Bf-ing premature baby I cant go on like this

[kerala]

Dd2 was 5 weeks early. She is fine apart from jaundice (now under control) but she wont feed properly. Sbe latches on, sucks for about 3 or 4 sucks then falls off crying. About once a day she has a really good feed, latching and gulping properly. I am therefore expressing milk for her and cup feeding.

Am happy to do this of course but have a 2 year old so dont see how I can commit the time. We would be housebound and its not fair on the older child.

Dd2 now on day 9. Has anyone else had a similar thing did your baby eventually learn to suck properly for herself?

I fed dd1 for a year with no problems so know how wonderful it can be. It breaks my heart that I may not be able to the same with dd2.

bump, no advice sorry.
Congratulations on your DD2

Have you had advice from a breastfeeding counsellor?

Bumo for you you need Aitch who has just had a lo prem and is b/f also think it was caz? but if you get on a thread with Aitch on it you will prob get some help. I will see can I find it for you

my dd was also 5 weeks early and exactly the same - she was my first baby

I expressed for 6 weeks but never had the guidance I so dearly wish I had, so I'd advise seeing a breasfeeding counsellor

also, I wish I had tried nipple shields as subsequently I have been told they can really help with pre-term babies

all the very best

Omg meant Bump! Sorry feeding my lo and typing

this thread might help you but I havent read it all

There is a link to breastfeeding prem babies in there as well. hth

Yes, ds1 was premature (5 weeks) - latched on fine, but tired quickly after a few sucks and his weight got very very low. I hired an nct electric breast pump and expressed/cup fed for a couple of weeks till he seemed to get his strength up. All in all I remember it as an exhausting, frightening time.

Things definitely improved after I hired the pump, not least because expressing could be done more quickly (and both breasts at the same time). I reckon ds1 finally got the hang of things when he was 3-4 weeks old, if that helps. Though he was still very slow to gain weight, and never "caught up" as such.

Good luck, hope things improve for you. I'm sure someone will be along with better advice than me soon!

Hi kerala and congratulations on the birth of your dd2. It sounds as if your dd has not yet fully developed her feeding reflex - which is VERY common in early babies but as far as I can tell very badly supported by hospitals/mws/hvs once out of hospital.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things and as if your dd is moving towards getting the hang of it if she is feeding well sometimes. The nervewracking thing is that you don't know when they will crack it: 34-38 weeks is what the books say but that is a hell of a long time for a new parent at home without practical support. It could be a few days, or a few weeks.

It would be good if you could be seen at a feeding clinic/baby cafe or see or speak with a breastfeeding counsellor, if only for moral support.

FWIW, DD was 13 weeks prem and first fed at 34+3. She did not really have it cracked until 35+5 when we came home. It felt like an age until she started to feed and I wondered if she ever would. Big difference was that no-one was letting us out of hospital until she did.

Hugs and keep posting

DS born 36 weeks and didn't bf at all till day 8. He also lost 7oz in first 2 weeks taking him down to 5lb. Was v frustrating and depressing so totally sympathise. Also expressed and cup fed. DS also had/still has slight jaundice (still looks like he's been in Barbados for a holiday at 12 weeks!!) this made him sleepy so would constantly fall asleep on breast. Lovely midwives helped alot but eventually used a nipple sheild and bingo latched beautifully. I also left 4 hours between feeds as he had more incentive to suck, this was very hard as he was losing weight and made me very anxious but worked well. Had to keep using NS both sides till he was about 4/5 weeks old and then just on one side till he was about 7 weeks. He feeds really well now although I still worry (needlessly) about how much he takes, his weight etc.
Good luck and try and keep going, I think the fact that she's having a full feed a day is a good sign she'll eventually get the hang of it.

Thanks for the responses. Its do able on a day to day basis as I have my kind parents to help with dd1 and we only got out of hospital on Friday. My worry is looking ahead not sure how I can keep this up for weeks on end as I cant keep relying on my parents to look after dd1 while I am attached to the pump and its unfair on her to be housebound for ages.

MWs are helpful and I have called the La Leche league. Will just cross my fingers that she gets the hang of it soon. Made me realise how easy I had it with dd1 who was a fabulous feeder. Those weeks dd2 missed out on seem to have made all the difference.

Kerala - congratulations.

Have you moved to Bath now? I'm not far away if you need anything - my e-mail is [email protected]

Let me know if you fancy meeting for a coffee when you feel up to it.

