Breastfeeding your premature baby...how long does it take?

[lgc]

My son was born at 32+2 weeks, 13days ago (making him just over 34 weeks now). He's fully fed by NG tube with my expressed breast milk but we're practicing on the breast. He is interested and has a good go but can't really latch on yet. Just wondering how long it took other peoples premature babies to learn to breast feed? The hospital have said we can take him home being tube fed when he is taking 1/2 of his feeds orally...this feels like it will take a long time!!

 

[dizz]

They'll let you go home much sooner than ours will then - ours you had to prove you could function fully without the NG tube in. No ifs, no buts - we own your baby as long as that tube's in its nostril - deal with it (can you tell this still hurts now?!)

I'll be honest - I was in a similar position, desperately trying to get her to breastfeed, expressing to get her fed through the tube, and her just being so small (and probably my norks being so big didn't help when dealing with a tiny mouth) and just getting none of it - the constant interruptions of Bounty women, evil transitional care woman who'd just walk in with no warning, free-range toddlers pulling cubicle curtains back and the like didn't help - despite her best efforts she just couldn't do it, and the hospital stay was absolutely utterly destroying me (I'd been shoved in the middle of a normal maternity ward bay, handed a green folder with the feed amounts on and left to get on with it) to the point where I was just a walking shell, considering putting her into care just to get off that ward (there was no provision other than shoving the babies in a room beside the nurses' station and listening if they screamed to care for them if mothers needed to leave the ward - and I wasn't prepared to do that with her so I was essentially a prisoner) - and I feel dreadful admitting the care thing - first time I ever have.

In the end, I felt like I was never ever going to be allowed to leave if I carried on trying to breastfeed - and I caved in and asked for a bottle and fed her expressed milk that way - and she took half a feed and I sobbed from feeling like I'd finally made some headway into getting the pair of us out of there... expressed for as long as I could (made it to 1 month - was trying to keep my supply going in the hope it would suddenly click for her as she matured and she'd become able to feed) but I still feel I sold her out for my escape from that hell-hole really... she still wasn't able to maintain a latch for more than a couple of sucks by the time my supply dried up at around 37 weeks and it's only now that she'd be 3 weeks adjusted that she shows any sign of moving toward the breast (and I cry every time she does as it rubs salt into the wound).

Probably none of this makes sense - she was born at a late 33 weeks - had a hospital stay of 14 days and someone off the record told me I'd be looking at double or triple that to be able to go home breastfeeding... yes I let her down and took the "easy" choice - but they'd have been taking me out of there in a body bag because I would have killed myself to escape that place by the end of it with what they did to me in there.

 

[lgc]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I don't blame you at all! The constant expressing is really starting to take it's toll, and I'm almost to the ml only just keeping up with his needs, and feel a real pressure to try to produce more milk which actually makes me produce less! Im not staying at the hospital (discharged myself after 3 days as I wasn't sleeping at all) so doing a lot of travelling back & forth. The baby is still on the neonatal unit but they are talking about transitional care soon so we can have more practice breastfeeding...if it means it will lead to getting him home quicker I want to do it but I am worried it will make me stir crazy, especially if it's going to take weeks to establish any form of non ng feeding.

 

[25weeker]

We had to use a nipple shield as my lo couldn't latch. Once I started using it she learnt to feed quickly although we started around 36 weeks gestation and after a couple of weeks anytime I was there she would have a full feed from me. After about 6 weeks being at home I managed to get rid of the shield.

 

[buttonnose82]

my Little dude was born at 32 + 1, he first latched at 33 weeks but literally took 2/3 sucks, he took his first full feed with no top up at 34 weeks, then was discharged fully breastfed at 35+6

you will find once he gets the hang of it you will progress quickly, we went from 1 feed in 24 hours to 2 feeds in 24 hours in just a couple days, then too 3 feeds a coupkle days later, my little one refused too feed from the cup, so once he got going he wanted nothing else

he will get there, remember he should have still been all snuggled up in your tummy, so the fact he is interested and having a go already is great stuff

 

[sandilion]

My LO was born the same - 32+2 but yeah same deal with us, had the tube etc - he wasn't latching onto my nipples because he was so small so i asked for a nipple shield.. thank go i did, he was sent home with us at 35 weeks! I had to keep using the shield until about a month ago because my nipples aren't very 'pointy', i slowly weaned him off the shield and now he EBF directly from my nipple because he is strong enough to latch on and draw my nipple right in.

So i highly recommend the shield. When bubs grows and gets stronger he'll be able to then latch onto your nipple directly.

