Sleeping and Eating patterns of premmies once their home

[sarahhoney]

Well the title says it all....

Don't get me wrong we've only been home a week and a half but I was wondering -

Dylan is feeding every 3 hours, sometimes we have to wake him for a feed and then he has it half asleep and other times he just will not settle after a feed - especially in the middle of the night!

So I was wondering at what weight did you stop doing strict 3 hourly feeds and just let LO tell you they were hungry? Its just so frustrating waking him to feed him when I know he won't settle after the feed!

 

[Marleysgirl]

Andrew was sent home with strict instructions to be fed every four hours, even if that meant waking him through the night.

We lasted all of one day

We then decided to trust him to tell us when he was hungry, and switched over to demand feeding. Turns out his pattern at that time was about 4-and-a-half hours. Now he's older and awake more, he's settled into every 4 hours but sleeps either 8 or 12 hours straight every night.

 

[TwoBumps]

When the boys were on 3 hourly feeds they were still in SCBU but the nurses then increased the amount of their milk so they went 4 hourly. After they were 4 hourly we let them demand feed but to be honest they still woke to be fed every 4 hours except at night!!

In SCBU the amount of milk was calculated so that they were sure they would put on weight and any they didn't take my bottle was tube fed. I don't remember there being a weight where they were allowed to demand feed....it seemed to be more of a case of they demand fed once they started to scream for it!!! Not much help I know but if Dylan wants to drink a bigger volume less frequently and cries when he is hungry then he is probably ready to be demand fed, unless your HV has concerns about his weight and wants you to wake him for feeds x

 

[alibaba24]

Rosalie was on four hourly feeds when i took her home from scbu (she hasnt stuck to it shes decided 3 hours suits her!) I was told not to let her go over 5 hours (as if she would let that happen!) she takes what she wants from a 100ml bottle so i know shes had a nice belly full and will wake when she wants more but if she doesnt wake then let her sleep just not over 5 hours xx

 

[kazbino]

HI. Kai left SCBU after 92 days (he was 11 weeks early and weighed 1lb 11 ounce) He was similar to the babies above, the nurses had him feeding every four hours and we had to wake him. Now he's been home nearly 3 weeks, he is having between 4 and 5 ounces and goes between 4 & 5 hours!! He now weighs 7lb 2 ounce so we must be doing something right! The comunity nurse said as long long as it wasn't making Kai sick then to give him the milk as and when he wanted. Hope this helps x x x

 

[sarahhoney]

Hi Ladies this is all really helpful! My mw is coming again on Tuesday so I'll ask her!

Another problem is that during the day our boy is nearly always fast asleep and I think I would have to wake him at the 4-5 hour point!

I think I'll give it another week (whilst daddy is still off) and then see where we are at! He doesn't often cry for food or when he's wet, I don't think he has started to recognise the signs yet!

 

[AP]

I didnt stop the strict timescale til Alex had put on a decent weight. I woke her up with feeds and set my alarm clock. Once she was fine I stopped setting my alarm and she grew out of the night feeds.

She still feeds every three hours through the day now though, but thats norm.

 

[bumpsmum]

Matthew came home on 4 hourly feeds (even through it was EBM) HV was shocked they let him go 4 hourly as breast milk digested alot quicker, so we tried demand feeding right away and it was roughly every 2 and a half hours 9established BF but stopped at 10 weeks due to PND and the stress of it all which I regret)

We let Matthew take the lead and he natuarally went 4 hourly, but like sb22 I set an alarm for during the night etc for feeds until I felt comfortable with his weight gain.

Dylan will soon recognise hunger etc and wake more regularly as he develops, go with your gut instinct if you feel comfortable letting him sleep longer then go for it.

As they say..........'a sleep is as good as a feed'! and sleep is when these small babies lay down there fat reserves x

 

[Foogirl]

Abby had just started to demand feeds before we took her home but was pretty much on a 3 hour schedule. She remained on that for a couple of months but we never had to wake her for a feed, she always woke pretty much 3 hours on the dot after her last feed.

She dropped her 3am feed herself after about a month and a half at home. I wasn't about to look that gift horse in the mouth! My thinking was, if she wakes at all other times when she is hungry, she'd wake then if she was hungry. She was still putting on weight, although her weight gain did slow when she dropped that feed, but not worryingly so.

 

[grumpymoo]

Rose was fed every 3 hours in hospital. Once she came home she did whatever she pleased! Typical. She was (and is) bf and she wanted to eat a lot and very often. Her way of catching up I guess. She slept and slept for a good 3 months and was only awake properly for 1 hour a day.

Hope all goes well with Dylan x

 

[Laura2919]

They told me the twins needed feeding every 4hrs but when I got them home I was shattered. I had two babies who fed every 4hrs and cos they were preemies used to take them an hr to finish a bottle and by the time I had done both and changed their bums I had to do it all again, So I decided to feed on demand and this worked better for all of us. they finished bottles quicker and they were feeding when they wanted it.

It doesnt always work for everyone but my HV and consultant had seen how much better I felt and they said if it really made a difference to my way of doing things then so be it and it was ok to continue. The girls were weighed every week and their weight gain was always the same each week until solids were introduced x