Thinking of giving up breast feeding

[scaredycatz]

My baby was born two weeks ago at 34 + 5 he was fully tube fed up until about 4/5 days ago where he was fed a mixture of breast and tube top ups. The midwives were waiting for him to be fully breast fed before they would discharge us I found it really difficult because I could never get him to latch and when he does he only feeds for 2-6 minutes before falling asleep (I've tried all the tricks to keep him awake) then he had a really good day and night where he was having 10 minute feeds so the midwife discharged us but now at home he's back to only having 2-6 minute feeds and I'm having to wake him every 3hrs surely this isn't enough? I'm thinking of giving up and trying a bottle it just seems like it will be easier for him. It takes more time for him to get latched on than he feeds. Has anyone switched to a bottle with their preemie and found they take more than they did on breast?

Have you tried nipple shields? It's easier for them to latch. Mam ones are good & they come really fast on Amazon prime!

Ps DD was 33+6 & v tiny due to IUGR. I got nowhere with feeding for 10 days and then got shields and Boom.

Still happily exclusively bf nearly 6 months later. Still using shields!

Remember babies can learn to breast feed really efficiently. My girl could get a full feed done in only a couple of mins. Are you having plenty of wet and dirty nappies? Id wait for a weigh in and see where you're at then.

I expressed fed my daughter (30 weeks gestation) for 8 weeks and gave up as soon as she was discharged from hospital. My main problem was not being able to keep up with her demand (she's a hungry baby) and ended up mixing expressed milk and formula in hospital and then moving her onto formula when we got home. I, personally, don't regret doing this as I know how much she drinks & she was eating every 3/4 hours. I also know someone who had a baby at 34 weeks and immediately bottle fed them and she's doing brilliant.

Do what's best for baby and best for you. I'd definitely speak to the Health Visitor as it depends on the weight x

My prem fed very fast- we proved it in the end by checking her stomach contents a few hours after when the tube was still in (tmi sorry). But she wasn’t putting enough weight on once she came home and the doctor wanted to up her bottles of hi calorie milk. We fixed it by feeding every 2 hours- sometimes they just need a nudge that they can actually do that as they are so conditioned by hospital routines. My full term kids all bf every 2 hours so it makes sense. Try feeding more often and see how he does at the next weigh in. You can also mixed feed - we had a bottle of special high calorie milk once a day, and bottles of expressed milk, but she still bf the rest of the time. It’s so good for them with all the winter bugs around. Even a little bit of breast milk can make a difference.

Also worth going to a breast feeding group if you have one near you, they have much more time and experience than health visitors. I had never heard of mixed feeding before then, but they were great and so supportive.