A mum who chose to breastfeed one twin and bottle-fed the other insists she doesn’t have a favourite. Courtney Kleinebreil, 27, was delighted when her twins, Sutton and Brooks, arrived on November 15, 2019 via a c-section and she was able to breastfeed them both.
Sutton was born weighing 6lbs 1oz and Brooks was born weighing 6lbs exactly, but, after a couple of weeks, Sutton wasn't gaining enough weight. After she continued to measure low, doctors advised Courtney to start bottle feeding her - so she could measure exactly how much milk Sutton was consuming.
Courtney - who is also mum to Taydum, four - carried on breastfeeding Brooks but Sutton refused to latch after she got used to the bottle. Courtney continued to nurse Brooks until he was nearly two and hasn’t noticed a difference in her twins.
Mum-of-three Courtney, a part-time hair stylist, said: “People always think I must have a favourite but it felt right to carry on breastfeeding Brooks. I started breastfeeding both of them but I had to use a bottle with Sutton as she needed to grow a bit more.
“Then she just didn’t want to go back to nursing. I felt a bit sad when I couldn’t breastfeed Sutton anymore but I couldn’t force it.
“Now they have both been hitting their milestones and I can’t see a difference in bottle feeding Sutton compared to breastfeeding Brooks.”
Courtney was shocked to find out she was expecting twins in March 2019 with her partner, Clay, 26, a media planner.
“Having the twins is a lot of work,” she said. "Luckily they both took to breast feeding.”
But doctors noticed that little Sutton was underweight - and not as big as she should have been - so they advised Courtney to bottlefeed if her growth didn’t improve. “They monitored us for a while but after three months she was still small for her age so I had to give her formula milk too,” she said.
“As soon as she had the bottle that was it, she wasn’t coming back to me. She got really chunky and healthy from there.
“I still tried to feed them at the same time.”
Courtney said she felt sad that she couldn’t breastfeed Sutton anymore but didn’t feel any guilt around it. “You don’t have to validate parenting – it’s what works for you,” she said.
“I think it is unusual with twins to then keep breastfeeding one but I found out Brooks had a milk allergy. So I became dairy free and kept nursing him until he was nearly two.”
Courtney insists she hasn’t seen a difference in the twins milestones now they are two. Sutton was talking really early from about one but they’re both hitting all their milestones,” she said.
“Sutton is the boss - she is so sassy but she’s very affectionate. Brooks is very funny but quieter.”
Courtney raises all her children by gentle parenting - which promotes a relationship with children based on willingness and choices rather than demands and rules.
“I treat them as I would like to be treated,” Courtney said. “Breastfeeding is amazing if you can do it but their shouldn’t be this guilt.”
