Feeding

[Hoping4amiracle]

Hello,

Hoping for some advice from other premature mums & dads. My little boy was delivered at 28+1 and a tiny 750 grams, he is now 2 weeks corrected.

When discharged from the NICU the dietician gave us strict instruction on how many ml of formula to give my son. Problem is that I don’t think it’s enough, when I feed him he is demolishing a bottle in minutes and then immediately opening his little mouth and sticking out his tongue looking for more. He is on a 3 hour feeding schedule and screams for the last hour because he is hungry.

I’ve got to the point where I’m giving him extra breast milk just to satiate him but my partner thinks I shouldn’t that the dieticians plan is there for a reason. What would or did you guys do? I have said to the dietician but she just gives me a lecture on the dangers of overfeeding a baby. The extra breast milk I give him is usually expressed and about 15-20 mls extra a feed.

Ours was doing the same out of the NICU and my husband didn't like me giver her "snacks." Yes, the plan is there for a reason--at a certain point the calories expended on struggling to eat are often more than the calories consumed. At some point the little ones start to lose weight even with more feedings. Also, the 3-hour feeding in a perfect world allows baby to sleep and convert the calories so they can get big.

It really depends on how easy your little one feeds. If they are struggling and moving around and staying up after a feed because of colic then more isn't always better, I guess. Also, once I bothered my little one into feeding an extra 10 ml and she threw up

Hello,

You are right in that the energy wasted crying for a bottle for so long is more than that but extra.

It was a different dietician at his appointment the other day and she said as long as it was breast milk we were topping him up with and not the high calorie preemie formula then it’s fine but like you say to make sure he is looking for it or he will bring it back up.

Hearing it from a dietician shut the other half up lol.