premature newborn breastfeeding help please

[grumpymoo]

I hve also posted this in the breastfeeding forum but thought you ladies may be able to help too.
I think I am going to go loopy with lack of sleep so could do with some advice please

My baby was 7 weeks premature and came home after 2 weeks by which time she had stopped being tube fed and was being exclusively breast fed.I had been expressing every 3 hours while she was in hospital and she was being topped up with what I produced. She was like clockwork waking and being fed every 3 hours. Now this has dropped to every 2 hours which of course means by the time you have fed her, changed her, settled her etc your lucky to get an hours sleep! I seem to have plenty of milk and she seems to be feeding well.

Is this normal? Can or should I be trying to get her to go longer again? How long will this last?

I am so tired and really want to enjoy this time with her as I have already missed out on a couple of weeks feeding and cuddling her when she was in hospital


Thanks

 

[bumpsmum]

firstly congratulations on your baby girl I bet she is beautiful.

I know exactly how you fele hun, my son was born at 33+4 and stayed in NICU for 17 days I left semi-established BF every second feed was a BF others EMB via tiny bottles as he tired easily it took a week or so to fully establish once home, Matthew was in a routine of 4 hourly feeds in hosp but when he came home he was very fussy HV told me hosp is so medicalised and routined but that BF babies need feeds every 2 hours as they digest breastmilk quicker than formula so it is very natural for your baby girl to be looking for it more reg. It does get easier tho and after a few weeks may go longer during the night ie 3-4 hours.

What we did was I fed Matthew late evening then my husband gave his EMB at bedtime so I could get at least a few hours together and it did make a big difference that chunk of sleep. During the day just enjoy being chained to the sofa feeding your daughter enjoying cuddles and daytime TV for a while, it is tough going initially, let your family help with other things and just spend this time bonding with her and resting as much as you can. Good luck and let us know how you get on and oh lots of pics please............ x

 

[Bec L]

Hi
Poppy was very similar. Had great routine of waking every 3 hours for feeds in hospital but once we go her home that soon went out of the window. She rarely went 3 hours in the night although sometimes she'd sleep for hours in the day and I was always undecided about whether or not to wake her.

It won't last for long though I'm sure. Poppy eventually started to go longer - I was more frustrated by the time it took for her to settle after her feed than anything. If she just woke and fed and went back to sleep it wouldn't be so bad!

Easier said than done but TRY to catch up on sleep when you can. I would often feed Poppy in bed after about 5am and then we'd both fall alleep for a bit longer and I felt a bit more human then.

Hang in there, you're doing brilliantly

 

[grumpymoo]

Thank you both. I find it tough to know what to do sometimes as we are told to treat her as a term baby now and then told not to expect her to act like one!

I have a great book that helps you week by week with BF etc but dont know what week I should be looking at. Ahhhhh

Having said that I am so lucky that I can BF her, so lucky to have her home, so lucky to have her full stop

 

[highlandlassi]

hi... i feel your pain! my twins are a week old today and were born at 34 weeks. they are in hospital until tomorow! i want to exclusivly breastfeed but we are not quite there yet. my milk supply is a little on the low side and i am taking fenugrec and blessed thistle to help that. the babies latch well but get tired sucking long enough to get much. so my routine is baby 1 to breast for 5-15 minutes, then give them ebm, then top with formula, then do same with twin 2 and then pump for 20 mins. usually by the time we get it all done i have only 1 to 1.5 hours in between. i cant wait until my babes can just breastfeed it will be so much nicer. does your baby still need topping up or can she nurse alone.
as long as she is wet and poopy often she is getting enough. i was told to expect mine wont go as long between feeds as a term baby once they are stronger. hang in there....sounds like you are doing a great job!!

 

[grumpymoo]

hi... i feel your pain! my twins are a week old today and were born at 34 weeks. they are in hospital until tomorow! i want to exclusivly breastfeed but we are not quite there yet. my milk supply is a little on the low side and i am taking fenugrec and blessed thistle to help that. the babies latch well but get tired sucking long enough to get much. so my routine is baby 1 to breast for 5-15 minutes, then give them ebm, then top with formula, then do same with twin 2 and then pump for 20 mins. usually by the time we get it all done i have only 1 to 1.5 hours in between. i cant wait until my babes can just breastfeed it will be so much nicer. does your baby still need topping up or can she nurse alone.
as long as she is wet and poopy often she is getting enough. i was told to expect mine wont go as long between feeds as a term baby once they are stronger. hang in there....sounds like you are doing a great job!!

Thank you, bless you, you will have your hands full but how lovely. good luck and i hope that you really enjoy having them home and having them all to yourself

 

[Foogirl]

I would often feed Poppy in bed after about 5am and then we'd both fall alleep for a bit longer and I felt a bit more human then.

