Preemies

How to "fatten up" a preemie??

ayramayram member
Just wondering if there is anything as a lactating mother that I should be eating, which will really add some weight to my little one? Any ideas?
Mom to 4 boys under age 6 Evan, Darren, Liam & Isaac

Re: How to "fatten up" a preemie??

  • There is nothing you can do to make your breastmilk more caloric. Your diet does not affect calorie or fat content. What most preemie moms do (whether in NICU or at home) if their child has a medical need for more calories (as in, your doctor says your baby needs to gain more weight and needs more calories), there are some options. 

    Either feed 24 calorie formula or pump your breastmilk and mix it with a packet of human milk fortifier or mix it with some regular baby formula. But before you do these things, you should talk to your doctor. If he hasn't said anything already, then your baby is probably just fine as for most kiddos- your breastmilk is the perfect food! :)

     

    https://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/change-milkfat.html

    Abigail Noelle, 8.29.09
    Brady Phoenix, 8.29.09
    Claire Zoe, 10.26.10

  • Sweets covered it pretty well. Is your doctor worried? A lot of preemies will be low on their growth charts, but most do catch up by age 2. I'm sure if your doctor is concerned they will let you know what to do to plump up your kiddo.
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  • Not sure how old your preemie is.  I did research on breastmilk content for three years.  Preterm breastmilk is actually quite different than term breastmilk for about the first month.  Term breastmilk is on average 20-22 kcal/oz.  Preterm breastmilk we found was anywhere from 24-30 kcal/oz.  I did my work at one of the HMBANA milk banks.  Because of what we found (which was already known in current medical literature) we made two different products - a preterm milk product and term milk product.  It's pretty awesome that the body knows preterm infants need some extra boost.

    I agree with PP that there are special milk fortifiers that add protein.  But that would be at the discretion of the baby's doctor.

    Good luck!  

    Three losses in 2009; Boy/Girl twins born in 2010 image
  • E&R - that is fascinating! Love your nursery, too :)

    PP - Ditto everything Sweet said. After my DD came home, we eventually moved to full-time BF b/c my supply was dipping with pumping. Unfortunately, my supply was never right again and I wasn't able to continue. But, my pediatrician was closely monitoring her weight gain and let me know when it was time to be concerned and when we needed to move to supplementation w/formula. Generally, as long as the weight continues to follow a steady curve, you're OK. We started to monitor more closely when her weight started to fall off the curve, and moved to supplementation when her head circumference fell off the curve.  

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