My DS was 10 days early and he was the same - wouldn't latch at all for a week, so I was expressing constantly and feeding from a cup. At a week old he finally breastfed properly for the first time, and then would latch every third feed or so, and now (at 13 days old) latches every time, and much quicker.

He had jaundice in the first week that worried the midwife for a bit, but with plenty of expressed milk got over it really well. All the midwives were really supportive of getting the breastfeeding going, reading some of the horror stories on here I feel very lucky!

Hi Kerala. My DD was born in August at 35 weeks. She was really pretty rubbish at feeding, and we came home with an nasogastric tube. It was in for 3 weeks in total - 2 weeks in hospital (we had some other minor issues...) and then a week at home. During this time she established breast feeding and is now feeding brilliantly and gaining weight well.

Hang in there, it does get better. And it took 3 weeks for the tube to come out, but in reality it could have come out a lot sooner. So it shouldn't take too long.

It can be very tiring to begin with, my DS was born 2.5 weeks early but had a rather traumatic delivery with a ventouse which resulted in bruising and jaundice. He was very stressy and I couldn't get him to latch at all for days, but just kept pumping and cup feeding. After 6 days he did latch and would feed for ages at a time - 40 minutes.
We found that getting into a warm bath was a good way of getting him to root and latch on, so we had quite a few warm baths. You need someone to hand you the baby or to get a bath float where you can rest him when you need to get in and out of the bath and need both hands.
It took about three months until he was really reliably feeding and was happy to latch, so I did have to keep expressing during that time. So you might be a bit housebound, but if you explain the situation to your family, I hope they will see how important it is for your DD to get the best start and rally round with the support (and childcare) for you. Let's face it the weather is awful, so being stuck in the house is what a lot of us are living with just now.
A breastfeeding group or clinic sounds perfect for you if they cater for toddlers as well, so your DD could have a little play.
I went on to feed my DS for over three years until he just stopped asking.
You are feeding her really well already, you can do it!

DD was 9 weeks prem. Took until the week of her due date before she managed to breast feed. Then when she came home (on her due date) she cuold only feedfrom one side for another 4 weeks or so.

I remember feeling the way you do right now - I opsted on here a lot - think the main thread was titled - Prem baby not taking to breat feeding - lots of useful advice on there if you search for it.

Eventually she got the hang of it and at 10.5mths old she is still breastfed - exclusively til 7.5mths.

Prem babies do tire easily but they get stronger and slowly they manage to feed. It takes a lot of time and perseverence and you will feel like giving up but it does get easier and it can be done. Lots of skin to skin helps.

Sending you positive feeding vibes xxx

opps sorry about typos - bfing as i type lol

hi kerala
i have struggled for weeks with my 27 weeker so understand what your going through
i'm sure they will have done this in hospital but have you checked whether she is aneamic?
my boy was and therefore had v little energy so he was given iron which he is still on - just a thought
but keep going she will get stronger very quickly and it will be worth the few weeks you may have to struggle and pump
i'm still pumping now a couple of times a day and even the pumping becomes easier.

2 things kept me going
... this site and getting to a breasfeeding cafe so i would recommend you find one and go as soon as you can - mine was invaluable and i have spoken to so many moms who said they would have given up if it werent for the cafe/clinic
let us know how you get on

My DS was induced as I was ill - he was only 3 weeks early, but for him, this made a lot of difference (compared to my DD, also induced 3 weeks early but it didn't matter to her so much). He was terrible at latching and would fall straight off - what remedied it was just time (a lot of it). He still had a weak latch and took ages to feed for months, but I did it excl for 6m and then to 12m. I think it is time, but I know it's hard with a 2yo as well. I was lucky that my DD (born when DS was 2) was a better feeder.

I can second what Lou222 says about getnng support. I went to a few breast feeding group - and still do although now more for the socail ascpect

However choose your group carefully - if possible try to get to one run by a qualified breast feeding counsellor. Some are run by midwives and not all are great at giving breastfeeding advice....some are as much use as a chocolate firegaurd

Here is the link to the thread I started when I was struggling - there is some good advice and suport on there. At the time I posted DD was 35 weeks gestation so same as your DD at birth. HTH

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=breast_and_bottle_feeding&threadid=462126-prem-baby-not-taking-to-bfing #9340438