Breastfeeding Preemies

Carol - posted on 12/05/2009

Unfortunately, I didn't get to breastfeed my daughter (who was a 24 weeker) very often. She needed a diet high in calories, so I had to add Neosure and corn oil to my breastmilk and feed it from a bottle. My lactation nurse at the hospital had me use a breast shield to help the baby latch (while we were still having our bonding time) and I think it worked wonders.... this was at about 35-37 weeks for me.

Melissa - posted on 12/03/2009

My boy was 6 weeks prem and i was planing to breastfeed as well, it toke me 3 weeks to trian him too feed of the breast and when i toke him home he was still a bit unsure but after 6 weeks of having him home and him meant to be born he was great at it, so dont worry they will get there. hope for the best..

Rebecca - posted on 12/03/2009

i had a six week prem and tried nipple shield straight away - it was good but he would/could not feed with out it right up to 4 months old then just stopped feeding off breast altogether, i think my milk had pretty much run out.. i would advise to try without nipple shield as often as possible.

Hazel - posted on 11/26/2009

My little one was born 12 weeks early, and was tube fed. We started trying him at the breast once the tube was moved to his nose from his mouth. He latched on but would then fall off and I had to keep re-attaching him. It got too tiring for him. The nurse offered a nipple shield, and OMG it was fantastic!! After a week I stopped using it for every feed, only if my boobs were huge and the nipple kinda flat. He came home fully breastfed at 12 weeks (a few days past his due date) and I still use the shield on my right nipple when its a bit flat, for the start, then I take it once its pulled out a little and he can feed normally. I find he gets more milk and less wind without it.

Elizabeth - posted on 09/09/2009

I am having the same issues or rather anxieties... my baby was born 9wks early she is 2wks old today (YEAH). We tried breast feeding once and she was able to latch on a few times but not able to stay. I take blame in that because the pressure through me off so much i cried out. I have scheduled a meeting with the lactation consultant to help me relax and enable her to get what she needs.

Brooke - posted on 08/08/2009

My little girl was born at 31 weeks and was tube fed for about 4 weeks before having a proper breastfeed but she got so tired so fast coz for such a little thing it was really hard work. Am very lucky that I had my mum around who is a lactation consultant to help me get the feeding sorted. In the end I used a nipple sheild because the only thing before I could finally take my baby home was that she was fully feeding on her own and using the shield allowed this, just made it that much easier for her. I used it for the whole 6 months that I breastfed.

Jennifer - posted on 07/26/2009

My daughter was born at 31 weeks, and I tried so hard to breastfeed her. She lost weight after she came home from the NICU, though, and after a lactation consultation, we discovered that her sucking reflext still wasn't strong enough to nurse. (It took her 45 minutes to down an ounce of milk!) I ended up pumping full time and bottle feeding her the expressed milk with a very fast nipple. I know that's probably not your best case scenario, but it worked out okay for us. She had eight months of exclusive breast milk, no ear infections, and she's doing great now.

Monica - posted on 07/24/2009

My little one is just starting to get the hang of breastfeeding. She was six weeks early and is now five weeks post pardom. She had jaundice very bad which made her even more tired and it was harder and harder for her to breastfeed. After she was a little stronger we went from the gerber preemis nursers to using The First Years Breastflow bottles which mimick the compression of the breast, she is doing great with these and I have been working with a lactation consultant to help with her peanut butter tongue (she keeps her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth when you try to get her to latch) She is still a little weak, doesnt nurse for too long but is putting on weight well and we have been using bottles and breast and a nipple sheild. The Breastflow bottles, nipple sheild and having the help of a lactation counselor made all the difference

Amy - posted on 07/19/2009

Hey everyone i was just amazed at how many of you mums to premmies have used nipple sheilds it must help a lot with attachement!!! I used one too Bailey was born 11 weeks early and started breastfeeding at about 33 weeks we gradually built up the amount of time he was breastfeeding as opposed too tube feeding and eventually he went home at 35 weeks fully breastfed. i think the nipple sheild was my godsend but yes it was very annoying having toget it out and attach it and everything. Unfortunately also likes some of you mummies on here my milk supply just dried up i tried everything but when Bailey was 5 months old and had already had 6 trips back to the hospital i said enough was enough!

Jessica - posted on 07/02/2009

Hello, my daughter was 33 weeks and 3 days gestation and weighed 6lbs 6oz. It was frustrating at first trying to get her to latch on, but with the help I received from the lactation nurse she was latched on in no time and feeding well. Just a matter of keeping her awake to feed. She was about 4 weeks old before we tried her, she was still weak to try before then and had a tube in her nose. She's over 6 months now and still feeds from the breast off and on. Starts solids this Saturday :)

Fei - posted on 06/21/2009

Quoting Jessica:

well, the day after i asked this question, i started using a shield with both boys and they latched on and have been doing fabulously! they nurse for about half an hour, twice a day right now. the nurses here are great and very encouraging of breastfeeding. which is good, because i think we'll still be here a few more weeks... :(

Hi! We spent 28 days at IMCU. Breastfeeding did alot of wonders to my baby. When went out of the hospital he weighed only 1.7 kg at 28 days. I continued my breastfeeding him. After 12 days, he gained 590 grams and now he is 2 months and 2 weeks and weighs more or less 10 pounds. Stay strong and positive for your babies. :)

Fei - posted on 06/21/2009

MIne is two weeks, then after a week his sucking became more consistent.

