are so healthy and well adjusted now, it was well worth the effort.
Good luck!
Breastmilk production
I know a lot of women use an herbal supplement (found at any health food store) call Fenugreek (don't know if I spelled that right). I think it comes in tablets. There is also a tea and another herb I can't recall the name of off hand. My suggestion would be to either go to a health food store and ask them what they have (they're usually pretty knowledgeable). I don't know what chains are national, but I know Fruitful Yield and Whole Foods carry these products. I also have a compounding pharmacist that is extremely knowledgeable about herbal and natural supplements, so that is certainly worth investigating. Also, you might call the lactation consultants at your local hospital. They were helpful when I had issues, and they were actually the ones that originally recommended the herbal supplements. I wish you luck - I know it can be frustrating, but the last thing you should do is stress - that will make your milk supply even lower. I know - easier said than done with multiples!!
I had heard about fenugreek
I had heard about fenugreek and also oatmeal. I don't know why those things would work, but I guess I need to try!
www.meesterflye.etsy.com www.myspace.com/kylieharbin
First, congratulations on
Pumping & milk production
I agree about the relaxing part, for pumping it is essential!!! Also, the double Medela pump worked great and did not damage my nipples. BUT, I NEEDED to be "distracted" from pumping it seemed, as I was so stressed about trying to have enough milk that I would not get let-down during pumping unless I was on the phone having a relaxed phone-visit with a friend or my sister. My mind had to be off of the pumping. Before that moment of realization, I would often sit for an hour with the double pump hooked up, trying to relax and get no let-down. (except mentally). Then I would worry that the babies would wake up hungry and my milk would be all pumped out when they needed it. When that happened we'd try having my husband bottle feed them, which again wasted the milk I had so painstakingly pumped. Finally, people (kid-less as well as other parents) offered all kinds of advice, like "Have a glass of wine." "Watch a movie." "Relax." "Talk to a friend on the phone." Each of these suggestions WORKED for me. I got let down when I was relaxed and not distracted. And amazingly lots of milk flowed, not just a few drops! I am not typically a "drinker," but a few sips of wine was just enough to relax and make my mind move away from the stress of "Will I have enough milk?" In addition, to keep myself nutritiously in shape, I ate very high nutrition mini-meals throughout the day, and supplemented with Fenugreek and some other recommended herbal things (12 yrs ago, I don't recall everything by name:-). I nursed my twin girls for 3 years, and could not get my babies to take the bottle pretty much AT ALL, except on 3 or 4 occasions if another person was giving it to them and I was gone for 8-12 hours or so. Otherwise, they'd just scream and push their mouth away from the "rubber thing" being offered to them. It was challenging being their "only source of nutrition" for a while, but I kept with it and pumped after feedings almost every time for the first 6 months. Once we realized they were never really going to take the bottle, and when they were beginning to take sippy cups, we had plenty of milk in the freezer to last forever (it seemed). So I quit pumping regularly at that point. Just did it occasionally to keep some supply, but did not have to worry about it as much when they were eating other foods. When time came that they were eating solid foods and all of the milk I pumped might be wasted (1/4 of my freezer space!), that was very sad. I called milk banks trying to offer it to newborns who for whatever reason could not be nursed by their mothers...they could not accept my milk unless I had been tested for various diseases PRIOR to pumping and freezing the milk. So we made baby-oatmeal and such for a while but eventually had to throw away the frozen milk:-( But, the experience of nursing twins was wonderful and I would not have done it any other way. My twins are 12 now and have not gotten "sick" for more than 24 hours, it seems in all these years. The first time they got any kind of illness was around 3 or 4 yrs of age, when they went to pre-school. It was just colds, mainly. Not enough to make them even sleep a little more (though we wished they would!) These two stopped napping by 18 months, and only one 2 hr nap per day after 6 weeks of age. Not much free time for the grown-ups! But while they napped for 2 hours, I developed my creative beadwork business, which helps me to relax and create beautiful semi-precious jewelry and gifts. I had to hurry, and put everything away before they awoke each day, as I worked on the kitchen table! But now, I have my own little studio and sell my beautiful beaded wares on my website! In fact, I created my most popular item Beaded Eyeglass chains as a result of my twins pulling on my elastic one, letting go, and it snapping against my face! Good luck and keep pumping/nursing...the milk you produce is better than anything you can buy...but, of course formula was useful on occasions where my milk did not seem plentiful and one of my twins would gulp it down on those few and far between occasions where we just ran out of ideas.
