Did your baby go home on bottle or breast?

aforst

DD is still in the NICU, she'll be 36 wks tomorrow (born @ 33+5). She's not taking bottle or breast at this point, she's still very sleepy. If she's awake and cueing, I put her to the breast before every feed. She will kind of latch and maybe suck, but she tires out very quickly.

She is still having a handful of Brady's a day, so we aren't really close to going home yet. The NP asked today if I had considered bottles for her (though they will support whatever route I choose to take). My answer was basically that I wanted to stick with breast for now, but if that's ends up being the only thing keeping us here, we could try bottles.

I guess my question is, did you have a baby that went home on a bottle that you were able to successfully switch to breast? I'm afraid I'll be screwing myself out of BF, but we need to get home.

Throw3ks

I became an EPer for pretty much the reasons you listed above. BF was exhausting my LO and aggravating her. DD wanted a more consistent flow then what BF seemed to offer to her. As soon (within 2-3days) we gave her a bottle (dr browns with preemie nipple) she was eating the whole thing without to much exhaustion. We still did BF and continued to at home but bottle was a much happier route for her. I have been EPing now for 8+ months.

ziggy903

We went home on bottles, but we had weight gain issues that meant we couldn't breastfeed(as it is more work to get the milk from breast than bottle)

We always planned on switching to breast, but I couldn't continue to pump and keep my supply up because it added to my PPD.

xladybassx

If am EPing for my girls. They went home on bottles, but with the intent of switching to the breast. They both would latch ok and suck for a pretty long time, but neither of them could get enough milk to make it worthwhile. We had/have weight gain issues so it was not practical to continue our attempts at breast feeding.

carrotcake06

We did both breast and bottle. When they were discharged, we were supposed to do half nurse, half bottle every 3-4hours but instead I nursed them every 2-3hrs. They gained and we've been BFing ever since.

I work so they do get BM bottles during the day. My oldest wasn't great at taking a bottle so it was important for me to start bottles early and that I gave some bottles (my oldest never ever ever took a bottle from me).

The babies go seamlessly between breast and bottle and really always have. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, so I'd give bottles a go and see what happens. Continue to attempt BF once or twice a day - the attempts are important - and go from there. Newbs are pretty adaptable.

direy25

We had some success in the NICU with breastfeeding but towards the end we concentrated on the bottle to get him home.  Once home, we did both bottle & breast (I had to work part time and we were also still fortifying some BM with Enfacare 22 cal), he had no problem switching back & forth.  At one point I had to go on meds for a week so I couldn't BF and I was afraid that would be the end of it but he picked it back up with no problem.  

As @carrotcake06 said, it doesn't necessarily have to be all or nothing. Good luck!

Pips09

My daughter was never interested in breastfeeding, although I tried and tried. She latched exactly twice. I EP'd for her for a while until it became too much for me to keep up.

KTZ17

At around 3 weeks (34 weeks gestation) I started BFing DD before each bottle feeding in the NICU. I think she was taking like 60ML of breast milk by bottle when I wasn't there. So we'd try to get her to do like 15 minutes per side and then we'd top her off with like 30 ML of pumped milk. When we came home at 35 weeks gestation I continued that routine of BFing her, bottle with BM, then pumping, but my supply wasn't enough for her so we tried a supplemental nursing system and we've used it ever since. She BFs and gets a supplement of enfacare simultaneously. Now she's 11 months & still loves the boob. Keep trying with your DD, but as PPs have said it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can get her to take all feedings by bottle and once that happens try her at the breast for a few minutes and gradually work up to longer feeds. When you get home you can do whatever you want!

PurpleIris30

One went home fully breast feeding ( with 2 bottles of pumped milk with 24 cal supplement for a couple of weeks). My smaller twin was a week or two behind and still needed to be topped off with a bottle for a while after breast feeding.

Our NICU did both breast and bottle feeds, and I think the bottle feeds did help them improve their suck/swallow/breathe refluxs. It didn't interfere with their ability to eventually be exclusively breast fed, but it did take a lot of time and practice, and they just needed to get bigger and stronger.

CopperPoppy

We are still in the NICU but echoing a lot of the experience here he just doesn't transfer as much by breast as he does by bottle. For the purposes of bein able to go home we are focusing on bottle but I still offer him breast when I can before each bottle feed to associate boob and food. The nurses will also tube feed him while he's latched on the breast to help that association without it being too much work on him.

