Prem babies coming home from neonatal next week - DD will breastfeed, DS won't! Help!

[Poycastle]

DD and DS ten days old today, born at 34 weeks, just had a chat with the hospital who said they should be coming home Monday/Tuesday.

Although DD is smaller she is the better feeder and latched on almost straight away. She still needs topping up with formula but she really seems to need a feed. On the other hand, DS can just about manage a bottle but simply will not even attempt the breast - he just looks at it, occasionally sticks his tongue out and then falls asleep again! I am expressing milk for him but I would like to give him the chance too. Has anyone had experience of this?

Difficult. Is tongue tie a likelihood? perhaps you could try an SNS?

What's an SNS (sorry not up on the terms yet!)? They haven't told me that he has it, although I could ask today. They seem to think it's OK and just because he's prem - and I guess all babies will have different characters, but I just wish the poor little fellow would give it a go too!

Not for 10 days but yes dtd was a breast refuser at first, I just kept offering and eventually (day 5-6) she took it. (She then started refusing bottles at 3 months).

I think the usual advice is lots of skin to skin (well as much as you can manage with twins ), maybe get ds to start the feed so she doesnt have to suck hard to start the flow, nor is the letdown too strong.

I hope someone comes along with more advice.

Best of luck and congrats on their birth!

Sorry. Was about to throw up (early pg).

SNS- supplementary nursing system. If you Google you'll find lots of info but it's basically a way of feeding expressed (or artificial) milk via a small tube near your nipple that encourages the baby to suckle so they get the hang of things. Also helps bolster your supply.

I would also just keep an eye on the tt situation just in case x

Thank you very much, Claire!

This is very helpful. I will definitely Google one of those, eatscake (love the name!). Have you had personal experience of tongue tie, if so how did they notice it?

DD was born at 35 weeks and refused breast, she screamed the NICU down as if we were torturing her! Put a nipple shield on and she latched straight away. Still using it but trying to wean off. Most babies apparently dont develop ability to suckle till 35/36 weeks apparently.

Not personal experience, but I'm a peer supporter at a breastfeeding group and it's amazing how many babies come in with TT who have been seen by numerous health workers who all failed to spot it. Worth hunting out a specialist TT lactation consultant if problems persist, but nipple shield might be helpful in the meantime, and is certainly a quicker fix for the time being.

If you're any where near Berks I can recommend an excellent lactation consultant. Let me know