This is a great tip. I do this with Abby most mornings and she sleeps almost immediately, for another 3 hours.

I do disagree with your health visitor though. Breast fed babies don't always need fed every two hours. It is true they will generally feed more often than on formula but every baby is different. Abby has pretty much remained on her 3 hour schedule she had when she came home, but has dropped her middle of the night feed and now sleeps right through the night. Sometimes she will go 4 or 5 hours between feeds during the day, but she rarely demands a feed after 2 hours.

Try stretching the feeds. Rather than feeding as soon as she is up, talk to her, cuddle her just for 10 minutes or so, she might then get used to going a little longer.

One of the nurses at the neo-natal unit gave us the best advice. Up - feed - down in half an hour. Any longer than this and they are burning more calories than they are taking during the feed and therefore would require feeding more often.

The other thing I found was that in the first couple of weeks when she got home, she was all over the place with feeding and sleeping etc, but we settled into a routine and she soon got the message!

As has been said, if someone else can take over every now and then with a bottle of EBM, it will give you the rest you need. I found that Abby fed quicker and settled down easily after bottle feeds in the early days so she got a fair few of them. Of course the downside is you then have to spend time expressing milk too rather than sleeping but it may help in the short term.

 

[grumpymoo]

I would often feed Poppy in bed after about 5am and then we'd both fall alleep for a bit longer and I felt a bit more human then.

This is a great tip. I do this with Abby most mornings and she sleeps almost immediately, for another 3 hours.

I do disagree with your health visitor though. Breast fed babies don't always need fed every two hours. It is true they will generally feed more often than on formula but every baby is different. Abby has pretty much remained on her 3 hour schedule she had when she came home, but has dropped her middle of the night feed and now sleeps right through the night. Sometimes she will go 4 or 5 hours between feeds during the day, but she rarely demands a feed after 2 hours.

Try stretching the feeds. Rather than feeding as soon as she is up, talk to her, cuddle her just for 10 minutes or so, she might then get used to going a little longer.

One of the nurses at the neo-natal unit gave us the best advice. Up - feed - down in half an hour. Any longer than this and they are burning more calories than they are taking during the feed and therefore would require feeding more often.

The other thing I found was that in the first couple of weeks when she got home, she was all over the place with feeding and sleeping etc, but we settled into a routine and she soon got the message!

As has been said, if someone else can take over every now and then with a bottle of EBM, it will give you the rest you need. I found that Abby fed quicker and settled down easily after bottle feeds in the early days so she got a fair few of them. Of course the downside is you then have to spend time expressing milk too rather than sleeping but it may help in the short term.

Thank you, that is very helpful advice. We had a really bad night last night so we need to try something. I dont think her wind is helping either though

 

[ClaireRJM]

I now gone on2 bottle for this reason. My baby was born 4 wks prem & i was expressing 2 top up tube feed then last few days in hosp was just on breast waking 3-4 hrs for feed. Since come home was waking more often & taking upto hr to feed, like u say constantly feeding, changing cycle!!! I am still expressing once a day 2 give her the goodness in2 a bottle & using mainly actamil follow on breast formula which she laps up & sleeps a good 4 hrs between feeds. This allows me to have more time to myself & with her without being like a zombie 24/7. I only have limited time off b4 returning 2 work so want to have as much time 2 bond as poss than being like the walking dead! Every1 different, whateva works for u hun, good luck,x

 

[bumpsmum]

Grumpmoo, I hope feeding getting a bit easier for you and that last night was a bit better than the night before? sending you some to keep you going your doing an amazing job and it WILL get easier, promise x

 

[grumpymoo]

Grumpmoo, I hope feeding getting a bit easier for you and that last night was a bit better than the night before? sending you some to keep you going your doing an amazing job and it WILL get easier, promise x

thank you last night was better.Dont know if it was just a fluke though!

She was weighed today and has put on almost 14oz, I should think so too

I am just taking things a day at a time for now.

Thanks again x

 

[Foogirl]

Thank you, that is very helpful advice. We had a really bad night last night so we need to try something. I dont think her wind is helping either though

You're welcome.

Have you tried Gripe water to help her wind. We used it a couple of times and got some fantastic burps from Abby!

 

[grumpymoo]

Thank you, that is very helpful advice. We had a really bad night last night so we need to try something. I dont think her wind is helping either though

You're welcome.

