Twin 1, 36+3 corrected. Poor oral feeder

[lovepositivity]

Hi all, wondering if anyone has been in our position.

I had my boy girl twins at 35 +0 weeks due to increasing discordance between their sizes.
Twin 1-boy- 4lb
Twin 2 - girl -5lb 12oz

Twin 1 struggled with oral feeding from birth and was admitted to SCBU for NG top up feeds.
He is now 10 days old (36+3 corrected) and I feel as though we have not made any progress.

He has a suck reflex but clamps his mouth shut for the bottle. He will have 2-3 oral feeds in a 24 hour period where he will take 8-15 ml orally over 20 mins but very erratic suck pattern and gets tired. Sometimes he pools milk in his mouth. We had originally been told that it would
Just click around at around 36 weeks but Drs just seem to say he's slow to progress. They will refer to SLT for a look at his swallow. They say they are happy with everything else physically and neuro-developmentally at the moment.

I'm not sure if it hasn't clicked yet as he is small for gestational age or if there's something else.... or if he's just become lazy because he knows the NG feeds will fill him without effort. Has anyone had a similar experience or any tips
To share? TIA

Are they in scbu? If so, ask a neonatal nurse to show you how to deal with as reluctant feeder, as there's a bit of a knack to it.

Talk to an engaging,interested Health Visitor.

Have they discharged them? Surprised if they have as most babies don't develop the suck reflex when they are so small and below 37 weeks?

Hi OP,

My twins came on NYE a day before yours at 34+6 at almost exactly the same weights:
T1 5.12
T2 4.3

Spent 12 days in NICU/SCBU and got home last week. T2 was always incredibly lazy and slow at taking bottle or breast and am really struggling now we are home!

To be fair They're both slow, 40-50mins to take 2 or 3 ounces of milk, but T2 is particularly slow!

Always here if you want to talk! Roll on the days they can breast or bottle feed with a decent/strong suckle and without getting so tired, as these early days are killing me! Makes me realise how easy it was having a full term baby (DD1) who came out the womb with a good suckle reflex!

Yes I can help, my baby was born early and was small/tired and very hard to feed.

Are you giving breast milk or formula?