when was the latest you established breastfeeding with your prem baby?

[artisanroast]

Hi,

When was the latest you established breastfeeding with your prem baby? And how did you achieve it?

My little girl was 35+5 at 5lb 8oz and I was advised to syringe feed, then as she would only sleep at the breast I hand expressed and then I moved on to feeding her expressed milk in a bottle.

She had jaundice and was under the UV light 4 times. We stayed in hospital 5 nights initially, were discharged and then re-admitted with more than 12% weight loss and jaundice. This resulted in more time under the UV light.

Whilst under the UV light the priority was to maximise her time under the light. She was on 2 hourly feeds (including some 'force feeding' to get her weight up and reduce the bilirubin.

So, we have now had our daughter home 3 days but not only is she not breast feeding she is actively refusing to feed from me crying until she receives the bottle (with the expressed milk).

I am still a little anxious about the possibility of her being re-admitted however I have now stopped my feeding diary with volumes taken and times as advised by my midwife.

She has also suggested skin-to-skin which I have managed 4 times yesterday for about 30-45 minutes.

I am frustrated and becoming upset by the situation. Not a naturally tearful person I broke down twice yesterday. My little girl is very upset and frustrated too. I don't want to make my placid and happy daughter wail to be fed so we do quickly move to the bottle.

We haven't tried nipple shields yet but hope to soon.

I am trying to offer her the breast maybe 8 times per day before feeds.

We had a massive breakthrough 2 nights ago when she fed from me for an hour and now its actually worse than before!

In hospital she would at least take 3-4 sucks and then fall asleep but now she doesn't do that.

Any thought/comments/advice/experience would be gratefully received.

Has anyone been able to establish breastfeeding with a 2 week old baby?

Thanks

[Artandco]

What I would try is giving her expressed milk of an ounce, whilst she is skin to skin with you. Then remove bottle and try to breastfeed. That way she won't be really hungry and frustrated before you try.

Maybe do this once every 90 mins, and in between just offer breast.

[duckyneedsaclean]

Congratulations on your daughter!

Ds2 was nil by mouth for 7 days after birth, and I managed to establish bf after that. I did find nipple shields very useful for the first few days. So it can be done.

However, the way I saw it was that the whole situation had been hard and emotionally draining - and if he didn't take to it I would bottle feed him.

I decided this because it's hard enough having a newborn, let alone a newborn who had to stay in hospital, and I knew I couldn't cope emotionally with stressing about breastfeeding.

Look after yourself. You are not a failure if breastfeeding isn't working for your daughter. Good luck

[northdownmummy]

A brilliant tip I got when my daughter was in intensive care for a week after being born was to put her in the boob after a bottle feed. She wasn't strong enough to feed directly then but it helped her make the association between breast and nice full tummy. After about a week were able to switch to exclusively breast feeding

[artisanroast]

Thank you ladies.

I'm going to try all your suggestions.

Today isn't a good day - I have lost one of the essential parts to my lansinoh pump. Luckily they are sending me another part today.

I am currently sitting here in my dressing gown with my little girl cuddled in beside me doing skin-to-skin. Its almost feed time.

xx

[ohanami]

DD was tube fed until 3 weeks - she wasn't very interested in bf and struggled to latch on. We then had some success with nipple shields but she still got most of her milk from a bottle. We were giving an ebm top up after every feed until she was about 8/9 weeks (2-3 corrected) when suddenly something clicked and she never looked back. I hope you turn the same corner soon. Congratulations on your little girl

[ohanami]

Sorry - also wanted to echo other posters, if bf doesn't work out it's not the end of the world

[lavendersun]

Congratulations OP . It took us 6 months, I kid you not. 29 weeker spent 3 months in the NICU. Lots of issues including her stopping breathing at regular intervals when feeding but we got there in the end.

It was not plain sailing by any means and I was delighted to be able to stop pumping after 6 months! We carried on until she was nearly 3 years old so made up for our dodgy start.

Must also echo the good advice - if for whatever reason it doesn't happen it is most definitely not the end of the world - wish someone had told me that tbh as I felt it was at the time.

[namechangedtoday15]

Hi there, I had twins at 27+6 weeks, didn't even try b/f them until they were about 6 weeks maybe (they were tube fed). Started putting them to the breast about 34 weeks (so at 6 weeks old) when they were having a tube feed.

It did take a while to establish - I did use nipple shields and that helped enormously. It makes it much easier for them because the teat is bigger and stimulates the back of their mouths (so I was told) which helps with the sucking.

They were 8 or 9 weeks before I would say we had feeding established.

Congrats by the way .