Help me bf my preemie

[NoForkNKnife]

DD2 is now 12 weeks old (1 week corrected). She's been out of the neonatal unit 5 weeks and I've been expressing and bottle feeding her. She is tiny. Currently 4lbs 11. She has an oz of nutriprem 2 formula with all but one of her feeds (she is supposed to have 2 ff a day, but the formula is so thick she can't drink it and it is near impossible to mix and dissolve. Hence making up an oz then topping it up with ebm).
She is gaining weight slowly but surely (below 0.4 centile). But I'm sick of expressing. Don't get me wrong, I'll keep doing it as long as I have to, but it's so time consuming. Plus my supply is dwindling because I keep forgetting to do it

She will latch on to the breast. And I try to put her to the breast once a day (she demands it in the evening between bottle feeds). She will be latched for an hour or more but I'm not convinced she's getting much as her latch is very shallow. She also rarely seems satisfied after, but during seems very content.

One of the reasons we started bottles in the first place was because of her size (she came home at 3lbs 5) and very slow weight gain. With the bottles I can see how much she's feeding.
Ideally I'd like to add more bf. But if I offer the breast in the day, after the feed (90mins or more) she cries for more. If I offer the bottle she has a full normal feed! Despite having the breast first. . Does that mean she didn't get anything from the breast?

Sorry. I know this is long. Wanted to add I bf DD1 for 6 months. She wouldn't latch got first 2-3 weeks. But got there in the end.

How do I know she's ready? Is it possible or should I just accept that a lot of preemies are bottle fed ( is this correct ?).

I dont have to experience of preemies but i just wanted to possibly offer my thoughts of always offering breast at each feed, if you are finding it hard to express all those times a day. And maybe look at using a cup for the top ups? It might help to get a little more into baby if shes struggling taking it in a bottle.

I also wanted to say i think you are marvellous :)

lotsof thank you so much. DD is also a 29 weeker and like I said, way below the 0.4 percentile. How long did it take for your DS to catch up? The nutri-prem seem to have caused problems with her digestion. It's definitely given her terrible wind and very sluggish bowels (which were fine in hospital on my milk alone). I didn't know there was an alternative! I totally know where you are coming from regards the balance between wanting to bf and just enjoying them. I have this 'guilt' (for want of a better word) that I managed 6 months with DD1 and that I should do that corrected with DD2.
I am sorry to hear of your DS lung disease. How is he now?

Pale thank you . I certainly wasn't expecting praise! DH has packed DD1 off to nursery for me this morning so hopefully I can have a bit more time to offer the breast.

Thanks for all your advice and support ladies. I'll know where to come if I'm struggling again.

For sure nutriprem is tough on their tums its good to know there are alternatives. I'd disagree with the poster who saud they cant catch up on bm alone. Bm may be marginally lower in cals but because its easier to digest far more of them are absorbed rather than filling nappies. However bf prems need feed more frequently than ff so no threr hourly feeds for a long timr. Dd took alot longer than her ff nicu buddies but shes now on the 25-50th adjusted centile up from the 0.4th despite tts lip ties, severe reflux, milk intolerance and all the other prem baggage. And the latest thinking is its better if they dont pile the weight on too fast as prems have long term increased risk of obesity poss due to the pile it on methods that used to be promited.

Hey just echoing what everyone has said! I used nipple guards with my 33 weeker for a few weeks until my supply dried up at 6 weeks. They were a godsend after many nights in scbu trying to get Oliver to take breast! I used to study the bliss bf booklet every day! One day it just clicked! It can be frustrating though! Hope you get on ok x

poppet interesting stuff about the weight gain. How old is your DC now?

I put her to the breast last feed and she fed like a star. Topped up with 30mls. She has since refused her next feed! I'm hoping it's excuse she's still full up.

Again. Very big thank you for all your suggestions. Next weigh in is Monday. I want to get over the 5lb mark!

Excuse-because (grrrr)

OP: my DS is 4.5 now & between 9th & 25th centile, so he has caught up a bit, but it's been a real uphill struggle, especially with the reflux. He was IUGR as opposed to just small, and outgrew the home oxygen after 6 months. He's a great wee boy & I'm very proud of him.

It's good you have an appointment with the consultant & dietitian next week - perhaps you can talk through options & see what is best?

She's 21 months actual, 18 adjusted, and is 21lbs 14oz at her last hospital weigh on Thursday. At her smallest she was 1lb 15 oz (885g). Great news about the feed. That's all you can do take it one feed at a time and while it seems utterly unlikely now before you know it dd will be ruling the roost, toddling round and trashing your house just like mine.

Hi - you've had some fantastic advice so far - hope your dc is doing well. I remember the desperate hope that they put on even a tiny bit of weight.

DS was 'old' compared to lots mentioned here at 34 weeks but he was 3"12, lost weight and didn't maintain for a long time. I only bf for 6 weeks when his consultant realised that my meds were what was making him ill via bf but we tried lots of supplements before settling on Infatrini - it's a high calorie (I think 100cals per 100ml??) and thinner than most - we also used Gaviscon which settled his reflux too

I forgot to say previously that products such as Infatrini & SMA High Energy are available to use from term.

Breast milk & standard formula has 66 calories per 100mls,, SMA High Energy is 85 & Infatrini 100.

These products are prescription-only & are ready-made in plastic bottles/cartons.

Marking place, have bf a prem but he was bigger when he came home.

Just wanted to say, don't chuck your precious milk! Six months in the freezer is fine according to my peer supporter training, or you could look into donating ( milk banks may send a bike to collect).

Celtic I can't donate as I'm on insulin for type 1 diabetes. Apparently it's a 'no' now. But 6 months is better than 3! I think I read on the Kelly website that it's 3 months for preemies. But surely when they're term we can go back to the 6 months advice.

It's good to know about the formula alternatives. She's definitely windy and uncomfortable since having it. But thankfully it is only for short periods. It's the fact she doesn't poo very often since starting it that worries me slightly. And the last one was a dark green colour.

It's lovely to hear about other preemies and how they've done. I'm lucky in that there is another preemie in my postnatal group so we can go through it together.