Breastfeeding Triplets

I would contact La Leche and/or take a breast feeding class at the hospital you are giving birth at.

Also, you maternity leave. You know you can take Family Leave up to 3 months? That is what I am doing so I can spend more time with my son.

I have a good friend in Alabama with triplets and forwarded your message. I've pasted her response below. Congrats and Good luck!

Congratulations Janet! I'm a stay at home mom for ten month old triplets. No problem feeding your triplets with a combination of pumping, nursing and maybe supplementing with formula. I am just starting to wean my three and would love to help you if I can. Please feel free to call me at home, ###-###-####, or I would be glad to answer any questions via email.
-Kimeran
____@____.com

I just wanted to tell you that my sister-in-law sucessfully nursed twins for one year, with some supplementation of formula!!! She also worked full time & pumped from work. Good luck!!!!

J.:

congratulations!....

I am a baord certified lactation consultant and have help many multiple mothers breastfeed- triplets and quads.

Introducing formula is very individual- this is not something you "have" to do. Your body is quite capable of making all the milk your triplets will need.

Give me a call and i will find some other mom's for you.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
800 Lactate - 800 522 8283/ ###-###-####

My suggestion is to go ahead and set up and appointment with a lactation consultant and to join La Leche League (LLL)now. You can reach them at their website and find a group in your area. They can probably put you into contact with a woman who is currently nursing multiples and you can witness it yourself first hand. I have been in several LLL groups and none of them were less than SUPERB! They are just moms like you, so no reason to be intimidated!
The reason for the lactation consultant is that she could help you figure out how often to pump, etc. and you could probably set up another appt. with her for immediately after the birth to help you get the infants to latch properly, etc. especially if they are preemies, which may be more difficult (weaker latch.)
If I can help any further, please contact me at ____@____.com. (I successfully nursed my daughter to age 3.5 yrs, but she was only one child who ate like 3!)
-M.

Good for you!!! Congratulations! I am a new first time mom to twins that are now 4.5 months old. I have nursed them, without formula, since they were born, until about 2 weeks ago when I went back to work and now I nurse them in the morning, pump twice during the day, and nurse them at night. THey are now on formula when I am not around and they also drink the milk from the day before. I found that feeding two, I had to feed them both at the same time (double football), otherwise it would take way too long and they would never let you sleep in the beginning, when they eat every 2-3 hours! So I suggest, feed two at the same time. Also, I keep one baby on one side the entire day and then switch sides the next day. For you, I'd recommend feeding two at once and feed the third on both sides after the first two are done. Then the next day have the one that ate alone eat with a sibling and so forth. It can be pretty daunting in the beginning, but don't give up! Our babies were only 4 pounds in the beginning, so they couldn't breastfeed for a couple of weeks till they left the nicu... Because of these we used nipple shields, and still do today because it resembles a bottle so much (a clear attachment that goes over your nipple). I think that is why it is easy for them to go back and forth between breastfeeding and bottle feeding now because of the shields. Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. It has been my life since April 8th!

I'm still breastfeeding my twins at 20 months. They have been primarily breastfed throughout. Early on, we supplemented a little bit, mostly using the Medela SNS (a tiny tube you tape to your nipple that allows a little bit of formula to come in at the same time they're nursing). A trick we used with that when I was simply too exhausted to go on was that my partner would put the tube on her finger and let a baby suck on her fingertip to get formula from the SNS. Pumping any surplus at all was a daunting task. I had trouble incorporating that into my routine, but was able to lay in a small supply. My biggest thing was letting go of my concerns about formula causing them to reject the breast. Ultimately, they took maybe 1 bottle a night from approximately 5 weeks to 3 months when we had a helper overnight that would allow me to get a stretch of uninteruppted sleep. Your sleep, or lack thereof, can impact your supply, so please do what you need to do to take care of yourself. I agree that getting some professional advice, either through a lactation consultant or a class offered by your hospital (I took a breastfeeding multiples class at Northwestern that was only moderately helpful) is a great place to start. However, my class told us to not even try nursing in tandem for the first several weeks. Baloney. It's logistically tough to do and you'll need help getting them latched on initially, but it's just something that takes practice. I think the instructor was well intentioned and thought that if folks tried to do it before mastering nursing them alone they'd give up completely. You've nursed before, so that's a big plus in the confidence department.

I participate in a mothers nursing twins group through Sweet Peas Studio on the north side of Chicago. I'm not sure where you're located, but I've found those mamas to be the greatest source of advice, encouragement and support I could hope for.

Good luck. Feel free to shoot back with any questions you have. You can do it!

J.,
Congratulations!!!
Even with triplets, I would not introduce formula until a group like La Leche League said you needed to do it. If you keep them "on the breast," you might make plenty of milk. You will never know, though, if you introduce formula before they are at least 4 to 6 months old. That is my guess, anyway. You know since you breastfed your son for a year that as soon as you introduce formula, your milk production will decrease, right? Also, you should definately get an electric pump.
Good luck!
Amy

J.,
Mothers of triplets often deliver early and need to pump. My background is in working with multiples and preterm infants. I would be happy to assist you to optimize your ability to produce enough breastmilk, and to breastfeed. Though many mothers of triplets don't get the proper assistance to breastfeeed, I have assisted mothers to breastfeed for the full year and to return to work. Please look at my website for more information, and give me a call!
Sincerely,
C. C.
Breast 'N Baby Lactation Services, Inc.
525 Tyler Rd., Ste. L-2
St. Charles, IL 60174
###-###-#### www.breastbabyproducts.com

Wow. Congratulations!!! I just gave birth to preemie (34 weeks) twins June 29th. They were in the NICU and with that my ability to BF right away was squashed a bit. They came home little over two weeks and BF has definitely been hard. As far as I know, I am producing enough milk for them as they are gaining weight. I have give formula once in a while to supplement if I am having trouble with them or if I don't have any milk stored (which is usually the case cause they use it all!) and have to run out. I definitely recommend the EZ 2 Nurse twins pillow on twinstuff. I tried the regular boppy and it doesn't work to nurse two at the same time. I am still using a nipple shield. My son sometimes takes without and my daughter still won't have anything to do with my nipple. I am hoping that will change as I try to ween them off of it. Good luck! I hope to continue to BF for at least 9 months.

Hi! I am a labor doula, and have helped moms breastfeed multiples. Remember, your body works on a supply and demand basis, so you more then likely will be able go pump enough milk for all your babies without having to use formula if that is what you want to do. What I would do is right away, start pumping during feedings. Get a good stock pile of milk for while you are away. i did that with all three of my kids and when I weaned my son who I bf till he was 14 mths, I still had alot of milk left over. Good luck to you and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Oh and congrats on the babies.

S. Bailey CLD
Aurora
www.tendermomentsdoula.com

WOW! What a challenge you have. I know a few friends who gave up trying to breastfeed twins and you're asking about tripletts??? You're also talking about returning to work. You are truly a superwoman! Ever consider looking into a home based business? I'd love to invite you to an online presentation if you're interested. I would think even working p/t with 3 new additions to your family, breastfeeding a various times through the night will eventually take it's toll on you.

Hi J. -
Congrats on your upcoming triplets - what an adventure! There's a great article on this topic at http://www.parentingweb.com/lounge/triplets.htm

This is also a great website for general breastfeeding info and advocacy.

Good luck!!
K.