I cannot wait to just be able to BF and pump less often but realistically I think it will be a while before he can confidently get all his meals by BFing and gain weight.

Jenn06L80

In the NICU we would do weighted feeds first while I was there. The girls would usually transfer anywhere from 0-30 from the breast and then have the remainder of their feed out down their tube or bottle fed.

Unfortunately the girls got used to the fast bottles in the NICU. Breast feeding was too much work for them. So I pump now.

One thing is wish I did differently was to ask that they be given bottles with slow flow nipples. Maybe this would have helped.

I was so disappointed that the girls would not breast feed. However now I am ok. They get some pumped milk, some formula, and are growing happy babies. Good luck to you!

Wally3

DS was bottle and breast alternate feeds in the NICU.  At home we transitioned to all breast replace one bottle a day with breast - so took about 5 days. I had trouble bm feeding ds the first time in the NICU and the nurses weren't very helpful.  I had an LC come in and help us and she was awesome. Not only got ds eating - had tips for dh to help me and tips for me with dealing with the NICU staff.  I would highly recommend a LC.  Now that I have had both nursing a premie is sooooo different than nursing a full term baby.   

aforst

Wally3 said:

DS was bottle and breast alternate feeds in the NICU.  At home we transitioned to all breast replace one bottle a day with breast - so took about 5 days. I had trouble bm feeding ds the first time in the NICU and the nurses weren't very helpful.  I had an LC come in and help us and she was awesome. Not only got ds eating - had tips for dh to help me and tips for me with dealing with the NICU staff.  I would highly recommend a LC.  Now that I have had both nursing a premie is sooooo different than nursing a full term baby.   

@Wally3‌ I'm so glad you got the help you needed! They have 2 LC's on the NICU floor and most of my nurses have been very helpful and encouraging. I'm really hopeful we'll be able to get her on the breast

hoping4more

My son is a 31 weeker and he was almost fully bottle fed in the NICU. I was able to breastfeed him about once per day just before he came home. He is now home and has been for almost a month, he is breastfed with only 1 bottle day of pumped milk with formula added for calories

hoping4more

I also want to point out that when he first came home we had trouble getting him to latch. We have been home almost a month and we still have our days but it has improved A LOT

brachysira

My NICU started my 32 weeker on bottles.  Although they encouraged breastfeeding and I tried every day, they never let me do it very long because she got so tired, and never asked if we didn't want to do bottles.  She struggled with bottles at first, but she was otherwise healthy.  They sent us home at 10 days when she was meh at bottle feeding and had never successfully breastfed.  The nurses were like WTF, but the NICU was crowded and the doctor was like, "she can learn to breastfeed at home."  I'm glad they sent us home because it was always really loud in the NICU, but it did stress us out trying to get her to take a bottle.  We tried breastfeeding too, and I worked really hard getting it to work.  I cried and told my DH I was giving up in x days.  It took until she was about term for her to get it, and we used a nipple shield to transition.  She was probably later than term before she really had it down, but we breastfed for 9 months after that.  I really don't think I could have EPed for as long.  Breastfeeding is nice, but IMO it is not so important that you should feel bad if you don't.

KaraS12

Pretty much what a lot of others have said. We went home on bottle because that was the only thing keeping us from home. I was sooo disappointed, but EPing has worked for us. I still try to let her breastfeed multiple times a day, and when she does I let her go at it, but if she doesn't want to, then she gets the bottle like usual. It makes me feel like she still gets a little of what I always wanted for her. I just watch for hunger signs and she has been doing great at home We have to supplement with formula from time to time, but it has been worth it for us personally to pump.

mmooki

Dd wouldn't latch in the nicu. She was born at 33.3. On day 11 she latched with a nipple shield. We went home the next day and nursed (with the shield) until 22 months!

jenniferraborn

DD was born at 34wks and I EP'ed from the very beginning.We never even tried to BF while at the hospital. She was getting breastmillk fortified with human milk fortifier in the beginning to help with weight gain but other than that she got pumped breastmilk until 1 year old. She breastfed a few times at home (mostly because if I got a clogged duct that was the ONLY thing that could fix it) but probably less than 20 times in the year.