Demand led feeding in neonatal

[gilz82]

Hi girls :wave:

Our little man is still in the neonatal unit and right now is getting fed every 9 hours by bottle and twice by tube in-between.

His nurse told me on the phone this morning that they are hoping by the middle of the week next week they will be able to be demand feeding him. Obviously that would be fantastic as it means he's closer to coming home but it also means there wouldn't be set times to feed him so I feel like I'd be losing my involvement in his care because I don't know when to be there to feed him.

Has anyone else felt that way and how do you deal with it?

 

[toothfairyx]

The feed times can vary once you go to demand but they will still be every few hours. The biggest issue I had was that the quantity of ebm he would get through doubled and the stockpile quickly vanished. I used to call the hospital in the morning to see what times they were on and aim to go in for when he would be expecting a feed to breast feed him. I wasn't concerned though about them using a bottle when I wasn't there and had no problems breastfeeding him for sometime after he came home.
So I guess you need to have a little think about how you feel about them bottle feeding when you aren't there, formula and which ones they can use if you run out of ebm. I had the benefit of a very close friend who was a SCB nurse and gave me lots of guidance - one bit of advice she said was that it was difficult for them when Mums refused to let them use a bottle and they had to cup or syringe feed as it was very difficult for the babies and usually ended up with them failing to gain weight as much as they could have as lots gets spilt.

 

[lozzy21]

Is there anywhere you can stay in the hospital so you could be there for his feeds?

Even with feeding on demand its usualy every 3/4 hours so there is some pattern to it.

 

[twins_daddy]

Watch the staff is my only advice really. When Ethan was demand fed some of the nurses would stuff him. On one occasion a nurse informed us that he'd just taken 250ml - he was only 8lb at the time. It was only certain nurses that would push him and it was those nurses who never seemed to have any time for the babies....

 

[gilz82]

I'm on medication for various health issues so can't BF so Noah is being bottle fed anyway.

I understand we can't be there for every feed but just felt I'd be losing my ability to participate in his care as we stay 40mins from the hospital so it's not like they can phone us when he's hungry.

As you said Lozzy I'm sure a pattern will develop with the demand feeding so I'll be able to get into a routine where we're involved in caring for Noah again.

It just feels a little alien if I'm honest. The past week we've been very involved doing his cares, and even getting to give him a small bath. This morning I arrived at the hospital to find they'd done his cares, fed him and changed him so I felt a little redundant and this is before demand feeding starts.

 

[Elveneye]

I went to the hospital every 4 hours (yes, it's rough) - night and day, to be there when my daughter needed fed. I was against the tube feeding and wanted to breastfeed as much as possible, so I spent a few weeks running back and forth. Didn't get much sleep, ate whilst moving.. But it was worth it.

 

[gilz82]

I'm still too sick after the HELLP syndrome and my section to go to the hospital every four hours. My OH works away from home so its just me now that he's had to go back to work. I might try to speak to the hospital to see if there is anyway I could maybe stay there so I can be with Noah whenever needed.

 

[lozzy21]

Do they not have a parents room? Ours had a room with a tv and a little kitchen where you could chill between feeds ect?

 

[gilz82]

They have what they call a garden room but the mw told me today I could go there and make a cup of coffee but I wasn't to make a habit of it.

I think tomorrow I'll just wear super comfy clothes and take a big book and camp out at the hospital for as long as I can.

 

[toothfairyx]

Are you allowed to name this hospital? Sounds like one to avoid.

 

[PrincessPea]

When my LO first went to demand feeding she still went roughly every 3-4 hours. What we used to do was phone first thing in the morning to see when her next feed was due, head in for then at the latest and then stay for as many feeds as we could before heading home. xx

 

[bob2331]

When harry went to demand feeding, he seemed to stick to a set routine of every 4 hours (althought that went right out the window when he came home). Harry was also bottle fed due to me having a few 'issues'.

