4 month old premie just now breast feeding

Monks wife

I have been pumping 8 to 10 times a day since my premie was born at 29weeks to keep my supply up and occasionally I would try to get him to latch but all he would do is scream. Last night I was pumping and he was fussy so I tried to get him to latch an he did. He latched for 20 mins each side. Then he did it 2 more times for shorter periods before he went down for the night. This morning he nursed for 15 mins and acts like he's done and satisfied. I'm new to this. Is he nursing long enough, is he getting enough milk? How can I tell?

thishappyhouse

Thats great that he is now showing interest!  Its tough to tell how much milk they are getting.  You can do pre and post weights or pump afterwards to see what you get and compare to what you usually pump but I found both of those methods frustrating and pretty inaccurate.  With your pedi's blessing you could just keep at it, follow his hunger cues and keep an eye on wet diapers.  I'd also recommend getting a lactation consultant to help you ASAP.  I never did and because I was so worried I was never able to get by daughter exclusively breastfeeding when I probably could have. 

rednelson

Good job momma! When they're young and sleepy its so hard to tell if they're getting enough without doing a weighted feed.  What worked for me was block feeding-I put him my DS to breast every time he seemed even the slightest hungry from say 8 am until 2 or so, then bottle fed the rest of the day (that eased my worry about whether he was taking in enough per day).  Over time I lengthened it out until we were BFing around the clock minus his bottle of high cal formula/vitamins. My LC discouraged pumping afterwards, as that could create an oversupply, and also not offering a bottle after BFing.  I went to weekly BF support groups to monitor his weight and talked a lot with the LC.  I'd say it took at least a month at home to move over to BFing, but definitely worth it! 

Shauna07

That is wonderful! Congrats!  I too have been pumping (for 3.5 months) and still offer the breast in hopes she'll get it at some point.  Even if she never does, I'm still happy she got BM.  So happy for you!