Hello Anne,

Milk supply can increase quickly but not that fast. Besides, SOMETHING was
suppressing it in the first place. Often the culprit is disorganized
ineffective sucking by one or both babies. Time at breast does not equal
food intake with these babies.

A "nursing marathon" is only effective when both babies have excellent,
effective suck and the total amount of time at breast was being compromised.
The marathon increases sucking time, but not sucking effectiveness. They
need both. If you want to change the METHOD of supplement from bottle to
cup, do so. But don't compromise their calorie intake until you're POSITIVE
these babies have excellent, effective sucking patterns.  Some LCs and/or
visiting nurses can bring in a BabyWeigh scale for accurate pre and post
feed weighs. Suggest calling around.

I'd also suggest you get someone who specializes in evaluating sucking to
look at both babies. A PT, OT, speech therapist, some LCs depending on their
training/knowledge. Evaluating for specifics of disorganized suck is a
specific skill that not all LCs have fine-tuned.

Rule #1 is "Feed the Baby."  Keep assuring that enough calories get IN while
evaluating HOW the calories get into the babies and WHAT KIND calories they
are.

Welcome to Lactnet!

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com