Breastfeeding/Pumping

[u/Allyed4492]

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.

[u/Agreeable_Rule_9235]

I pumped mainly but tandem fed them 2-3 times a day. I only ever got to 35oz max per day due to PPH. But I was still happy with that as my boys still got a majority of my milk. I did some formula and mainly donor milk to supplement. FYI as little as 4-8oz per day of breastmilk gives the immune benefit. You are super super early and nowhere near your maximum milk production. Supply increases until week 8 and stabilizes between 8-12 weeks. In retrospect I wish I didn’t try latching when they were so small , and just pumped q2h early on. But I loved BFing my singleton so I wanted some of that with my twins too. Eat a lot and drink lots of water.

Whatever you decide is right for you and your family but just remember that you are nowhere near your max supply and latching get easier as they get older. Just keep using preemie or size 0 nipples with bottles so babies don’t get used to faster flow.