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I wish they could breastfeed more in the NICU but the push is so much for them to nipple everything via bottle so they can come home. I pump about 22-23 oz/day and they currently require about 35-36. Can I ever come close to catching up with them and do mostly breastfeeding with a couple of formula feeds thown in?
You can, but it may take some work. I never caught up to my boys after they came home. We had a lot of stress, though. In the two months after they came home we had two emergency surgeries, two scheduled surgeries, I sold my house, and I moved cross country. A few weeks after the boys got home from the NICU I was trying to breastfeed them, but Nathaniel was not very efficient. Sometimes I would pump one side, breastfeed Timothy on the other, and bottle feed Nathaniel at the same time. We were working on it all. Then my mom came to "help." It was down hill from there. From time to time I would try to breastfeed again, but never did much at all. Finally after about nine months I said I was either breastfeeding (only pumping at work) or quitting it all together. At two and a half my boys are still very happily breastfeeding! No, they didn't get exclusive (fortified) breastmilk after about two months of age, but I did what I could. Had I breastfed rather than pumped I think I may have been able to work up to it. Keep in mind that if you are breastfeeding and supplementing with formula, you don't want to skip a feed and give formula. You would want to breastfeed and then give some formula on top of that. You need to empty your breasts every time your twins feed or you will continue to decrease your supply. Emptying your breasts more often should increase your supply. I did use More Milk Plus and it seemed to help some with supply. It tastes horrid and so sometimes I would get the more expensive capsules. If you are bottle feeding and needing to supplement with formula, the easiest think on babies' tummies is to mix formula and breastmilk rather than formula at some feeds and breastmilk at others. Good luck to you! Keep in mind that any breastmilk is very beneficial!
my baby is still in the NICU, and i'm pumping at home. I would say continue pumping, if you can increase your pumping to every 2.5 hours if you can. That will help increase your milk production.
You should let the NICU team know you want to breast-feed, and they might ask you to come in more often to meet your baby's feeding needs. Don't get discouraged, and keep trying.
I would also talk to a lactation consultant for more tips.
I didn't have twins, but I did successfully BF my 25 weeker after 14+ weeks in the NICU. I EPed for the first 10 weeks or so, then did a combo of pumping and BFing until discharge. Our NICU (like most, from what I've read) was very big on being able to measure and quantify everything, and that made BFing very challenging. DS didn't really get the hang of BFing until we roomed in right before discharge - he either wasn't interested on their schedule, or he would take too long or fall asleep and they'd bottle or NG the rest.
I think it was a combination of 3 things that really helped - 1) he was almost to his due date, 2) when we roomed in, we had a private room, which was so much less stressful for everyone, and 3) we threw the strict schedule out the window and let him nurse on demand.
He was EBF until he started solids at 11 months actual, and he went on to nurse until he was 22 months actual. There were many times during that last month in the NICU that I almost gave up, but once he got the hang of it, it got a lot easier. Good luck! :)
yes, I did it, I pumped for 5 1/2 months.
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