I was there for his 9 am feed and went home just after his 1am feed (although looking back, thats not a good thing for any of us to do, but i had a lot of guilt and spent too long there)

 

[gilz82]

I think that's similar to what I'll try to do. Just get in for the earliest feed and then stay for most of the day I'll need to come home at dinner time as we have a dog as well so he needs some food and attention too.

 

[wiganlass]

i had my little boy 6 weeks early and he was in hospital for 9 days... he was tube feed all the time at first then i had to try bottle feed him every other time... every babys different but hope your baby is home with you soon xxx

 

[gilz82]

Thanks Wiganlass

They have switched Noah to alternate bottle and tube feeds today. If he manages to cope with that they think they might try him demand feeding by the end of the week. Fingers crossed this all goes well and we'll have him home with us soon.

 

[Srrme]

They never demand fed Elias when he was in the NICU, but as soon as he came home I began exclusively breast-feeding him on demand, and he built up his own routine. I'm sure your LO will have a routine in no time, and you'll know when he feeds.

 

[katy1310]

When my LO first went to demand feeding she still went roughly every 3-4 hours. What we used to do was phone first thing in the morning to see when her next feed was due, head in for then at the latest and then stay for as many feeds as we could before heading home. xx

That's exactly what we did as well. I was bf Sophie and I stayed on the unit for about 6 nights to get the feeding established but after I had to come home again they did bottle feeds when I wasn't there. I used to go for a wander sometimes and left my mobile number and they phoned me when she was starting to stir! We live 60 miles away from the hospital so when I wasn't staying there, I used to go up for whole days and just do as many feeds as I could in the time. Sophie did kind of stick to 3-4 hourly feeds.

Hope it all works out for you and that you have Noah home very soon!

xxx

 

[wiganlass]

no worries hun :O) i stayed in hospital til my little boy came home, so i was there do to the 6am feed and so on it was so hard being on a ward with other parents and there baby but i knew i could always go to my little boy when ever i wanted.. how is your little boy ? and hows he doing with the demand feeding ?? xx

 

[gilz82]

Hi Wiganlass :wave:

It's been a frustrating few days for us as far as Noah's care is concerned. The consultant came round on Friday morning and said she wanted to up him to two bottle feeds and then one tube feed. Told us if he tolerated that without being too sleepy then maybe on Monday they'd go to three bottle feeds then one tube feed and then after another couple if days demand feeding. We were happy with this it seemed to make sense and give Noah time to get used go each routine without changing too much.

Turned up at the hospital yesterday morning to find the mw during the night had decided to start demand feeding him We spoke to the consultant and asked why was this changed and why weren't we informed about it and basically she couldn't tell us. She decided to stick with the demand feeding to see how it goes.

So yesterday he fed every five hours, he'd previously been getting 47ml per bottle which they upped to 90ml per bottle. He's taking the 90ml but now has started being really sick. I'm so mad because up til this point his bottle feeds have never made him sick it's the tube feeds that have made him sick.

Just about to head in again this morning to see whats happening as I dont want him to spend days throwing up each feed because he can't tolerate the feeding or volume.

 

[xxClaire_24xx]

hi I also stayed 40 mins from the hospital by car and an hour 10 mins by bus which is the way I got to the hospital most days so when Ellie went to demand feeding I would get up do the school run get the half 9 bus be there for just before 11 and hopefully get a feed in head home do the school run and go back to hospital with Peter at night or I would do the school run and stay in the hospital all day but take the 15 min bus to Kilmarnock sometimes to do some shopping etc and get out the hospital. This was 4 days after my section I had to do the school run and bus to hospital as my partner had to work, it did catch up on me as I lost 5 pints of blood and had to be put to sleep during my section as my spinal wore off

Also the care for a neonatal baby can change from one hour to the next so it might happen on the night shift and you wont find out til the next day

my advice is breath, dont get too angry and have some time for yourself too and just think that your baby will be home very soon xx