Tips for establishing bf with my tiny baby?

[Madratlady]

Ds was was born at 35+3 weighing 4lb 3oz. He's in scbu being fed ebm by tube but I'm attempting to bf for the 3 feeds a day that I'm there.

Trouble is he latches on very well, has a few hood sucks then either unlatches, forgets to keep sucking or falls asleep. If he he doesn't fall asleep he tends to be on and off the breast for up to 15 mins then gets frustrated and cries because he's hungry. He then needs pretty much all of the feed via his tube. He doesn't appear to be getting more than a few mls from the breast per feed.

Big congratulations on the birth of your ds!
It's quite common for early babies to have a 'weak' suck to start with and it will exhaust him which is prob causing him to take lots of little breaks so it all sounds very normal at the moment, but totally frustrating for you. Just keep going with it, you sound like your doing an amazing job. The more he breastfeeds the better he will get at it and soon it will seem to just click for you both. It can feel like an eternity when you are trying to get feeding established and the nurses are pressuring you but when you look back it will just be a blip my ds was in NICU and when we were told that when feeding was established we could go home this added a lot of pressure on me but try not to panic as it will happen, it may just take a bit of time.

Also, he is probably getting a lot more then you think when he feeds so don't worry about that. He will gradually feed for longer as he gets bigger and stronger.

How long after a tube feed are you breastfeeding him? I remember the nurses tube feeding my ds so much that he wasn't getting hungry enough to want to breastfeed so I had to negotiate tube feeding times and amounts with the consultants so that ds actually wanted to feed and this really helped us.

I'm breast feeding first then he's having his tube feed. Amounts vary depending on how long he manages to bf for.

I had a similar start with my term baby (now EBF at almost 9 weeks!). She was bottle fed and tube fed, both continuously and then on a three hourly schedule). She had low blood sugars and then jaundice so was very sleepy.

The best advice I can give is to keep at it. Offer the breast at every feed. Express what you can to stimulate your supply.

Oh, and demand support for your breastfeeding. I found the midwives' attitude awful - they we're subtle but made it clear it would be easier all round if I FF. (Not that there's anything wrong with formula, just that they should've/could've supported me better!)

A lady from my NCT group had a baby at 35 weeks, was discharged from hospital still tube feeding and is now ebf at 12 weeks - it can be done!

The nurses on scbu are fantastic and and couldn't be more supportive. I guess I just need to keep trying and wait for hi to get stronger. He's fed 4 hourly and I'm generally there for 3 feeds a day but will stay longer when it gets closer to bringing him home and he's off the tube feeds.

The nurse suggested we try bf only today but ds seems to have other ideas!

Ahhh, just keep going he will soon get the hang of it

My baby was small (5lb 4oz) although not early. It took a while to establish feeding (we did formula top ups to start with) but it was a case of grit determination! Lots and lots of skin to skin and offering the boob regularly. Also try tickling his cheek or feet to stir him when he's dozing off. Keep going! :)

The nurses suggested trying a nipple shield. Ds had his first full feed from the breast this morning

Ah brilliant! We used nipple shields to start with an gradually weaned her off.