You are here:
- Home
- Parenting/Family
- Pregnancy/Birth
- Breastfeeding
- breastfeeding 8 month old twins
Breastfeeding/breastfeeding 8 month old twins
Advertisement
Question
Dear Sally,
I am still exclusively breast feeding my 8 month old twins. They feed about 4-5 times a day in addition to their solids. For the past 3 weeks, my girl has been waking every 3 hours through the night, if I don't feed her, she will cry until I do, could she really be this hungry? My boy will sleep for a 6-8 hour span without nursing. Should I start to introduce formula?
Thanks Sarah
Dear Sarah,
First, congratulations for giving your children the best start in life by breastfeeding them!
It's hard to know why your little girl has started to wake during the night. She might be going through a growth spurt and need more food. Have you been monitoring her weight? Does she seem to be gaining well? Is she satisfied during the day between feedings?
Before you give her formula, you might try a couple of other things:
1) increase the amount of solid foods she is getting, especially at the dinner-time feeding;
2) try other means to comfort her during the night -- going to her bed, patting her back, giving her a pacifier, etc.;
3) ask your pediatrician what she/he recommends;
4) consult a local La Leche League leader.
If none of these works out, try giving her formula just before you put her to sleep and see whether that will help her copy her brother and sleep through the night.
Good luck! Let me know what happens.
Sally
--------------------------------
Sally Wendkos Olds
Author, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING: Eiger & Olds, 3rd edition 1999, published by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books, and available in most public libraries, bookstores & La Leche League chapters. Now in revision for a fourth edition, with Laura M. Marks, M.D.
Related Articles
Answers by Expert:
Sally Wendkos Olds
Expertise
What do you want to know about breastfeeding? I can tell you what`s good for the baby, what`s good for the mother -- and the father, how it`s related to a woman`s sexuality, how working moms can nurse, how to overcome obstacles, and lots more. As the author of THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING and author or coauthor of 8 other books and more than 200 articles about child and adult development, I can offer sound, sensible advice on breastfeeding, child care and family issues.
Experience
I nursed my 3 daughters and am the grandmother of 5 breastfed children. My book THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (written in consultation with pediatrician Marvin S. Eiger, M.D.) was first published in 1972, and in 1999 came out in an updated 3rd Edition by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books. It is now a classic, with over 2 million copies in print. I am now revising this book for a fourth edition, consulting with pediatrician Laura M. Marks, M.D. This new edition will be published September 2009. I welcome any and all suggestions for the new edition. I coauthored college textbooks A CHILD'S WORLD: INFANCY THROUGH ADOLESCENCE, and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; both are leading texts in their fields and have been read by 2 million students. I am the coauthor of HELPING YOUR CHILD FIND VALUES TO LIVE BY and RAISING A HYPERACTIVE CHILD, and author of THE WORKING PARENTS' SURVIVAL GUIDE & THE ETERNAL GARDEN: SEASONS OF OUR SEXUALITY. My newest book, A BALCONY IN NEPAL: GLIMPSES OF A HIMALAYAN VILLAGE, published in 2002, tells the story of the way of life in a remote village in Nepal, where all the women breastfeed! My book, SUPER GRANNY: COOL PROJECTS, ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER GREAT STUFF TO DO WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS, will be published March 2009. I speak often to professional, parent and general audiences and make many radio and TV appearances.
Credentials I received my B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where I minored in Psychology, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.
Other points of interest
I have received national awards for my writing, and am a former president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. I am listed in the World Who's Who of Women, International Authors & Writers Who's Who, and Contemporary Authors, and am a member of several professional and civic organizations. I believe: that all parents are working parents; that parents employed outside the home need special support; that mothers' well-being is crucial to their children's welfare; and that the family is the best institution in the world and the one for which we are least prepared. My thrills come when parents or kids tell me they were helped by my writing or speaking or just understanding.
To find out more about me, go to
©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.