hi i was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on feeding my premature twin girls
they are 19 days old and i have been expressing since they were born and luckily i havent experienced any soreness or anything and was expressing plenty for the both of them untill now they are home and feeding every 3/4 hours upto 3oz... i mention to the nicu nurse who does home visits and she told me to express every 2 hours ( i have been expressing every 3-4 hours at the moment) so itried doing it every two hours and got well about a drop out so decided to stick to it every 3 hourly.. i have also been brestfeeding sometimes during the night but as you all may understand trying to fit expressing in with feeding twins which most of the time is often different times its becoming impossible to express in the night!! i was thinking of doing half formula half breast milk but with them still only being 36 + 4 gestation at the moment they cant have normal formula from the supermarket can they??? when i mention it to the nicu nurse she sort of dismisses the subject i am getting quiteconcerned now that i may not have enough milk for them... especially after she came today and said i need to make sure im feeding them every 3 hours during the day and 4 at night!!! do i mention it to the health visitor tomorrow when she comes and what will they say to do??
sorry for the long post
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I'm no expert but i'd say they could have any normal formula... Its meant to be as close to breast milk as ever isn't it.

Mine were born at 36+6 and went on formula straight away, they had SMA, from day 1.

I think its very important they get as muchmilk as poss/ they need, so if you've not enough breast milk, then formula maybe your only option.

Im sure Hv will clear it up tom. x

thankyou for your reply i will have a chat with her tomorrow
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I mix fed the girls from when they came home. I breast fed them occasionally but never managed to latch them both on at the same time so I bottle fed them EBM and they also had some formula.

If you are intending to use formula then SCBU should be supporting you with this and I would've thought they should be giving you the same as the girls had in SCBU, In our case it was C&G Nutriprem 2 and we used to get it on prescription.

I would definitely chat to the HV and if you're not getting anywhere with SCBU yourself, get her to call SCBU and see what formula they recommend. I'd be very surprised if they advised twins born at 34 weeks to go onto regular formula straight away but it's worth asking.

Well done on the expressing. I know how much hard work it is - I expressed until the girls were 3 months old but then found that they were awake more and I was struggling to fit in time to express during the day. Sounds like you're doing a great job!

I couldnt breast food the girls either and they were 36wks gestation when born and they went onto Aptimil milk as it is the lightest and the closest to breast milk. The cow & Gate formula made the girls sick and cholicy but every baby is different and yes talk to the health visitor about the NICU nurse because she doesnt seem to be giving you much support. Your health visitor is there to support but the nicu nurse should be better with you and shud understand the stresses of having a prem baby never mind having 2! The most important thing is that the girls get enuff to eat to help them grow big and strong And its besty if you dont have to be so uncomfortable trying to express milk its hard to get enuff milk for one sometimes so its even worse with twins and your doing so well but if its not there its not there you cant feed them what you dont have mix feeding never did babies any harm n as has been said formula now is as close to breast as ever I hope the health visitor is a bit more helpful and your ok! Congrats on your twins though hun and i hope you get the feeds sorted so you can enjoy them more =D My girls are now bouncy bubbly 15mnth olds and im nearly 10 weeks pregnant with the 2nd set of twins....i know that i am mad xxx

thankyou for your relpies i spoke to my HV today and she said they should be fine on normal formula in which i was thinking aptimil .. i went out and bought some before she came but thought i would ask her before using it !!
iv got a nicu nurse coming agian tomorrow and the HV said to ask her for nutriprem on prescription although im not to sure about it as when they were born for 2 days they were having to top up there feeds with nurtiprem untill my milk came in properly and they were really sicky off it but i could try it now they a bit bigger the HV advised today to give them a formula feed in the morning and at night to begin with so my milk doesnt dry up as i want to continue to give them some EBM... xx
Angelkisses i had read that u were expecting another set of twins... thats must be lovely and exciting such a special thing to have two sets of twins good luck and all the best
thankyou for all your replies
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I was told that if they girls were on normal formula/EBM then they had to have separate vitamins and iron. They didn't need their vits on NP2 as it had extra in it. Might be worth checking with the NICU nurse tomorrow xx

[Modified by: trying4babyM on March 04, 2010 10:29 PM]

spoken to nicu nurse im waiting for my GP to write a prescription for NP2 she has advised to do haf and half not to give them a fulk feed of np2 at first so ile just half the feed of EBM and half NP" when i eventually get it
xxx