Ruining my chances?

Medically my boys are healthy the only thing now keeping them here is suck feeds and getting to 2.3kgs which we are almost at.
I plan on breastfeeding and have been trying my hardest pumping every 3 hours, trying them on the boob before there tube feeds but they just dont seem to know what to do or they will lick the nipple for a minute and fall asleep.
I know a prem baby is hard work and I got 2 at once. But if I put them on a bottle drinking EBM they will feed quicker yes?
But what will that do when we get home? I don't feel comfortable trying to feed here I can't do it my way, in my time etc so if this will male us get home quicker will it harm our ability to BF?
I think at the end if the day I'd be happy if they were but fed EBM in a bottle it's not my first choice sobif we take that path we take that path.
I just know I can BF better and practice more at home and get my likely men where I want them so will giving them EBM in a bottle now to get us home ruin our chances or will the bottle even get us home quicker?

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Sam was born at 36 weeks, and really didn't have much of a suck at first. He had some good days and some bad days, but always seemed to be somewhat uncoordinated.

We were told by the hospital that we would be allowed to take him home when he was coping with all suck feeds and was gaining weight. So he had to do 24 hours of suck feeds only and had to be gaining (and the gain that got us to go home was something like 20g). It didn't matter whether those suck feeds were breast or bottle, but ultimately, the bottle will get them home faster.

As for it preventing you from breastfeeding down the track... Well, my experience wasn't so great, but then I was also unable to pump more than 2mL in one session. No, I didn't leave out a zero or two! That was all I could get. But I have another friend who had a 36 week bub who came home on EBM in a bottle and when he was six weeks old she managed to get him fully on the breast.

It's difficult to say what impact it will have on your future ability to breastfeed, but the bottle will get them home faster. It may not be the best option for long term breastfeeding, however. It's still early days. We've had three 36 week prems at church and they have all come home on day 10/11 and they can be very different from day to day.

BW

The bottle MAY get you home faster but there is no garauntee with this. To me, they sound like they are acting exactly like their gestational age. The suck reflex starts to come in between 32 - 36 weeks gestation, and the ability to co-ordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing comes towards the end of it. Some babies learn it quickly, some not so fast. Is there anyone in the nursery that can sit and watch you feed? Sometimes prems just need a slightly different way of attaching.

Thanks Hun we had another milestone Lleyton actually looked for boob and went of for a few minutes.
The boys are now 5 days old so I guess I should be pleased well I am pleased just hating this SCN thing


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Little chicken there is nobody really the capacity of this nursery is 8 and we have 11 babies they are rushed off there feet it's quite hectic in here.
I'm going to ask to see the LC today


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That's a great idea Mrs S. Sometimes all it takes is a change in position. Even a day makes a difference at this age.

Yep, a bottle would prob be quicker... but be careful.. it can be very hard to get a newborn to go back to breast after bottle feeding.....
So I guess its a case of weighing up the options.. home faster, but may get breast refusal, or stay longer and hope b/f takes off... a very hard choice my lovely... xoxoxo

Will they let you go home while tube feeding?? I know cleft bubs can... As long as you tube feed the amount the hossy wants them to have, you can continue to b/f in between till it happens better, and all feeds are by breast.... it can help stop "nipple confusion" if a bottle isnt introduced...

My second son was born at 37 weeks and was not well at all.. He was tube fed and bottle and breast. He was feeding ok but was on both breast and bottle when we went home. I think his issue with not taking to the breast properly was the meds he was on made him sleepy.

so I guess what I am saying is I can't see why you wouldn't be able to use both the bottle and breast to get their weights up to go home.. but continue along the same lines at home but start offering the breast more and more..

I ended up at 7 weeks deciding to express full time and I was lucky I had plenty of supply and continued full time expressing till he was 10 months old when my milk dried up due to a pregnancy.

Good Luck..

Thanks ladies I think the bottle part time will help in here because I live 30kms away and still have to deal with the kids at home I don't think breast 100% would work for us whilst here .... Such a tough decision.
The discharge nurses found me here :( I was hiding in the nursery but they found me and are getting my discharge papers ready ... I don't think I can leave .....


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If you are going to combine breast with bottle anyway, there is no reason why you cant start now lovey.... I have EBM fed for almost a year, and with some meds, had enough milk to feed the whole street!!! lol

I guess a part of me is saying if I give them a bottle now I've failed my breastfeeding journey but I have to be strong it's early days, the bottle won't be forever and they are still getting breast milk so we can wean off the bottle at home I can sit and offer boob all day long where here I can't do that.
Ok part time bottle JUST for now I think it is just to get us (them) home and to take a little pressure off me living so far away with only one bus a day is going to make things hard until I can drive again.
It's all so complicated


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It is so hard going home without your baby. I did find it quite difficult to be honest but I also enjoyed being home with my older son because I missed him so much when I was in hospital.. I was lucky cus I stayed at my mums and she only lived down the hill.. Can you get red cross accom close to the hosp? They are usually quite cheap. We were offered it as we were from out of town but like I said mum lived down the hill.

