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HELP - Are My Twins Eating Eough

twinsofcardinus
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I have a boy and a girl born 4 weeks early on Augut 21st s they are just over two months old (I have no idea how to figure out the corrected age thingy). NICU drilled into us that they have to finish their bottles every feeding but sometimes they just don't want to and if I try and force it I end up throwing up babies or very irritated babies. They may do a full 4 oz but some feeds they only do 2oz (especially at night an early morning). They were born at 3lbs13oz and 3lbs 15oz and are now approx 8lbs (though Saphira, our daughter is a bit bigger). They seem happy and healthy so should I worry???

I should add that they eat every 3-4 hours on average though they sometimes go longer (5-6) if we let them. Waking them up to fee does not always work as hey simply fall asleep and don't eat and agai forcing the issue leaves us with tired grumpy (but always so cute) babies.

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Stress

10 replies

Hopesmom08

My daughter was born 13 wks early, she has a g button and she never eats anything from a bottle. As long as your kids are eating something from the bottle every feeding thats fine. Sometimes babies just don't want to eat at that time. Who ever told you to make them finish is wrong. You NEVER force feed your baby they won't want to eat if you are pressuring them.

mygirlsmom

Force feeding is a bad idea, in a myriad of ways. It often creates feeding issues, by making the babies HATE eating. It sounds like the volume your babies are taking is just fine - it is totally normal for them to have some good feeds and some not so good feeds. If they are gaining weight well and seem happy, then don't change a thing!!! We never woke our kids to eat, as long as their overall volume during the day was good. Do you have them on a schedule? I found this to be very helpful in dealing with the stress of twins. Good luck!

katek

I agree about not forcing kids to eat. If your children aren't taking enough (meaning that they aren't gaining weight), then have their suck patterns evaluated by an OT who specializes in eating behaviors.

mygirlsmom said it well: "If they are gaining weight well and seem happy, then don't change a thing!"

If your children were born 4 weeks early, then you subtract one month from their actual age to figure out their adjusted age. Adjusted age is simply their age based on due date (i.e., when they "should" have been born).

flutegirl7

I completely agree with mygirlsmom!

Have you considered looking at the total ounces over the course of the whole day? I worried about how much DD was eating at first, because it seemed like she didn't finish the bottle often enough, or didn't eat often enough. But when I kept track and looked at the day's total ounces, it was fine. My own perception was just way off!

ShellyNel

Ditto here. Our NICU told us the same thing, but we learned two things, never wake a sleeping baby, esp. when you have two! and don't force them, we always fed on demand. I would look at total ounces for the day, that is what our pedi told us to do. I cannot remember how much it is for the little ones, but you can ask your pedi or call your nurse hotline. Blessings!

twinsofcardinus

Thank you to everyone for your responses. Having preemie twins has been a challenge and yet a HUGE blessing. I just want to do everything right and keep them healthy and safe. I guess I am hoping not t make any mistakes which is unreasonable lol. I think they are doing ok. We noticed that they eat less in the am and more in he evening often 'asking' for more after they finish their 4 oz. We probably worry more than we need to :). We have sooooo many questions so I hope no one minds if we ask a lot.

Thanks again.

MOMMYx2

Our twin girls were born 5 weeks early, weighing 4 lbs 11 oz and 5 lbs 1 oz. They are now 7 months old, weighing 16.5 and 18 lbs. We fed them like the NICU tols us to for about 2 weeks after they came home, then we started feeding them on demand and they are obviously not malnourished now. So don't worry about the rules, just be a mommy and do what you think is best for them!

twinsofcardinus

It was all the pressure from NICU to feed them every drop within 30 minutes every 3 hours that had us so stressed about making sure we did. They were so tiny when they were born and they drilled into us the importance of every three hour feeds - wake them up, make sure they finish the whole thing in 30 minutes. Now they are close to 10 pounds (they will be chronologically 3 months old in a few days, 2 months old corrected age) so I assume they are getting enough. We have started letting them eat when they are hungry and that seems to work better. Mornings they eat less and evenings more (6 oz for their late night bottle). During the day it is between 2-5 oz whenever they want it. I think they are doing well so we are not going to stress about it. Now if only we could get them to sleep in their crib more regularly life would be grand :). Thanks so much to everyone.

yani2

They used to do that with my baby while she was at the NICU and every time they forced her to eat more she would get some spells. Now I'm going through the same with her Ped. because she said to wake her up every 4 hours and only let her go for 5 once a day. She weighs 13 pounds and was 21 1/2 inches about a month ago.(I haven't checked her height recently) She is going to be 2 months adjusted on Saturday.Sometimes she is sleeping so gooood... and WE ARE TOO!!! :)

lchang4

I agree that the NICU feeding requirements had us all stressed out. I think they're one of the reasons why our babies develop oral aversion. The babies are being forced to finish a bottle within a set limit of time and it's just wrong. It doesn't help that their policies stressed out the mom so much that the babies pick up on that and won't drink even more.

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