Scbu frustration

[Helloitsmehere]

Hi there
Just wondering if anyone can share there experiences of scbu.
I gave birth to my beautiful boy 2 weeks ago he was 6 weeks early he's a good size at 6lb now and we have have been in scbu for 2 weeks now, he has a feeding tube. Every 3 hours the nurses come to feed and if he isn't awake milk is automatically tube feed. I feel he isn't getting the opportunity to wake up hungry and take a bottle.
The feeding is the only reason he is in scbu but how is he ever going to learn to feed on demand if they're tube feeding if he's asleep.
I just feel frustrated that he's progress is being held back and when I asked about feeding on demand I was I told its policy to give fulids every 3 hours.

They do have to keep to a schedule unfortunately, I found it really hard. They are still sleepy before their due date though. My dd moved to 4 hourly feeds at one point as she was more awake that way, but I think she was around 37 weeks by then and they wanted to get her home so they were pushing it more.

I understand your frustration OP I had it with my twins who were in SCBU for four months (mine were born extremely tiny, neither weighed even 1kg) but when they were big enough to attempt bottle feeding I thought they needed to give them a chance to feel hungry, but I understood also that everyone around me was doing their best to get them strong and healthy enough and be in good conscience that they were ready to be discharged, it wasn’t much comfort at the time as I desperately wanted to get them home and sometimes I did ask the nurses their opinions (very humbly though!) and it helped to have an honest dialogue with them.

Other than that I just tried to focus on offering the bottle whenever possible and they showed the right improvements. OP and I hope you’re both home soon

Babies don't develop a suck reflex till around 37 weeks. I had my son at 36 weeks and he was tube fed for the first few days and then we started trying him with the bottle. It was a struggle and we had to go back to the tube for a couple of days before trying again. The SCBU. staff will show you techniques to stimulate his suck but for now it's more important he gets full nutrition.
I would also add you will likely become fixated on how much milk he is drinking as feeds are slow in the beginning when the suck reflex isn't fully developed; try not to obsess and remember we don't eat the exact same amount every meal or every day but it balances out in the end :)

I had a similar issue. I had my baby by csection 35 weeks as he'd stopped growing. He was put to neonatal as he his glucose tanked, he had an infection and other issues. He came out trying to suck tho, tried to latch onto my DP in the operation room lol. Also tried to BF twice before they took him to neonatal. I kept pumping so hed have milk and whenever he was awake the nurses let me try to BF him outwith his tube feeds and he went for it.

I was in hospital for BP issues after so could be there all the time but I asked them to teach me to tube feed and eventually try a bottle of expressed milk. Some nurses on wouldnt let me wait to feed him before tube feeding but others had your opinion that if he had a full belly he wasnt going to wake for it. I was a bit of a mess worrying if Id ever get him home but the doctors allowed him onto 4 hourly feeds when his glucose sorted itself out and he did start to wake for feeds during the day. Nights were different, I couldnt wake him but a nurse showed me hed still take a bottle even if asleep and once I managed to feed him for 24 hours by bottle only they took the tube out and let me take him home 2 days later. I kept asking what the plan was for getting him off the tube and getting different answers but found that if I was there when doctors did the rounds they listened to my concerns and put a plan into action. Maybe ask when the docs will be there? The shift nurses were brilliant but had other babies to care for too. They just do what they are told to. Its the docs who can change things I found. Hope you get your wee one home soon I know its horrible not having them with you. I hated going back to my ward to sleep. I wouldnt have coped if I had to go home without him. Prob why I had BP issues!

I had the same problem. DS took longer than he should of to get home because he kept being NG tube fed so when i roomed in and waited for him to wake up, he never because he didnt have to. Dd had a NG tube for her stomach to be aspirated and when that was no longer needed they kept it in and said if she wasnt awake, theyd tube feed. I challenged it because it wasnt put in for her to be fed through and shed never had a problem feeding and showed them shed dream feed perfectly fine, got a nurse on board who agreed with me and she took it out. Is there a nurse you get on well with you can speak to, voice your concerns, theyre happy to help