**CORRECTION: I must be REALLY tired, but I was looking at the kg. side of the scale and not the lb. side. These babies do not weigh 2 lbs. They weigh almost 5 lbs as of Day 3 post birth!

VIDEO LINK BELOW! 

Maple Triplets Nursing Quandary

Is it normal for newborns to only stay on the teat for a few seconds at a time? Instead of the typical 30 seconds - 1 minute Deborah talks about in the book, these kids have been on for a consistent average of 5 seconds each time. Sometimes they manage a bit longer, but not by much. Everything seems to be in good working order... poops & pees normal, energy level normal, seems like everybody's taking turns just fine. Bellies feel full enough, and faces smell like milk, no screaming or acting like they're starving, mama coaching them well.

Duration is getting longer as of Day 3, and now they're favoring one side, which tells me that they do seem to be attracted to the less full side & my harsh letdown theory could be correct. I just got at least 3/4 cup out of the non-favored side to add to my bottle stash and give Maple some relief (I didn't milk her out on that side, just evened things out).

So... just checking to see if I should be concerned about the kids getting enough, supply & demand issues, etc. if they're not staying on very long. They're nursing very frequently, of course, but only a few swallows at a time. I've tried bottle feeding a bit to see if I the kids are more competent there, and to get a better sense of how much they might be able to eat at a time, and I don't go through 1 ounce for all 3 kids in one feeding. They've had bottle practice about 4 times total now with the same results... about 1 ounce consumed total among 3 kids.

Thoughts and observations greatly appreciated!

You need to be a member of Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats to add comments!

Join Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Hope you had a great Mother's Day, Deborah! Glad you took some time off! It must be a lot to answer all these questions for us frightened newbies! 

    Thank you!!

    Charity


    Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:

    Finally catching up after taking off on Mother's Day and just now got to this post. The short answer is that if kids are bouncing around the barn like that, you have nothing to worry about.

    If they had not figured out nursing the first day, they would be dead. Someone once called me in the afternoon about 8 hours after triplets were born, and she said they had not nursed yet. They were dead a few hours later. Many years ago, we had a set of quintuplets when I was in bed with a migraine. It was late, and my daughter didn't do a very good job of being sure that all the kids had nursed before she came inside and went to bed. When I went out to the barn about 12 hours after birth, two of them were almost dead. I had to give them sub-q fluids and then tube feed milk to them to bring them back. 

  • Finally catching up after taking off on Mother's Day and just now got to this post. The short answer is that if kids are bouncing around the barn like that, you have nothing to worry about.

    If they had not figured out nursing the first day, they would be dead. Someone once called me in the afternoon about 8 hours after triplets were born, and she said they had not nursed yet. They were dead a few hours later. Many years ago, we had a set of quintuplets when I was in bed with a migraine. It was late, and my daughter didn't do a very good job of being sure that all the kids had nursed before she came inside and went to bed. When I went out to the barn about 12 hours after birth, two of them were almost dead. I had to give them sub-q fluids and then tube feed milk to them to bring them back. 

  • Oh, thank you so much for your reply, Julieanne! I know it's Mother's Day weekend, so people are busy. I myself just came from a Mother's Day brunch that I take my mom to every year, and I had my husband hang out in the kidding stall the whole time I was gone to observe nursing some more. LOL 

    So, the new development is that Maple seems a bit depressed. She was excited about grain this morning, but then didn't eat it all. I gave her her usual warm water with apple cider vinegar and molasses + some electrolyte, and she usually sucks that down. This time she didn't. Her udder is quite warm, and I've been trying to remember whether that's normal or not. I milked about 1.5 cup from her (didn't come close to emptying her), as evenly as I could from both sides to see if that was the issue. I also took her temp, and it was on the low end of normal. I cleaned the stall, added fresh grass & alfalfa hay, let her out in the paddock for a bit so I could watch her some more. She just isn't quite herself today, so I'm double worried now. 

    I did try the bottle again with the milk I took this morning, but the kids weren't into it. I had to force them all and gently show them how to drink. They each had a bit, but again not more than an ounce total (for the 3 of them, not each). They don't come away from the udder with milk all over their faces, but they smell like milk on their faces, so maybe I'm not seeing it. They also shake their heads sometimes when they unlatch, so that points to a harsh letdown in my book.

    I think I'll keep relieving Maple of some milk when I notice she's full, especially first thing in the morning, but I'm not sure whether I should milk her out completely before bed to keep her supply up? I'm a new milker, and she's REALLY easy to milk, so I'm going to follow the big letdown line of thinking until I'm told or see otherwise. 

    The babies are FULL of energy, and the breeder of all my girls also looked at the video and told me just to keep feeling bellies to see if they're full as well as continuing to weigh them all. She likes newborns to be at 3 lbs, so she did say they were a bit small. I think they were a couple of days early. I was worried about big kids because I fed grain for the last 2 months of pregnancy + even a bit of BOSS for Maple's dry skin/coat, but they are tiny. 

    All I can say is they CAN'T DIE!!! It's Mother's Day! And Maple HAS to be OK, too. I'll leave farming forever and move to the city if they aren't all perfect. ;-)

    NOTE TO SELF: Do NOT do your first kidding season right after having nursing struggles with your own baby. Just don't. ;-)


    Julieanne Cook said:

    I watched the video, and that did look a little odd. To me, it looked like they're either getting a big rush of milk all at once, or she's not letting down. Since she's not a first freshener, my guess is that she is just letting down super fast and they're getting a big gulp in those few seconds. If that's what it is, you might see a bit of milk around their mouths. I know when I nursed my babies, a big let-down usually meant milky faces!

    The babies look great though, seems to me that if they were hungry they'd be either lethargic or yelling their heads off. I'd avoid starting the bottle unless you see real signs of them not growing. 

  • I watched the video, and that did look a little odd. To me, it looked like they're either getting a big rush of milk all at once, or she's not letting down. Since she's not a first freshener, my guess is that she is just letting down super fast and they're getting a big gulp in those few seconds. If that's what it is, you might see a bit of milk around their mouths. I know when I nursed my babies, a big let-down usually meant milky faces!

    The babies look great though, seems to me that if they were hungry they'd be either lethargic or yelling their heads off. I'd avoid starting the bottle unless you see real signs of them not growing. 

This reply was deleted.