# Born at 35 weeks, help with eating!



## cupcake momma

My son was born at 35+1 and was initially limp and had some trouble breathing so he got sent to the nicu in another hospital. When he got there they decided that it was because I was on magnesium sulfate and he has had no other problems since.
However, he won't eat like he's supposed to and right when he starts eating the whole 35 that he's supposed to and they're saying he's going to come home, the nutritionist raises it to 45! He has been typically drinking 35, sometimes 40.
How do we get him to take the whole 45? The doctor keeps saying he doesn't really need to be here but he has to pass everything before he's discharged.


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## Mumof42009

:hugs:
Prem Babies stomachs can hold less than term babies, He will get there but will take time it's better that he gets feeding properly before he comes home than you having to keep going backwards and forwards to the hospital x


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## vickyd

I gave birth to my little girl two weeks ago at 35 weeks. She didnt have any breathing problems but was slow on the feeding and was in special care unit for two weeks. They also wanted to see her eating 50 ml for all her feeds before the let her go. The problem with preemies is that they get tired easily from the sucking movements combined with breathing and swallowing. They also burn alot of calories during the feed, my doc described it as exercise. What we did was have her on a nasal feeding tube for 3 days and then start bottle feeding.That three day rest/weight gain helped her and she was discharged a couple days later.


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## cupcake momma

Out of nowhere he drank 55! :D
The nurses have him on a demand feeding schedule now because he usually eats smaller portions at a time than they want him too,but he eats more often. So hopefully this will be a better match for him than the 3 hour minimum!


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## pinkneon

Hi. My little girl was born at 35 weeks too. She also had trouble with feeding, and lost so much weight to begin with that she almost had to go to SCBU. Preemies find it difficult to eat as they don't actually know what they are doing! I'm assuming you're talking about 45mls?? Cos that seems quite a lot for a preemie. We left the hospital when my little girl was 1 week old (or 36 weeks gestational age) ... And she was on 20mls of milk then. Unless he isn't gaining weight well or something I'm not sure to be honest.
Congratulations on your little boy! I'm sure he'll be fine :D If you're worried though, maybe get a second opinion from the hospital? Each hospital does things differently ... Also, how often is he feeding? My baby was on 20mls every 2 hours. Maybe if he was having less but more often they might let him out sooner?


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