Not Breastfeeding??

[divadexie]

Now it just occured to me lastnight, that people 'seem' to be 'pushing' towards me breastfeeding Anna when she is ready.

Now, while I had NO plans whatsoever to breastfeed had she been on time, I didn't have to think twice about expressing as it was what she needed, being so early and so tiny.

I have mentioned twice so far when asked, that when SHE is ready for it, I will be switching to formula, but certainly not until she is ready.

They have already mentioned to me about feeding her half breastmilk and half formula to give her a boost... so surely this means her wee tummy is soon ready for formula type milk??
So then later on can just gradually alter the mix between the two and wean off the breastmilk?

It just seems a couple of them had mentioned trying to get her to breastfeed and I kinda feel bad for saying I don't want to actually feed her from my breast but would rather bottle?
Can I do that?
I feel like I'd be saying that my reasons are selfish, I guess in a way they are but I want OH to be able to feed her, and I want to be able to feed when I go to other people's houses, I am certainly Not getting my boobs out in public either! I don't see a point in 'teaching' her to latch on etc when I want to use bottles.. I also like to know how much she is taking a feed and well your boobs don't have measurement marksers on them Lol!

 

[25weeker]

My lo was on 50% formula and 50% ebm in hospital as well to help with her weight gain. To prepare you the nappies smell awful and stink the incubator out!

She is your baby so it is entirely your choice how she is fed so if you want to stop breastfeeding then ask them when is the best time to do so. If she gets 50/50 then you will build up a good stock of brestmilk and they could use that instead until it runs out.

Try not to feel guilty or pressurised into breastfeeding if you don't want to as it is stressful enough having a prem baby. I chose to breastfeed but will admit it can be tough and look forward to the day I get my body back to myself!

 

[Abigailly]

Its your child, obviously you can do as you wish. Its just midwives have a duty to promote breast feeding as they know 'breast is best'. And obviously they push it with premature babies as its so important that they get all the right stuff.

Its up to you what you do though, whether you choose to breast, fully express, combi or straight formula feed. They will try push you in the BF direction though but its your choice. In the end they will respect your choice as it will be you doing what is best for you and your family.

 

[TwoBumps]

I was like you & always planned to bottle feed if the boys had been full term, however didn't hesitate to express for them as they really needed it.

However, after about 3 or 4 weeks I wanted to stop (& wasn't really keeping up with them anyway) & so the boys were on 50/50 while they got used to pre aptamil. One nurse in particular did suggest a few times that I put them to the breast but I wanted them bottle fed for the same reasons as you & so stuck to my guns. The rest of the nurses just asked how I intended to feed them & were more then happy to go along with that.

She is your baby & breastfeeding isn't for everyone so just stick with what you want & think is best for you & your baby x

 

[AP]

Stick to your guns, its just an assumption that they tend to make.
Many many preemie mothers milk dries up before they even get out of hospital.
I had to get a doctor to prescribe me domperidone to save me!

If you do decided to formula feed, it can reeeeally help to bring your own bottles in. Perhaps bringing your own bottles in will make them realise.
Sometimes preemies get accustomed to the hospital teats(like mine!) and it can be hard to get them off them!

 

[divadexie]

My milk still isn't getting any better

I have been expressing every 1.5hrs this afternoon and evening and not even getting 20ml!
The most I got was sunday, I didn't express from late sat night as I had a drink with friends then expressed as soon as I got home after seeing Anna and I had about 80ml.
I'm trying to get a doctors appoitment to see if they can give me tablets (also need to see if I can finally stop taking my bp tablets! Lol) but they are soo busy, and ringing for one in the morning doesnt help because there are no buses to get me there!

 

[Sugarmuppet]

i know how horrible it is to be in your position. no one make you do something you don't want to do. You have to do what is best for you and YOUR baby.

I have continued to express, my baby wasn't trong enough to suck at first and we tried her on a bottle and she didn't look back! She sadly however still won't latch on. I am expressing for her, 14 weeks on it is still a pain in the ass but it does allow her daddy/granny/next door neighbour (!) to feed her and it lets us go out without embarassment, she is also in a fantastic routine which i credit to bottle feeding.

If you do stick with the expressing you may well find that your volumes suddenly go up and up, there is some fab advice in the sticky in this forum. I also found that when my blood pressure tablets were reduced my volume went up.

Just don't get too hung up on anything, try to relax and enjoy the ride, doing what you think is best, make decisions on how you feel at the time. xxx

 

[25weeker]

Hi sugarmuppet

I was originally feeding using a nipple shield with a couple of ebm added in so oh could feed her. Over the past few days she has been really fussy at the breast and hardly eating but loved the bottle. After everything she has overcome I decided if she wants a bottle I will give her them so have started expressing for every feed.

how easy have you found it increasing your volume when her feed volumes have gone up as I am concerned I won't be able to?

 

[Foogirl]

If preferring to have the option of bottles so OH can feed and you can have a break etc, is your only reason, I did find that because she was bottle fed EBM when I wasn't there, she came home happy to switch between the two and I wasn't tied to her 24/7.

