Help!!!!!

Hi everyone,

Its been a while but just wanted to let you all know we had our twin boys luke joshua and joel darcy on the 11th may which was 8 weeks early.they were in the nicu and special care for 4 weeks but all is well now.Just wanting to know how you get the feeds longer than 3 hourly or am i expecting too much given that their adjusted age is only 3 weeks even though they are 11weeks.Sometimes they do it but more often than not its 3 hours and thats from the start of the previous feed.god give us strength it is just exhausting.how did you all cope? I would be grateful for any advice or handy hints on raising young twins.Thanks linny

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You must be so proud.

Look I don't have twins, but plenty in here do so I'm sure they will give you excellent advice.
However, my DS fed every hour and a half for about 3 months. He had a lot of colic and restlessness though.
DD fed roughly every 2 hours until about 3-4 months, she gradually laid off, but she still loves her boobies at 16 months.

I be pretty happy for a good 3 hrs, especially with twins! You must be exhausted though, I hope you have lots of help around the house and are eating well ;).

Thanks lulu,

Its comforting to know it is normal.i just wasnt sure what i should be expecting at this stage.i get confused on whether to treat them as 11 weekers or 3 weekers iykwim.my dp has been great and i have a supportive sil.its hard to get time to eat or do anything except feed and wash at this stage.You have been there and probably are still going thru it with 2 little ones so it gives me hope that things will get better.Thanks again
Linny

hi i just want to say conrats on the arrival of your boys.

Hi Linny just want to say congrats on the birth of your boys, I have 9 month old twins Jessica and Jack they were born 6 1/2 weeks early and like your boys they were feeding every 3 hour the biggest thing with my two was Jack would take 1 hour to feed and Jessica would only take about 25 mins we started expressing one feed and the twins would take it in turns to be bottle fed unfortunatly I only managed to feed them for 3 1/2 months and I never got the hang of twin feeding.
About counting back I did count back untill they got bigger and started on solids witch I started when they were 6 months count back dates wich made them 7 1/2 months real dates.
Hope this helps
You sound like you have things under control good luck with the lack of sleep I'm sure it will pass soon just enjoy them cause they grow so quick.
Jean

Hi Linny, My twin boys were 6 weeks early and they were bottle feed from the start every 4 hours. My advise is to dont stress about anything and just go with the flow. It does get easier and when going out shopping and taking the twins expect it to take a lot longer as everyone stops you and askes for they are twins. If you are in a real hurry try not to make eye contact with people. ( sounds mean but it works as I found that everyone looks at you and them and I mean everyone). Congratulations on your twins and always remember its twice the fun.

Congratulations on the birth of your twins:)

Sarah and Samuel were 5 weeks early and spent 3 weeks in NICU. The first few weeks at home were the hardest. I had to feed them every 3 hours. I stopped breastfeeding 10 days after they came back from hospital because I was suppose to top them up with formula. So I gave it a miss and bottlefed them because I couldn't cope anymore. They are doing very well now.

Just don't stress and do what you think is best for you and your babies

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your advice and i think you are all right im stressing and overanalysing everything too much.They are 3 months 2morrow but have to get my head around the fact that they are really 1 month which is right on for their size and what they are up to.We started joel on a thickener today which you add to formula and so far so good although it takes longer to feed him but worth it if he starts sleeping between feeds and is not crying all the time.About the shopping ill give it a try because although its lovely for people to admire the boys you dont get much done especially when you are racing against the clock anyway.At this age how much play time should you be doing? I really wish you got an instruction manual when you have babies lol.
Thanks again and it good to know you all survived it gives me hope that things will improve.
linny

Linny- Luke & Joel are adorable.I am sorry I missed this post.

I hope things have settled down for you. BF or formula feeding the early months are hard with two babies. Hope you are getting lots of rest and support.

Our Paed was still counting back 1 month (for S & J'"s adjusted age at 12months) I think they generally do until at very least until 1 year for any prems, though at 32 week maybe even until about 18 months - 2 years.

Even at four months - their adjusted age is 50% of their 'real' age. I read they adjust the 'age' until is less 10% of the real age - so if 8 weeks early - they will adjust until 80 weeks (which is over 18 months old).

So we shouldn't stress too much if twins are slower to crawl/walk/talk and achieve other milestones than their same age peers. A month is a long time to a baby.

My boys were born at 39 weeks, so not early. A day or so after coming home from hospital they fed every 2 hours, lucky I was able to feed them both and change nappies within an hour. I was topping them up with a bottle at every feed but that was too much work so I after about a week I only did it for one feed. I found I didn't get them to feed 3 hours apart till they were about 12 weeks old. So if you are feeding 3 hours apart now that sounds good to me.

I breastfeed them till they were 16 months old