Breastfed premie, slow weight gain

[bushymcbush]

My 2 week old dd was born with IUGR at 35 weeks weighing 3lb 4oz. She is being allowed home today although she has gained only 3oz more.

I'm thinking about giving her a cup feed once a day with expressed milk to try and boost her weight gain. This is because she falls asleep very quickly at the breast and I'm worried she's not getting full feeds as a result. She is quite good at cup feeding and stays more awake.

Would that be ok? Sorry if it's a silly question - I'm completely new to issues of prematurity.

What does your midwife say? Are you seeing specialist midwifes from the hospital. My dd came home still at her birthweight after 2.5 weeks in neo natal, so 3oz gain sounds great!

Maybe try to feed as much as possible from the breast at first. It is really hard to feed a sleepy baby I know!

They must be happy with your feeding or else they wouldn't discharge you!

Not seeing midwives at all - just the neonatal nurses and doctors. I suppose the community midwife team will be in touch when we get her home - not sure. I've been discharged by the post natal team at the hospital.

You don't say how old your DD is now. Was she in hospital for long?

When we left there were specialist midwives who came out who were based in the neo-natal unit. They visited us for 4 weeks (I think) and kept an eye on DD's weight etc.

I should say, I am no expert! Just a mum who had a premature baby. You could ring the ward and ask about cup feeding.

The main thing is just to try and feed her as much as possible. Gently wake her up or change her nappy half way through a feed. Have you been expressing? I found it took a little while for my supply to settle down to DD's needs from the amount I'd been expressing for her NG tube feeds. They do start becoming more responsive and less sleepy quite quickly.

She is 2 weeks and 2 days old.

I know what you mean about expressing loads of milk for the NGfeeds - I've been producing about twice as much milk as she needs. But have been just breast feeding for the last 3 days while rooming in with her on the nn unit and the supply is beginning to settle down. Have plenty of stocks in the freezer!

The hospital are planning to send out a 'community outreach team' on a daily basis to start with, to keep an eye on her weight. I'm guessing this is the same thing you had when you mention specialist midwives.

We are actually still on the unit right now - they are discharging her later today.

for your encouragement and tips - I will try to feed her as often as possible, and do the nappy change trick. In fact, I'm off to try that right now as she is currently asleep with a mouthful of boob!

No problem at all! Sorry you did say how old your dd was, I missed it before.

Hope you are home now and having a snuggle. It is such a relief to leave the hospital but scary as you don't have a big team around you anymore. I found I was still washing my hands every 5 minutes for ages!