In a message dated 5/17/03 4:54:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: > I have been a lurker for several years; and I know that this is where I > can get help for my concern. I am a NICU RN and IBCLC. My daughter gave > birth 16 days ago to twins, which is nowhere that I have been. The babies > are exclusevely breastfeeding and as of their first peds visit are gaining > approx one ounce a day each. The concern is that these babies won't leave > the breast. My daughter and her husband are exausted.Does anyone have any > help or tips? They like to nurse and then stay there on the breast which > is causing very full and painful breasts and nipples. I am so very proud > of my daughter and don't want to make it any harder. Please, any tips or > encouragement. She can read this e-mail and any encouragement from you all > will be so greatlyappreciated. Thanks so much, Laura and Cindy Congratulations on becoming the grandmother of twins! 1. When dealing with problems or concerns it is easy to focus only on that, and it can help to remind oneself to celebrate all that is going right! How wonderful that your daughter is BF and the babies are gaining so well. That is terrific! 2. No matter how one slices it, two babies are twice as many as the usual new parents get; it is likely everyone would be feeding a bit overwhelmed and exhausted no matter how they were being fed. In addition, your daughter is recuperating from a more physically stressful pregnancy and birth, which can affect one's resistance level and ability to cope at times -- one naturally gets more tired more easily. It also can become very confusing re: is it that they really "won't leave the breast" or does it just seem like it because there are twice as many? 3. If babies truly "won't leave the breast," it sounds as if there may be a minor latch-on problem. It is important to assess how true "won't leave the breast" is. It is normal for each newborn to cue to breastfeed approximately 8 - 12+ times in 24 hours; however, the average breastfeeding lasts about 10-30 minutes. At some point in 10-40 minutes a baby will demonstrate signs of satiety, get a drunk/sleepy "food coma" look and self-detach. This doesn't mean a baby still won't want to be held and if put down may act as if hungry. Don't want to confuse the need for food with the need for contact. When a baby consistently indicates a lack of satiety by about 40 minutes of feeding and when there is nipple pain or actual tissue breakdown, we now know that it means a baby is not quite latched correctly. The full, painful breasts may be another sign that the latch is not quite "right." Often a minor adjustment in positioning will make a huge difference on both length of feedings and nipple comfort. (Nipples should appear and feel "normal" before, during and after breastfeeding.) Obviously, babies are suckling effectively enough to result in weight gain, which is great, but they may be compensating for a less than terrific latch by hardly ever leaving the breast. Is your daughter feeding her babies simultaneously? If so, she may be reinforcing less than ideal latch on because it is often more difficult to coordinate positioning babies at breasts... I'd highly recommend your daughter see an IBCLC for an assessment of a breastfeeding. A minor adjustment re: latch may solve her problems. If she's at her wit's end re: needing a bit of uninterrupted sleep, I've known many MOT that pumped and then let Daddy or someone else offer the EBM so Mom could catch a few hours of sleep. This can make a tremendous difference in mood! She won't want to overdo and I'd suggest a breastfeeding-friendly feeding method for the EBM, but sometimes one does what one has to do to keep it going! If you can't be there, could they hire a postpartum doula to help out? Your daughter is saving hundreds of dollard a month by breastfeeding her babies. Perhaps some of those savings could be invested in some extra hands in the household for the first weeks! Hope this helps. Karen Gromada *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html