help with breastfeeding prem baby

[chel27]

hi my lil girl is premature and in scbu and doing really well, before they will let her home we need to get her off tube feeds and breastfeeding well, at the moment she seems to latch on well and sucks for while but then stops and doesnt seem interested, does anyone know of anything i can do to encourage her to breastfeed??

 

[Pyrrhic]

What happens when she drops the latch? She she mouth and get upset at all? It could be because of the rate of flow. Have the MWs offered any help?

 

[chel27]

What happens when she drops the latch? She she mouth and get upset at all? It could be because of the rate of flow. Have the MWs offered any help?

lol no she doesnt get upset at all, she just licks my nipple or sucks it like a dummy and just gazes around like she isnt even hungry no th midwifes havnt offered any help, i wanted to be able to do this one thing for my lil girl x

 

[Pyrrhic]

Found this for you

https://www.preemie-l.org/bfaq.html

 

[chel27]

Found this for you

https://www.preemie-l.org/bfaq.html

thanks hun will give it a read xx

 

[alloyd519]

I just wanted to tell you that you're doing such a good thing trying to breastfeed under the circumstances. My girls were in the NICU for 3 weeks and when they got weaned off the tube feedings the nurses just switched them to bottles, and I was upset since I really wanted to breastfeed. I tried when we got home but ended up just having to pump since they were not having it! I hope you and your little girl figure it out!!

 

[DonnaBallona]

My little girl has just been released from scbu last Thursday after 5 weeks-she was born 7 weeks early at 2lb 4oz.

She used to do exactly the same thing when I first started to try her on the breast. She was just too small and got too tired to suck. She would latch on really well and give it 2 or 3 sucks then give up and rest-It took me about a week to get her to do anything else!

Jus hang in there chick-its tricky but she will get there!! Have you tried tickling under her chin or blowing gently on her face whilst she is latched on? The nurses at my unit sometimes gave Brooke her expressed milk through her ngt tube whilst she was sucking too-it seemed to help her associate sucking on the breast with having a full tummy. Might be worth a try?
Im totally demand breastfeeding my daughter now, if I can do it so can anybody! hang in there-you're doing a great thing! xx

 

[Bec L]

Hi and congratulations on your new (early) arrival

I had the same experience as Donnaballona and it took 2 weeks for Poppy to be able to demand feed and be let home. The whole process was slow, and at times frustrating, but I was just so glad that Poppy had the ability to breastfeed, as your baby does, as many can't.

Hang in there and as time goes on it WILL get better. I used to tickle her nose with my nipple and then bring it down into her mouth. That semed to work, and also did the feeding while she had a tube feed too. I wasn't allowed to feed her if she was too sleepy which again was frustrating, but they said it was best to try when she was alert.

Good luck, keep us posted

 

[snowgirl]

at the moment she seems to latch on well and sucks for while but then stops and doesnt seem interested, does anyone know of anything i can do to encourage her to breastfeed??

I gather she is on a strict 3 hourly feed regime? This is what happened to me when mine were, but as soon as I switched to feeding on demand, mine both became eager to feed. However they then did what rafwife described, as they really wanted food but were frustrated that they wern't getting any.

Can you switch to demand feeds? The nurses in NICU actually recommended it for my two to get them breastfeeding.

 

[Faerie]

Thank you so much for posting this, I came on this morning to ask about premmies breastfeeding

Whilst the baby is being tube fed were they given dummies? I know in the books it always says establish breastfeeding before offering a dummy but I was wondering if the special dummies they have these days, the ones that are meant to feel like a nipple, encourage the baby to suck? I bought some designed for prem babies.

 

[chel27]

at the moment she seems to latch on well and sucks for while but then stops and doesnt seem interested, does anyone know of anything i can do to encourage her to breastfeed??

I gather she is on a strict 3 hourly feed regime? This is what happened to me when mine were, but as soon as I switched to feeding on demand, mine both became eager to feed. However they then did what rafwife described, as they really wanted food but were frustrated that they wern't getting any.

Can you switch to demand feeds? The nurses in NICU actually recommended it for my two to get them breastfeeding.

yes she is on strict 3 hourly feeds and i try to breastfeed her every 6 hours and last night she took a bottle for the first time but she hasnt been awake to do it since it is so frustrating i tell ya!!! she just wants to sleep, one day you get some progress and think it wont be long now till she comes home, then the next day she takes a step back and doesnt breastfeed or bottle at all ;-( somebody please tell me something positive and that i will get her home soon xxx

 

[snowgirl]

somebody please tell me something positive and that i will get her home soon xxx

All I can say is that I didn't have any progress with feeding until mine were demand fed. You need to talk to a nurse in SCBU and ask them if it's ok to try and demand feed for either 12 or 24 hours just to see if she is able to tell you when she is hungry yet.

You then ensure she doesn't go over 4 hours without being fed, but you allow her to get to the stage where she gets properly hungry. Not distressed, just so she wakes of her own accord and grumbles for a short while. When you put her to the breast she should be eager but expect her to get frustrated as well and possibly cry, but it's normal and just let her try for up to 10 minutes before giving her a bottle.

 

[VanWest]

How many weeks is she now? If she is latching on that's a good sign. But premature babies become very tired very easily. When Noah was in the NICU at first they would let me feed him and then the next feeding or two would be the tube feeding. To allow them to rest. Most babies are not even ready to eat by mouth in til 34 weeks or more. I know its frustrating because you want her home, but it's best that she gets lots of rest when she needs it so she doesn't have set backs. My son was in the NICU for 67 days, and he would latch on one day very well, then not all for days. It will get better though.

 

[chel27]

thanks for all your replies girls, you have all been very helpfull well my lil girl is now takng from the breast twice a day and 1 bottle feed a day so she is getting there ;-) i couldnt believe it today as i went to do her 7pm feed she was wide awake and as soon as i put her to my breast she was away, she nearly ate my nipple thats how eager she was she then latched on and fed for 30 minutes and also had 30 ml of bottle milk to and she was still awake after that, i couldnt believe it problem i do have is i have just expressed some milk and only got 30 ml from both boobs yet if i squeeze my nipple milk still comes out!! im confused!!! can anyone shed any light?

 

[VanWest]

You might want to ask if they will allow you to do more skin to skin care, to help your milk production.

 

[Sweetpea7830]

thanks for all your replies girls, you have all been very helpfull well my lil girl is now takng from the breast twice a day and 1 bottle feed a day so she is getting there ;-) i couldnt believe it today as i went to do her 7pm feed she was wide awake and as soon as i put her to my breast she was away, she nearly ate my nipple thats how eager she was she then latched on and fed for 30 minutes and also had 30 ml of bottle milk to and she was still awake after that, i couldnt believe it problem i do have is i have just expressed some milk and only got 30 ml from both boobs yet if i squeeze my nipple milk still comes out!! im confused!!! can anyone shed any light?

are you using an electric pump? if so make sure you have the right size shield, i had to get a different size than the 24mm standard.

also, you can try squeezing and massaging down your breast while you pump. i have to do that at times to fully empty. fully emptying will also help increase your supply.