- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Preemies
Those who EP, please come in!
Hi ladies,
I need advice/help on how to EP once Baby J comes home. Since he is still in the hospital, I can handle pumping every 3 hours and dealing with my 2 other sons. So far, every time Baby J tries to nurse, he has at least one brady. It scares me and I finish the feeding with a bottle. Do the bradys eventually stop when he nurses? I really want to EBF, but not sure if he can handle it. Will I be able to EBF (eventually)? I don't know that I can do the EP and feeding and taking care of the other 2 as well. When you sleep??? I do have a lot of stored milk, but the OT is saying he doesn't like frozen milk in the bottle, only fresh EBM. WHAT? Obviously when he receives his NG feeding, they use the thawed milk and he's fine, but for the last 2 days, I have been bringing in my fresh milk for the bottles. He's up to 4 bottles/day and will probably be on 5 tomorrow. Please give me any tips/help you can think of! Thanks so much!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Those who EP, please come in!
We had hopes of EBF, but it didn't happen.
By the time DS was strong enough (2 months adj) he was too opinionated and screamed and wouldn't do it! I think a lot of preemie moms can do it successfully though, so I hope you can! And as far as the bradys, I think if anything, EBF would probably help the brady's (vs. bottle feeding) b/c typically less reflux is associated with BF and it's more self-regulated, right?
I'm not sure why you couldn't use frozen milk...hmm..we do!
Also, I EP. When DS was in the hospital I pumped every 3 hours, with one 5 hr stretch at night.
When DS came home, I decided to pump when he ate. DH fed him when I pumped. If DS slept through the night, so did I. That saved my sanity. I couldn't have done it w/o DH's help!
GL!
I'm transitioning to EBFing, but we're up to 50/50 so far. My DD gets her bottles made with Neosure fortified EBM, 1/3 fresh and 2/3 frozen - I just can't pump enough to do 100%. The pedi said that the frozen has lost some of its nutrients, which is why it's important right now to use as much fresh as possible.
Keep trying, hopefully your LO will get the hang of BFing!
I EPed for almost 15 months.. but I do not have other children. It's hard, indeed. I pretty much had to give up on pumping 8x a day. once he was home from the hospital, I pumped 6x/day for a long time.. which got me enough to feed him. Then my milk supply tanked and I had to take domperidone to keep it up but that got me enough of a supply to feed him until he was about 10 months adjusted. At that point, I started giving him frozen stuff at night, fresh stuff during the day.
My doc said they need 50% fresh breastmilk to get all the benefits from it and we were able to keep that up until the end.
As for breastfeeding- lots of women here were successful at it. if he has a good latch and suck, you're over the worst hurdle. The bradies WILL stop eventually, it's just a matter of time.
My Blog
do you have a deep freeze? It'll keep for a year there, so you have more time to use it up before it "expires."
The latch and suck are great! That's the thing most kids struggle with the most. The bradies are just a brain development thing and he'll get there. it'll *FEEL* like forever, but he will get there, I promise. (One night in the NICU when Robbie was about 37w gestation, my neo came through and I said "WHEN IS HE EVER GOING TO OUTGROW THIS?" as he bradied for like the 80th time that day.)
Robbie was a good latcher from the start and everyone thought he'd end up being a good nurser. He just lacked stamina. Then he had a bunch of stomach problems (he was born with a stomach deformity) and stopped eating altogether, so it never happened. But had it not been for that, everyone thinks it would have happened.
My Blog