How long?

[mummyosborne]

Hi girls, my clever little boy has just graduated from an incubator to a cot so all we are waiting on now is for him to get the hang of the bottle and he can come home! Hes having two bottles a day at the moment and generally taking half and then having the other half through his tube. When your little ones were learning to bottle feed, how long did it take for them to come home? or to get the hang of it if you were waiting on other things to bring them home? i remember with my DD it was only about 3 days and she came home, but i dont want to get my hopes up that it will be quite that quick this time, so i thought id see how long it took other babies thank you xx

 

[kirstybumx3]

hi, thought id add my story, my little boy was born at 32 weeks.. he has been in NICU for 4 weeks today and is currently still being tube fed with no sign of going home. he was doing very well and having alternate bottle and NGT but then we discovered that he stops breathing when trying to suck/swallow/breathe, his heart rate and oxygen levels drop drastically, so now we are back to full NGT feeds
my only advice is take every day as it comes, the only thing stopping my baby from coming home is his tube feeding. its frustrating to see babies come and go so often, even babies younger than my boy are feeding so easily and going home in a day or two, but we are still there.
the reality is every baby is different and we can only do things at their pace, you will get there eventually, as will I, stay stong and I hope it is soon xxxx

 

[Pink_Sparkle]

Every baby is different and bottle feeding for preemies is quite exhausting at first. My 23 weeker had his first bottle feed on tuesday. He needs his oxygen turned up a bit but hes slowly getting the hang of suck/swallow/breathe. Today he managed 2 bottles which we are so proud of!
I know its really frustrating if its the only thing stopping your baby getting home...We've been in the NICU almost 13 weeks!! I dont want to push him so that when he's home - HE'S HOME! Good luck and I hope you get your little one home soon xx

 

[rbourre]

My daughter started having bottles at 34 weeks and came home 10 days before my due date. That was pretty much the only thing keeping her there but it took her a while to get the hang of it.

 

[mummy3]

My little guy is 3 weeks today (born at 32 weeks exactly) and we're looking at home around monday if he behaves. He is taking almost all his feeds orally, 2 of his 8 in the last 24 hours were 30mls out of 41mls so the remaining 11mls was in the NG tube but the other 6 feeds were taken completely orally a mix of breast and bottle. He had a brady on tuesday so sunday is the earliest he can get home, he also has HR drops/shallow breathing during feeding and if he eats too much and too fast, his doctor has put this down to reflux. He started the bottle feeding at 34 weeks but it took a few days to get any real progress, around monday he really seemed to get the hang of it. He also tolerates breastfeeding more than bottle feeding!

They're so different, there's no way to really know how they're going to do and what may come up. Hopefully home soon for everyone

 

[mummyosborne]

Thank you for all your advice ladies, I'm pleased to announce my little munchkin should be coming home today!! Xx

 

[Rozzer]

Thank you for all your advice ladies, I'm pleased to announce my little munchkin should be coming home today!! Xx

Whoop, that's fantastic news!