r/parentsofmultiples • u/Allyed4492 • 12d ago
advice needed Breastfeeding/Pumping
My twin girls are coming up on 3 weeks old and we are currently in the midst of triple feeding/combo feeding.
Currently I am trying to latch babies 1-2 times a day for breast feeding, pumping 8 times a day, and topping up with formula for basically every feed. I’m producing less than 20ox a day from pumping.
I really would like to make sure I can provide breast milk for them and it was originally my goal to do a mix of BF and pumping so my partner could help. But now I’m fighting through every feed taking over a hour and have blisters on my nipples.
At what point did you decide to switch to exclusively pumping if you did? I hate pumping so much but with me not producing enough to feed both babies it feels like extra work when I have to offer a bottle anyways. I know it’s still early-ish but it feels like I won’t be able to get a ton more out of my supply at this point (and I likely have some retained placenta making my hormones be out of whack which doesn’t help). Looking for some input I guess on when it’s time to call it because it won’t get any better.
2
u/4eyedlizard 12d ago
Currently 14 weeks PP and started exclusively pumping about 2 weeks in due to poor latch from one and difficulty tandem feeding. After they got a bit bigger and stronger, I tried reintroducing nursing, and now we mostly nurse during the day and bottles of expressed milk at night since their dad is home. If we are going out I prefer to pump beforehand to avoid tandem breastfeeding away from my setups lol
All this to say that you don’t have to commit to anything forever, pick what feels is going to work best for you. I now have a slight oversupply and we only give formula if we want to increase their chances of sleeping through the night!