I always watch tv or read
I always watch tv or read when I pump. Maybe at night I can watch my video monitor of the boys sleeping and during the day, have them next to me.
...getting several ideas I need to start trying!!
www.meesterflye.etsy.com www.myspace.com/kylieharbin
Breastfeeding multiples
make sure you are drinking lots & lots of water!
but if you go to a health food store you can buy Fenugreek-
it doesn't hurt your breastmilk and will increase your supply!
I used it & I know many moms who used it!
keep pumping but do it more often-
your body should react by making more milk!
breastfeding is a supply & demand kind of thing!
You may have to take more Fenugreek than the bottle says-
I did, and it was amazing the difference!
Good luck & keep up the great work!
Good for you for exclusively
Good for you for exclusively feeding your babies breastmilk! It's an amazing accomplishment, and lots of twin moms are never able to do that. While breastmilk is best, a bit of formula doesn't make you less of a mommy to your boys.
You've heard it before but it's true---the more you pump the more you'll get. Pump pump pump! You might consider adding a pumping session to build your supply. I never did take any supplements, but I have known women who were helped by them. Ask your doctor what she thinks about supplements. Try to drink tons of water, eat healthy, and get lots of sleep (between all those pumping sessions and taking care of twinfants, of course!)
Pumping Exclusively
I was in the same situation with my twins...have you contiunued to try to get them to latch? I pumped for 6 weeks also until my boys were able to latch on. I had almost given up but it just took them longer to get the hang of it. That is my best suggestion...I was trying to put them both to the breast then bottle feeding breastmilk and then pumping so I understand that it can be a very frustrating scenario for all involved but you never know...they might latch on like mine did :) I wish you the best of luck
Lorelei
Actually, latching on wasn't
Actually, latching on wasn't a problem with either of my boys. At about 2 1/2 weeks they were both latching on.
www.meesterflye.etsy.com www.myspace.com/kylieharbin
Hi. I breastfed my twins
Hi. I breastfed my twins for a year, and I had to pump for several months before they were able to latch on (I don't remember when they finally latched). The point is that I pumped for months, and I think I could've fed 4 kids with all of that milk (we had to buy an extra freezer). The 2 things that I know which helped me was that I pumped regularly every day (I had a schedule) and night, and I rested when I could. I read that your milk supply could be compromised if you're not getting enough rest and EVERYONE told me to sleep when my babies slept, and I did. I didn't worry about the house, laundry or meals (I had the luxury of family help), and I concentrated on feeding the babies (by bottle), pumping and resting. I know I was still sleep deprived, but I think it helped making an effort to rest as much as I could. I wish you the best.
I feel rested...I actually
I feel rested...I actually feel as rested as I did before I was pregnant, although I don't know how. I was pumping double what they were taking. But while their demand has gone up my supply has remained the same.
www.meesterflye.etsy.com www.myspace.com/kylieharbin
Breastfeeding
I have two sets of twins, girl twins (now 12) and boy twins (now 11) , which I nursed til they were 6 months old. At first, I didn't have enough supply to keep them content, so I supplemented. Later, when I returned to work, I began to pump, and within days, lost a lot of the supply that I had when nursing. It just wasn't as effective. The milk that your body produces is PURELY supply and demand. The only way to produce more is to have those babies request more at the breast. I would suggest that you switch to exclusively nursing and avoid the pump. It's close, but it's not the real thing.
I tried exclusively
I tried exclusively breastfeeding...it just wasn't right for us. I was getting absolutely zero sleep b/c the boys were nowhere near the same schedule. One liked to graze while the other would eat till full or eat/sleep/eat/sleep. Pumping has been working out great...until now.
www.meesterflye.etsy.com
www.myspace.com/kylieharbin