Of course, if you have other reasons and just don't want to do it, don't let them pressure you into it. It is your baby and your body and you can choose what you wish. Don't see it as a fight or feel they will judge you as that is the last thing you need, just state you are going to bottle feed and ask when she will be able to have formula. If they push it, just re-state your intentions and ask the question again.

At Stirling I think of the dozen or so babies in SCBU there were only 3 that were breastfed so I wouldn't think it would be a problem giving formula. In fact they gave it to Abby twice when they thought they had none of my milk in the fridge.

 

[Sugarmuppet]

how easy have you found it increasing your volume when her feed volumes have gone up as I am concerned I won't be able to?

i have always expressed one more feed than she has per day, when she came home she was on a four hourly schedule, so i expressed 7 times a day, now she feeds four times a day i express 5. So I am always one ahead, the times that she has increased her volumes I have topped up the feeds with the extra bottle and expressed for a bit longer with the others even if no milk is coming out, this seems to stimulate production and in a few days I will get the increased amount in all bottles. She is currently taking 220mls at a time and starting to drain it pretty quick, i am panicking that I won't be able to produce that, but i have panicked each time her volumes have increased and its always been okay...and if its not? So be it, i will switch to formula, its not the be all and end all but while i can produce what she needs and its easy to do i will continue.

I also found that most of the babies in the hospital we were in (Glasgow) were formula fed although there was excellent support for bf/exressing. My baby was also given formula because they thought there was none of my milk for her, she was really colicy and have explosive nappies after that which really made me determined to express for the first wee while.

Big and if there is anything else you want to know fire away! and keep us updated on your little ones progress! xx

 

[Foogirl]

how easy have you found it increasing your volume when her feed volumes have gone up as I am concerned I won't be able to?

I ended up having a shelf to myself in the freezer. It should increase with time if you keep up the pumping.

 

[embojet]

The one thing I regret is not stopping pumping sooner. I used to cry doing it cos I felt pathetic as mymilk was stopping and I couldnt produce enough. I always planned to bottle feed and obviouly didnt hesitate to express as she needed it so badly but IMO definately aim to stop if thats what you want. One of the nurses pushed me to keep pumping when I should have stopped. I handed her my EBM and she said 'is that all?'. Molly was on 50/50 for ages then just formula.

 

[divadexie]

How early were your babies and how old when they were getting 50/50 or full formula?

Anna was 15 weeks early and will be 6 weeks on saturday, they have already mentioned going 50/50 so I assume that means they feel her wee tummy is ready for it, they wouldn't give her formula atall in the beginning and I could only go home for one day or they would run out of my milk! Now I have nearly a whole drawer, well, I did, before my suppley was getting low, she is still only on 7ml an hour.

 

[25weeker]

Holly was in a different Nicu when she was born and they used breastmilk fortifier for the additional calories once she got to a kilo which was around 6-7 weeks. ERI use pre aptimal formula instead of fortifier so I would imagine they can introduce her to the formula within the next week or so.

 

[embojet]

Molly was 11 weeks early and I think she was 50/50 by the time she was about 4 weeks if that.

 

[BrittLeblanc]

Hey divadexie. I am doing the same thing. I had no intentions of breastfeeding my son but since he was born at 25 weeks i decided to pump while he is in the hostipal and when it is time to switch him to formula. For some strange reason I feel really uncomfortable about breast feeding. I'm happy I'm not the only one that feels this way.

 

[divadexie]

One thing I was also thinking, was I know that for a breastfed baby you need to ''prove'' you can do all the feeds and the baby not lose weight before you can go home.... so does this mean it may be slightly easier to go home?
I mean obv they still need the sleep study and hopefully the rooming in bit I dunno maybe I just feel it will be alot less pressure and stress if I know how much she is taking and it will be easier to 'teach' her to drink the milk as the nurses will be able to bottle feed her when I am not there where they can't really teach a baby how to breasfeed when the mums not in.

I am happy to continue expressing so that I have enough milk for her 50/50 feeds until due date or term at 37 weeks? (thats when the nurse said they prefer to keep them on at least half breast milk) which is another... well she will be 7 (32gestational) weeks on sat, 5 weeks until term or 8 weeks til her due date... now I just need to work out roughly how much milk that should be as I am not getting alot at the moment but I do have loads in the freezer still.
Does that make much sense? I am tired from painting all day! Lol

 

[Foogirl]

Abby was fed with bottles when I wasn't there, and breast fed when I was. I don't think it is so much about you proving you can do all the feeds, more her being able to take full bottle feeds without requiring top ups. Even with bottle feeding, they can become too tired taking a full bottle feed and need a top up through their NGT. Then there has to be a consistent weight gain. Bottle fed or breast fed it makes no difference in that respect. There were FF babies of the same gestation as Abby, born around the same time who were still there when we left. There were also breastfed babies who were still there. I think it depends on a variety of things rather than just the method of feeding.

With the expressing, I wouldn't stress. They might prefer to have 50 / 50, but if you aren't producing enough, they will just have to supplement with formula. I don't think it is uncommon for mums to choose not to express milk in NNICU, or only to do it for a couple of weeks.