The red cross house was right across the road from the hosp as well

what about feeding them the EBM through a pipette? (the little tube with a squeezy thing at the end, hope i am using the right word for them).

i found private LC's and ABA counsellors, alot more knowledgeable that hospy LC's. The lactation clinic at the local labour hospital here, only helps mothers and new bubs, up to when bubs are 10 weeks old - so when a friend of mine had issues when bubs was older than 10 weeks, she wasn't eligible for help from them. I found with breastfeeding, and we did it for years, when you need help with bf-ing, it's not on a schedule, things happen when they happen.

barb glare on this forum, is another wonderful resource, she gave you great advice yesterday, why not ask her about this too?

bf-ing advice is very time sensitive, when you need help, you need it NOW, so it's good to have a bank of reliable sources, your GO TO people.

i joined my local ABA, (learnt so much by going to the local group during my pregnancy, just listening to the other mum's experiences), went to a ABA seminar, had my midwife visit me frequently for first six weeks of my child's life (so good to have that consistency, one person advising me for first 6 weeks), the ABA phone helpline, a private lactation consultant (twice), and many times posting on ABA website, here at BB, La Leche League, Kellymom.

Everyone will be different
the resources around you
the resources you source and can access
what suits you best

I would be asking ABA about nipple confusion (e.g the bottle and the breast) and get advice about how to get premmies to suck.

Whoever is helping you with the twins, needs to be "on board" too, so whatever you learn and decide to do, your support person needs to know too, so they can carry out your plans. Consistency is important.

They also need to know how important they support is. Many times bf-ing mums have doubts, wonder if they can do it, and having moral support, having support people bring them a sandwich they can eat with one hand, water, whatever you need at the time, people facilitating you being able to breastfeed, can make so much difference. My X did this (when he was home) and it made an enormous difference. Talked in a positive way about the bf-ing, how healthy bilby was, what a great thing it was - sometimes i felt down and really needed to hear this stuff, to keep me going.

Thanks Gigi you've given me so much to look into.
Unfortunately the pippette doesnt class as a suck feed which is what we need


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Nikki, i just re-read your post. You had "breastfeeding" and "failure" in the same sentence so i feel compelled to post again.

Honey, listen to me, you have already been expressing like a trooper.
You have succeeded ALREADY hon.
Your bubs have already received your colostrum.
Fullstop.
Even if they never get another drop of your BM, THEY GOT THE COLOSTRUM.
that stuff is GOLD - and it's only a few drops. So valuable for their health.

Take one day at a time.

However long you breastfeed for, it's all a success, be it three hours, three days, three weeks, three months, three years.

it's not a competition

there are so many things mums beat themselves up about (i know, cos i did it too).

but take the bf-ing one day at a time

you are doing so well, and you're doing it double with twins, plus they're premmies

I really want to congratulate you for where you are with bf-ing RIGHT NOW, don't think too far ahead. Thinking about TODAY is enough for now.

You've just had twins, You've just delivered premmies, Your milk has just come in, you're swamped with hormones, it's a HUGE time for you hon. And the thought of being separated from your premmies, while they get big enough to be allowed home - i can well understand why you're anxious.

remember to breathe sweetie.

aba helpline - 1800 686 2 686
I wish i could afford to give every new mum, a subscription to ABA, they send you this great magazine called ESSENCE every two months, every page is all about mums breastfeeding, articles about every aspect of bf-ing you could imagine.
ANd i love the ABA calendars, had them on my kitchen wall, beautiful bf-ing photos that really boosted me, when i was alone with my bub day after day.

the lack of illnesses, using a breastfeed instead of painkillers when they hurt themselves, so glad we went this route.

Thank you so much your post moved me so much
It's encouragement like this that keep people going you should be proud of yourself too.
Yes expressing is going fantastically getting almost 200ml per session now.
So even if they do take to the bottle not me they will still be getting the good stuff and hopefully it won't come to that.
I now know though what is right for us is part time bottles until we get home then focus 200% on breast!


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:hug: mrs s. it sounds like you're doing an amazing job already :)

if you do get a chance to call the aba, i'd highly recommend speaking to them. i didn't have a premmie but i found they were really helpful & made me realise that successful BFing isn't necessarily as black & white as i thought. they also said what gigi said - it's one day at a time, even one feed at a time. and even better, they have some really inspirational stories about women who have gone back to BFing after bottle feeding etc.

if you do find things aren't going so well at home, maybe a private LC could help? i know they're probably an expense you don't need at the moment, but maybe in the privacy & comfort of your own home things might be a bit easier.

and btw, you've already succeeded!! :hug: i can't believe what a beautiful size your boys are - the pictures on fb are so gorgeous.