I have 4 week old twin boys and I am feeling guilty about not breastfeeding! help!?

I just had my beautiful twin boys in August. The whole pregnancy I was so set on breastfeeding. Well I have put my all into it, breastfeeding the whole first 3 weeks with barely any formula. The thing is I started to feel like I was breastfeeding 24 hours a day and it exhausts me. Also, I would let the boys breastfeed for up to AN HOUR and afterwards they would still be fussy and hungry. So I would then give them a small amount of formula to just top them off, then they were happy as clams and would go right to sleep. This past week, we have been bottle feeding with one breastfeeding at night, and I am feeling SO guilty about it. I know that breastfeeding is best, but I cannot continue to just get sucked on all day and night, two babies keep in mind. I feel like the breastfeeders and non-breastfeeders are Republican and Democrats, its crazy how against the bottle feeders the breastfeeders are. I just wanted some reassurance from other moms with twins who have been there.

Having twins is an extremely emotional time. I had twins and I can tell you that the first year is a blur! I was able to nurse them 99 percent of the time, but I have to say that A LOT of people are unable to nurse twins exclusively! The fact that you made it to 3 weeks is AMAZING! Tell your husband to give you a hug from me! : )

You can think about nursing them once or twice a day and giving them formula other times. There is nothing wrong with formula and anyone that would make your feel bad is not a nice person and you should stop talking to them! I am only half kidding!

I always had formula in the house just in case, it was never something i was against. There were a handful of times, especially in the beginning, that my dear husband would feed them formula in order to let me sleep a little extra.

Nursing is a personal journey between mother/child... no one else.

Please e-mail me if you'd like, I can give you my home number - I can talk anytime day or night!

I can not offer you any help but I will be watching for the answers because I am wondering if I should breastfeed my twins. I am only 20 weeks but that is something that has been on my mind since they told me I was having twins. I have an 18-month old that did wonderful on formula but was told that twins are born smaller and all of that. So I am considering breastfeeding. I was thinking of pumping exclusively.

You do what you feel is best for your family.
If you feel that your breast milk is not enough to satisfy the appetite of your boys, then it's ok to supplement with forumla as well.

At least you're trying, what more can anyone expect of a mother? Forget what all the others might say.

Those boys are your children, not everyone elses. Go on caring for them the best way you can.

I am 34.2 weeks along with fraternal twins and am going to try to breastfeed. But if I'm constantly feeding, that's not the ideal experience for me either. As long as your boys are healthy, you're doing a great job.

Look, society has become obsessed with breastfeeding lately, and people are so fanatical about it. Anyone who doesn't do it is made to feel like a bad mother. Parenting philosophies change all the time, in another 15 years, they will be saying something different. Bottle feeding doesn't make you a bad mom anymore than breastfeeding makes you a good mom. They will be just fine if they drink formula. Don't allow the insecure and judgemental moms out there to make you feel bad. Remember, when people try to make you feel bad, it's because they feel bad about themselves. I had a friend who had twins, and she started breastfeeding, but switched to formula as well because it was just too much for her.

Don't worry about it, I know you will get a lot of answers saying try harder and don't give up but it's your body and your babies so if you have reached the end of your tether it's not going to help any of you to continue with this ill feeling.

My baby was a real comfort sucker and would latch on for up to 3hrs at a time and then still cry once I had given all I could, it was soul destroying and I ended up spiralling in to PND because I just felt like a failure and that I couldn't ever give him enough. He would spend hours and hours at the breast (both sides) and my nipples were raw and skinless, as soon as I tried to prise him off once he was asleep he would scream the house down I felt like I had no choice but to suckle him all day every day. I also had a 3 year old at the time who was getting neglected because I was having such trouble with breast feeding for what seemed like all day long.

So I eventually gave in and gave him formula, he drank the whole thing down and went off to sleep because he was actually full I still B/fed as well but eventually he didn't want it anymore because the formula was more filling for him, I felt terrible and got only ridicule and talk of 'failure' and 'bad mum' on this website but I thought to myself 'my baby, my breasts'. None of these people were going to feed my baby so stuff them.

You do what ever is right for you and your babies, you are a good mum and if formula is the way to go then that's just the way it is. You just do whats best for you guys good luck and feel better.

I formula fed one of my kids and breastfed another...I believe it is totally a personal decision and if I were you I would feel good about breastfeeding them for 3 weeks and not feel bad about stopping...You gave it your all and it is not working for your family..One thing I might suggest if you really want to continue is investing in a hospital grade pump and pump then bottle feed that way you can have help..But either way your doing great and you gave them a good start in there first 3 weeks..I couldnt imagine it with twins..CONGRATS!!