 

[lgc]

Thanks for the advice! You've given me hope now. Will def ask about the shields (I have same prob with flat nipples!). We moved into transitional care today so will hopefully get lots of practice!

 

[FoxMommy]

My dd was born at 31w6d. She showed ZERO interest in the boob for two a d z half weeks. At that point it was the only reason we were there. This is my advice, if you think your baby is ready let your baby ask for it instead of tube feeding on a schedule. It will piss off nurses but it's your baby. Her feeds were every three hours and when I made her wait four she asked for it and was solely breastfeeding in two days and home the next. Her weight gain was not as rapid but she did it. Eleven months later and she's still loving the breast. Trust yourself, let your baby want it, and trust your baby. Hospitals are pushy, you don't have to listen.

 

[New2Bumps]

All the best of luck. My experience was similar to Dizz, I ended up accepting the bottle (which had been forced on us from day 1 and they didn't let my try to bf much at all becuase of excuses - he needs the heat mat, he needs more calories etc) just to go home in the end. It was either go home now or wait another 2+ weeks for him to try and bf. I chose home. I continued to try and bf but it didn't happen. I don't regret my decision at all as he had ebm exclusively until his due date which was hard going. I do regret not putting my foot down earlier with the bf and won't make that mistake again.

My other friend though had her baby a month early too and neo let her ebf through the tube from day 1 like you then they were very good at trying to get her to bf but her baby showed a natural incling, he really took to it, and I think if that's the case they're much more supportive of you continuing. That was my feeling anyway. As with all babies, some are naturals, but some just are not. It's hard to persevere when your emotions are all over the place. It's early days for your LO so fingers crossed he continues to show more interest, but once he does, push push push for it and as Fox Mommy said, make sure they tend to your wishes, not their targets.

good luck x

 

[Foogirl]

We had a struggle getting feeding established. Abby was 29 weeks and we started offering the breast at 32 weeks, even when she had developed the suck reflex at 34 weeks, we still struggled and I tied myself in knots about it. They started offering bottled EBM when I wasn't there and she took the feeds very well. From then on it was simply practice practice practice. Eventually I switched to using a nipple shield which she was weaned off within about a month of coming home. Relax about it and it will happen but until then allow them to let feeds with a bottle happen. I'd say that is preferable to coming home with an NG tube. It is possible for a baby to be both bottle and breastfed, Abby is living proof of that. She actually started rejecting the bottles at about 4 months and was exclusively breastfed after that.

 

[mummy3]

My 32 and 33 weekers both were bfing at around the 34 week mark, which we were told is pretty early to be able to suck. My biggest tip would be patience, keep offering and giving LO time to practice. I had a few disagreements with the nurses in NICU lol, including having my expressed milk discarded and replaced with formula and I lost count of the amount of times I had to put my foot down and say I'm bfing. Keep going hun, I hope transitional care makes all the difference

 

[Skadi]

It's different for every baby. I was insistent that she be given a pacifier to suck while being fed through the NG tube. Unfortunately some of the NICU nurses were too lazy for that so I made sure to be there and do it for all her feeds during the day. By the time she got to 33 and a half weeks old she was showing signs of being ready to try and breastfeed. They let me do it and she managed to get 3mls on her own at the first go. It wasn't for another week or two before she was strong enough to get a whole feeding at breast without needing an NG tube top up. We were lucky though, she was a natural and I think just a strong and advanced baby.

I wouldn't stress it too much, I remember just how worried sick I was about nursing and thinking we would never get there. It will happen!

 

[avidwriter15]

Well my little twinkie was born 27 weeks - we did non nutritive sucking from 34 weeks on - but he has a brain bleed and is having suck swallow breathe issues. we ended up having to have a g-tube placed or stay in the NICU for another 6 months while he learned to eat from a bottle or breast. He will latch now that we are home but his suck isn't enough to get anything out so we use it like a pacifier.. still hoping that one day he might actually be able to breastfeed. after pumping exclusively for almost 5 months now I am still holding hope. He has had EBM through everything imaginable - and we are working on bottle feeds - but anything he doesn't take by mouth goes through the g-tube.

 

[kimandbump]

My LO was born at 34 weeks. We spent 4 weeks in nicu trying to bf but it just wasn't happening and she couldn't latch on. I took her home exclusively expressing and bottle feeding. I continued to try to get her to bf at home and she first latched on when she was around 8 or 9 weeks old. This was the week that her weight reached 5lb and I am convinced that before this her mouth was just too small. She then exclusively bf until 6 months.

It is so so difficult trying to decide what to do for the best, I had it in my mind that if I gave a bottle I could never go back but this simply isn't true and it is possible for babies to do both as others have also said.