Have you tried Gripe water to help her wind. We used it a couple of times and got some fantastic burps from Abby!

i cant find out if she can have gripe water yet or not, no one seems to know. She was due to be born on monday but is 6 weeks old actual ages. I have asked the hv and pharmasist and they dont know, ahhhhhhh

 

[bumpsmum]

checked the gripe water there as I find it helps too it says not to be used in babies under 1 month prob safest to presume its not safe as of yet hun just in case. What about a weee drop of cooled boiled water sometmes that helps too with wind, there must be some alternative they can offer - newborns suffer colic so surely there is something safe at that age x

 

[grumpymoo]

checked the gripe water there as I find it helps too it says not to be used in babies under 1 month prob safest to presume its not safe as of yet hun just in case. What about a weee drop of cooled boiled water sometmes that helps too with wind, there must be some alternative they can offer - newborns suffer colic so surely there is something safe at that age x

I am using infacol but not sure it helps. I feel quite upset today as Rose seems to be in pain so much of the time. Her face goes so red, she sounds like she is going to choke, all gurgly at the back of her throat and now she has started being sick ages after a feed. I wish i had taken her to the docs now!

 

[Foogirl]

i cant find out if she can have gripe water yet or not, no one seems to know. She was due to be born on monday but is 6 weeks old actual ages. I have asked the hv and pharmasist and they dont know, ahhhhhhh

Abby had it before her due date. I think she was about 10 weeks. I have heard that sugared water works just as well. There isn't anything too dodgy in the gripe water, and given the docs said we could use calpol when the bottle says no, we figured there was worse stuff in that! We just used half a dose and it worked well.

Word of warning though- the burps stink!!

 

[bumpsmum]

oh grumpymoo poor Rose sounds like she's having a hard time it all sounds familiar to me - Acid Reflux? Grunting and posseting ages after feeds, does Rose have bad hiccups and is the sick watery or milky? Maybe try see GP or HV during the week ust to double check reflux is very common in babies, more so prems (the flappy bit of skin that stops acid travellng back up the throat is immature) the good news is she will quickly grow out of it Matthew got infant gavisgon at first but this made him constipated there are alternatives and im sure some of the other mums will share their experiences with you.

What I found help is creating an incline in moses basket so she's not totally flat on her back, fold a big towel and slip it under her matress so her head is slightly raised above her stomachor prop up the top[ end of the basket with a book. Matthew slept on his left hand side with rolled up blankets either side to stop him rolling - this worked for us and I cant recommend sleeping positions but left side positions means the valve/flap is closed if that makes sense.

Hope Rose starts to feel better soon,. hows the BF going? x

 

[grumpymoo]

i cant find out if she can have gripe water yet or not, no one seems to know. She was due to be born on monday but is 6 weeks old actual ages. I have asked the hv and pharmasist and they dont know, ahhhhhhh

Abby had it before her due date. I think she was about 10 weeks. I have heard that sugared water works just as well. There isn't anything too dodgy in the gripe water, and given the docs said we could use calpol when the bottle says no, we figured there was worse stuff in that! We just used half a dose and it worked well.

Word of warning though- the burps stink!!

great! thank you. yes we were told that about the calpol too. think i will take her to the docs just to get her checked over x

 

[grumpymoo]

oh grumpymoo poor Rose sounds like she's having a hard time it all sounds familiar to me - Acid Reflux? Grunting and posseting ages after feeds, does Rose have bad hiccups and is the sick watery or milky? Maybe try see GP or HV during the week ust to double check reflux is very common in babies, more so prems (the flappy bit of skin that stops acid travellng back up the throat is immature) the good news is she will quickly grow out of it Matthew got infant gavisgon at first but this made him constipated there are alternatives and im sure some of the other mums will share their experiences with you.

What I found help is creating an incline in moses basket so she's not totally flat on her back, fold a big towel and slip it under her matress so her head is slightly raised above her stomachor prop up the top[ end of the basket with a book. Matthew slept on his left hand side with rolled up blankets either side to stop him rolling - this worked for us and I cant recommend sleeping positions but left side positions means the valve/flap is closed if that makes sense.

Hope Rose starts to feel better soon,. hows the BF going? x

thanks for all the advice. sounds like Matthew really went through it though. i am already trying tipping her moses basket up but thats about it. the bf is still ticking along thanks. we go from anything from 1hr to very occasionally 4hrs but mostly still 2 hours. i have to say its the most lovely thing to do, no matter how exhausting! i hope i can keep it up for the next few months
how are you and Matthew getting along in general?

 

[bumpsmum]

were doing just great thanks, everytime I look at him or think of him I cant help but smile, prob like yourself im VERY over-protective haha even now DH having a cuddle before he goes to bed and im jealous haha. Think he's took a big stretch over the weekend he seems really long hoping for a good gain this week. Enjoy BF its the most wonderful feeling I wiss I stuck at it longer than 10 weeks but my milk dried up and he needed to gain more weight, if I had persevered it would no doubt re-establish. Keep us updated on your wee cutie x