Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

When I was pregnant with my twin girls, one of the hardest decisions I had to make was whether I would nurse or bottle feed the babies. On the one hand, I had seen my friend and my sister-in-law practically kill themselves trying to breastfeed their respective sets of twins. I wasn’t sure I could handle that kind of stress.

On the other hand, I knew that breast milk was better nutritionally than formula and that nursing offered many bonding opportunities. After much soul searching and an intense internal debate, I decided to bottle feed the babies. Here is how I got to that decision.

About a year and a half before my twins were born, I had a friend who had twins. Then a few months later, my sister-in-law also had twins. (Yes, that is a lot of twins: two sets were fertility related, and one was just luck). Both my friend and my sister-in-law breast fed their babies. They were determined to nurse because of the obvious benefits. Breast milk is best for babies’ growth and development.

As advanced as formula has gotten, it is still not as nutritionally rich as breast milk. Since formula costs a lot of money and breast milk is free, it is also not as cost effective. One of the most compelling arguments for breastfeeding, however, is that it helps you bond emotionally with your babies. My sister-in-law talked to me about the happiness she got from nursing her girls. She was able to nurture them in a way that no one else could and enjoyed the time they had together in the stillness of the night.

However, breastfeeding is not always such a joyful experience. Both my friend and my sister-in-law said that the time it took to nurse their twins was the most negative aspect of breastfeeding. Babies do not necessarily know how to nurse immediately after they are born. They have to learn how to latch on to the breast, and this can be a frustrating and painful experience for everyone involved.

Also, because newborns need frequent feedings, one baby usually needed to be fed shortly after the other one finished. My sister-in-law was not able to pump very much milk, so she had to get up every time the girls needed to be fed. That meant that she was getting up every 2 to 3 hours to nurse. My brother tried to help as much as possible but without being able to feed the girls, there was only so much he could do.

Even though breast milk is best for your babies’ health, using formula also has its benefits. Perhaps formula’s greatest plus is that anyone can feed the babies at any time. The dad, grandma, aunt, or whoever can assist in feedings without the mom having to pump breast milk. Another benefit that frequently comes up with twins is that there are formulas that have higher calorie levels.

My twins were a little early and had low birth weights. Because of their low weights, the pediatrician put them on a high-calorie formula. They were on this special formula for two months until they made it on to the growth curve. The pediatrician said that even if I had breast fed, I would have had to supplement the twins’ feedings with the formula no matter what.  

For me, the decision of whether to breastfeed or bottle feed came down to what I thought I could handle. While I understood that breastfeeding was best for my twins, I came to realize that bottle feeding was best for my family. I knew my limitations, and they included needing to function during the day while my husband was at work.

It was difficult enough for me to care for the twins without adding the stress of learning how to nurse. This is not the decision that everyone would make. There are plenty of pros and cons for both methods. In making the decision to breastfeed or bottle feed your twins, it is important to take all of the pros and cons into consideration and decide what, in the end, makes the most sense for your family.