# Preemie Learning to Eat.



## sunnylove

How long did it take your preemie to learn to eat in NICU? Was he breast or bottle fed? What are some pointers or advice you can give mom with preemies learning to feed? Maybe speed up the process a bit more?

I am trying to nurse my son as much as I can. Some nurses say to just bottle feed because baby will go home quicker, but then a nurse who has worked there 25+ years said she hated when nurses said that because she's rarely found that to be the case. I am not going to try to push my son with the bottle - I want him to really learn and do well. Thoughts?


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## 25weeker

My daughter was breastfed although we had to use a nipple shield because she was struggling to latch properly. Once we had that she fed quite well although we had a few apnoea episodes as she mastered suck, swallow and breathe. I think by 37 weeks she had mastered it. She also had expressed milk in a bottle when I wasn't there.

At home after about a month I weaned her of the shield. She would still get expressed milk in a bottle at least a few times a week until she was 4 months corrected and decided she didn't like bottles anymore!

No one ever suggested to me I use a bottle instead and I probably would have refused anyway. I didn't spend all that time pumping to put her on bottles and I don't think I would have coped at home looking after a baby, pumping, sterilising & feeding and would have ended up using formula but some people can cope with pumping.


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## Srrme

Both of my boys were bottle fed my breast milk only in the NICU. I got the whole "bottle is quicker" advice too (and fell for it, obviously), however, as SOON as they were discharged I offered them my breast and they took to it instantly and I exclusively breastfed from that point on. It was less stressful for me to try it and do it in the comfort of my own home with them instead of having nurses poking, prodding, and hovering over us.


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## Collyrocks

I ended up doing bottles with ebm in our last week in NICU cos I just wanted to get home and the nurses kept saying bottle was easier and the nipple shield was driving me bonkers. Now at home we do bottle feeds for all but one feed of the day when we do breast feed for snuggling and bonding. I think it's the best of both worlds as long as he doesn't decide he will only take one way. Fingers crossed he doesn't as I'm quite enjoying hubby being able to do the 3am feeds lol. 

My little guy was born at 29w1d and we were in NICU for 69 days. Have been home for just under 4 weeks.


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## holdontohope

My baby was born at 35 weeks and she started off with a feeding tube because she was on a ventilator with meds for a few days to mature lungs. Once she came off of that they started her with bottles. She took immediately and within a day they let me try bf. she latched on great. I ended up doing bf 3-4 times a day and bottles the rest. Towards the end I was just bottled feeding because it was quicker to get her home that way. 

Now I am trying my hardest to get her to just bf. But she is still not strong enough to latch for more then 5 min and I am having to supplement with bottles. 

My advice would be to bottle and bf. Bf made me feel so much more bonded to my baby when she was in the NICU. I treasured and looked forward to that time everyday! And in the end, they will come home when there ready. I learned that the hard way and was not very patient.


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## Foxybabyhg3

I had the same dilemma, but she's just still too tiny to latch on. Her 10days of NBM when she had NEC & sepsis set her back a little, so we tried EBM in a bottle and she took it straight away and is now sucking all her feeds. But when I get her home I plan on trying to BF as she grows and can suck better. But bear in mind Skylar is only 3lb 13oz at 9w old (38w gestation-measured 2w behind at birth) so she's a total teeny weeny


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## familygirl30

My boy was born at 34 weeks 5 days and he was fed through a tube for 9 days with my breast milk,I expressed 8 times a day as he couldn't latch on,so when he came off the tube we used bottles with expressed milk.i really wanted to bf though so I was really hard on myself at the beg


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## Foogirl

I hate the "bottle gets them home quicker" thing. Its not a sprint, it is a marathon. Even if it were true (which I doubt) its not like it would make weeks and weeks of a difference. So what's a few more days if you really want to establish breastfeeding?

Abby was breast fed whenever I was there and bottle fed when I was not. I did struggle to get feeding established properly in the unit but once I was home it was no problem at all. For the first few months she would have the occasional bottle of EBM, maybe once a day, but she got really bad colic and ended up refusing bottles. Of course it was hard to have to do all the feeds myself for a couple of months but she was soon into weaning so the breastfeeds became further and further apart.

Keep trying, use a nipple shield if needs be and don't be swayed by anything that suggests LO will get home sooner with. No point in rushing them, they will come home when they are ready.


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## Collyrocks

Imo getting bubs home quicker through bottle feeding shouldn't be disregarded as hospitals are a melting pot for germs and infections. Well that's what my experience led me to conclude. As long as you have established breast feeding in some capacity, I'm all for mixing it up with bottle feeds of ebm :)


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## sunnylove

I've noticed a lot of mom who choose bottle to get baby home faster, usually have late preemies who are only going to be there 3 weeks anyway, and then I can understand that desire. But we've been in the hospital for 2.5 months, my son was born extremely premature, so I really want him to learn how to eat and have quality feedings, really, for the sake of his development because I believe it aids in that a lot! 

He's doing much better at breast now. While he takes more from a bottle, he has much better quality feedings at breast. For example, when he bottles, they have to give him a break every 5 minutes to catch his breath. His suck is disorganized and he bubbles a lot at his mouth. When I nurse him though, he has a great, organized suck the whole time and never needs to catch his breath. So we are getting there! :)


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