Rebekah - posted on 06/12/2009

Jessica, my twins were born at 25 wk, 4 d. One of them never got the hang of breastfeeding because of a bad suck. The other would only suck for 5 mins before giving up. I think where we went wrong was not starting suckling earlier in the NICU and leaving the hospital without the breastfeeding under control, thinking it would all be okay, so I would encourage you on those two issues. I ended up having to pump for 7 months so I wouldn't want you to have to do that. Best of luck :)

Christine - posted on 06/09/2009

I have 2 sons that were born at 32 and 33 weeks. The nurses and docs told me that they will usually start to nurse well by their due dates. It was true with one but not the other. Make sure you take advantage of the lactation nurse in your NICU. They can be a tremendous help!

Carrie - posted on 04/24/2009

My daughter was born at 30 weeks. I pumped for most of the 2 months she was in the NICU. When I did finally start to breastfeed I also used a shield. We ended up using the shield with great success for several months. Eventually we were able to stop using the shield, but it was a long and difficult process. My advice is don't give up. It may get hard at times, but as long as you are not willing to give up you should do okay. I ended up breastfeeding for the first full year. I only stopped when she decided she wasn't all that interested anymore. We then went ahead and transitioned to whole milk out of a sippy. She is now a very health and active almost 3 yr old.

Stephanie - posted on 04/24/2009

My son was born at 31 weeks and spent 7 weeks in the NICU. I pumped the entire time he was in the NICU. I was able to get him to latch a few time in the hospital, but once I got him home the only time breastfeeding worked was when he needed to be soothed. So I just pumped and bottle feed him. I was really bummed out, but knowing he got the breast milk did make me feel a whole lot better. My advise is not to put too much pressure on yourself do the best you can and you twins will do wonderfully. Best of luck.

Amanda - posted on 04/22/2009

My son was born at 36.6 weeks and didn't latch on until he would have been 40 weeks.

Jessi - posted on 04/21/2009

Hi Jessica-



My son was born nearly 3 months early. and was in the NICU for about 8 weeks.

for the first probably 5-6 weeks he had a feeding tube in his nose. So they had my pumping so they could put that in his feeding tube. However, my milk slowly dwindled away. They gave me reglin, herbs, and tried having my pump every 2 hours to try and get my milk to increse. But it dried up! i was bummed, so i never had the brestfeeding expirence with my preemie.



But I wish you and your beautiful twins the best of luck! and I hope they get to come home soon, I know how tough it is.

Jessica - posted on 04/21/2009

well, the day after i asked this question, i started using a shield with both boys and they latched on and have been doing fabulously! they nurse for about half an hour, twice a day right now. the nurses here are great and very encouraging of breastfeeding. which is good, because i think we'll still be here a few more weeks... :(

Liz - posted on 04/20/2009

My son was born at 33wks. He was in the nicu for 25 days and I pumped the whole time. I hated pumping. At first every time I went in to see him, the nurse prepared a bottle for me to try and feed him until one day a nurse asked if I wanted to breastfeed and said that I should try if I want too. A lactation consultant never seemed to be available whenever I was there. It wasn't until the his last week in the nicu that a nurse suggested a nipple sheild. My son was finally able to breatfeed with the sheild, and went home just breastfeeding. I got the most help with breastfeeding from my county health dept nurse. She visited my house three times and helped me try to get my son to nurse with out the sheild. It took about a month of daily efforts, but I was so glad to get rid of that sheild! Then I ended up only breastfeeding for another month because of my lack of milk supply! If you really want to breastfeed push for the help/support you need to do it! Breastfeeding was much harder than I had expected, but worth it and I would do it again if I have another baby.

Karen - posted on 04/18/2009

Hi, congratulations on your beautiful twins :) My daughter was born at 33 weeks, and I desperately wanted to breastfeed. It took several weeks before she was strong enough to be able to suckle. I had to take medication to increase my milk, as I was in intensive care for 5 days after her birth, and my milk just never came in to any quantity. The nurses gave my daughter a pacifer to encourage her to suck, which seemed to work well. Don't be too disappointed when you first start breastfeeding, prem babies often need to build up their strength, so they can get very tired, very quickly.

It probably wasn't until she was about 5 weeks old (post delivery), that she really started to feed well.

Congratulations and best of luck :)