premature twins

[katiemac]

My twin boys were born at 30 weeks, and they have been in the hospital fo 7 weeks now. I've been pumping breastmilk since I gave birth and have been bringing it to the hospital for them to drink..they feed them with bottles, and I want to know if I will be able to switch over to breastfeeding directly from my breast when they come home.. will it be difficult because they are used to the nipple on the bottle now? They should be coming home in less than two weeks.

[Assunta_Osterholt]

Some babies transition over more quickly than others. There are things you can do to help them with the transition. I hope you can obtain the help of a lactation consultant from the hospital before the babies come home.
some suggestions:
Start to kangaroo with the babies during your visits.
Have the babies do some nippling and practice with positioning and latches.
You may need to use a nippleshield.
If they are ready, switch them over to a slow flow bottle nipple. Ask the hospital if you can bring in your own bottles that are slow flow/ wide base while you are practicing with breastfeeding.
Once the babies are latching and starting to suck for more than a few minutes, ask the hospital to do pre/post wts. on the baby to measure their intake at the breast. This will give you an idea of how well they are transferring the milk from your breast.
If the hospital does not have a lactation consultant to assist you, find one in the community.
Keep supporting the milk supply until the babies have learned to breastfed well.