tiktok, bfing gurus, bfers, interested parties of all creed and colour... heyulp! bfing a preemie baby... top tips please

[Aitch]

don't know where to start, really...

dd is two weeks old today (blimey) and put on her birthweight on wednesday so that's great. however of course she didn't start putting on weight until her formula top-ups, topping up with ebm didn't do the trick.

her weight gain today was only 30g (last few times has been double that or more) and i do put that down to the fact that i've been pumping more and therefore have been giving her more ebm top-ups than formula.

question is... what's the tipping point? she is gaining, i am producing more milk (not heaps, but volume-wise we are on target for the SCBU calculations). we were told to give dd 280mls per day in top-ups as well as bf, but with the formula it's been more like 350ml.

so do i accept the 'slow' weight gain and think of dd's longer-term benefits having protected my supply, or do i want her on formula but with more energy to feed, iyswim?

midwife has suggested one top-up of formula, and at the next topping-up with ebm, this seems like a reasonable compromise to me, but am i missing something.

Aitch, glad that your GP is more supportive. Sounds like that's the growth chart you should be referring to. LOL at moondog, PC as ever. But she's got the right idea.

(VS, sorry if any misunderstanding, I didn't mean to say "don't bother with NCT/LLL/ABM they won't help" Sorry if it came across that way)

oh my gp is practically anti-bf, but very straight up and i like her. she thinks i'm a huppy, fgs

hippy

Why are you listening to people who are not able to support you properly and who obviously don't understand the process of breastfeeding i wonder?

Oh, tell the HV to go and stick her finger in her ear, that is a FANTASTIC weight gain for a little baby with a bad cold.

Imagine how much energy dd2 is using up just fighting off the infection and feeding through a blocked nose. It's amazing that she hasn't lost weight, yet she's actually gained.

What planet are these people on fgs!!

Ahem.

< welliemum stops shouting and assumes lotus position >

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm

< calms down a bit >

Aitch, you need to keep sight of what weighing means. Weight gain isn't an end in itself - it's just a way of measuring how a baby's growing, and unfortunately it's a very rough-and-ready one if you're weighing often, because the numbers are all so small.

If dd2 is feeding well and you're happy that she's looking well - then she is well. And she will grow. Babies are programmed to do just that. Really!

< dims lights and gets out soothing incense >

FABULOUS

She's doing great and you're doing great.

Well done.

Do you waNT me to start getting nasty witcha??? Huh??

aitch - your expertience with calling bf lines is a bit unfortunate - NCT's own line has had tech probs recently, too. These are all volunteer lines and we will never be able to instantly meet the real demand that's out there...but if you can leave a message on NCT's line you will get a call back (barring any horrible tech glitches, or, as sometimes happens, if the caller has left the wrong phone no....this does happen ).

Bfcs will not be able to say much about the options with a baby who is still under hcp care, but the support will be there for you to explore for yourself what you might say to the paed to explore options with him. I can confirm, from many experiences, that weight is often not well recorded in the UK - bad practice and poor equipment is all over the place, and even on good equipment, tiny changes in weight are very hard to record accurately. I have seen the same baby, weighed on the same scales, five mins after, by the same person, record two different weights. No wees, nuttin'....go figure.

None of this matters a bit with a bruiser of a term baby who's 9 pounds or whatever, as all we need to know (if anything) is that the weight is basically going up. But with a pre-term baby, resting too much on what the scales say is misleading - so we have to use other clues, like nappy contents, behaviour, appearence of the baby. and this is what you are, wisely, doing.

I am very confident you will achieve full bf. I see no reason why not

thanks all. gp just swung by to have a once-over and has declared dd 'perfect'.
says that she's alert, holding her head up briefly, pink, hydrated etc and these are not the signsof a failing infant. hurrah!

and me and dd had a bath last night, cue monster feeds and mucho revolting looseninngof snot.

Oh, Brilliant.

I'm dead chuffed for you.

Now you can look forward to the mastitis, thrush, blocked ducts and general engorgement due to oversupply after a growth spurt..

LOLOLOL at snot. At times it feels like I'm bathing in the stuff. How are you doing

much better since the doc's been here, thanks. dd's feeding's still a bit off, but getting better. got to go, dd1 turned up.

Brill
Bloody brill

Lovely!

So glad it sounds like you've turned the corner - you're doing a great job!!!

hurrah at the snot avalanche too.

And everything else. Glad you are reassured. Stick with the health care professional who gives you the answers you want cos bloody hell, they do all usually give such different ones don't they?

So, let's get this right, you've been BF for what a good week or two now?

Aitch, you sound like you are doing a fantastic job. Bummer about the cold. Have you tried sucking the snot out yourself yet (not that I ever did anything that disgusting, no not me, never...).

Glad to hear it's all going well.

hmmmm, am about to take dd to the local kids' hosp a&e. that cold has started her coughing. if it was dd1 i'd say that she's just not clearing the mucus that's loosening... but she's still not big enough for me to be the one who makes that decisioin, i think. i'm not worried, really, but i'm goinig anyway cos it's the september bank hol weekend up here, so i can't go to the gp on mon...

just checked in- sorry the cold is turning into a cough- definitely get her checked over, for your own peace of mind if nothing else. It's so hard with premmies to be able to judge when something is becomeing more serious so best to leave those decisions to the medics...
But you are doing just brilliantly with the BFing... There is so much uncertainty with weight gain & BFing a prem in the first few months, I remember those times only too well
Definitely keep asking for support, glad your GP is now on hand too, you need some confidence that it is all going ok.
Hope DD2's cough/cold gets better v soon, thinking of you all
Keep enjoying her x

PS. as someone who is always terrified at DD coughing I am constantly reminded by her medical team that most colds have to become coughs in order to shift the mucous in the upper lungs, so is a natural and good constructive process... And to mainly watch out for wheezing/rapid breathing/snot turning green etc. which indicates chest infection developing... But I'm sure you'll know all that!

How'd it go Aitch?

fine, thanks. she's as clean as a whislte, just as we thought, though they said wew ere right to check. dd2 was at grandma's do me and dh spentall day in town arsing around shopping (fuc me, town's hideous on a sunday) and scandalising more old men WITH MY TITS. feeding is going well, did't pump yesterday, didn'#t take ebm out today... wwwwooooo.