why can we only BF

Mrs.Babbsy · September 2009

a few times a day when they come home from NICU? She seems to do so much better just BFing.

*KatieH* · September 2009

They told you that? It doesn't make sense. Who said this a dr or nurse? Check again you will probably get a different answer. You have to remember this they are your babies you do what you feel is right. You are doing a great job momma!

Mrs.Babbsy · September 2009

It was on her discharge paperwork. I am pretty sure her sister will have the same restrictions in a few days (hopeful she will come home). I add formula to the breast milk for extra calories, but it doesn't make sense when she won't even take her min amount of ml. She just seems so content with BFing.

Rachel&Joe · September 2009

Is it because they want you to give them some bottles with fortified breastmilk with extra calories? Also, breastfeeding requires a bit more energy than bottle feeding since they have to work harder to get the milk to come out.

SBMBride406 · September 2009

I've never heard that before. When they come home, you can feed your child however you want!!

Mrs.Babbsy · September 2009

She has her first doc appointment tomorrow, I plan on talking to him about it.

ijack · September 2009

Rachel&Joe:
Is it because they want you to give them some bottles with fortified breastmilk with extra calories? Also, breastfeeding requires a bit more energy than bottle feeding since they have to work harder to get the milk to come out.

This. It's hard to balance them getting enough (extra) calories and the calories they burn. It is totally up to you to feed them how you want, but as someone who thought she was making the right decision by EBF and not fortifying and then ended up with a FTT kid months down the line, if they are having trouble with their weight you should really listen to your doc

*KatieH* · September 2009

ijack:
Rachel&Joe:
Is it because they want you to give them some bottles with fortified breastmilk with extra calories? Also, breastfeeding requires a bit more energy than bottle feeding since they have to work harder to get the milk to come out.
This. It's hard to balance them getting enough (extra) calories and the calories they burn. It is totally up to you to feed them how you want, but as someone who thought she was making the right decision by EBF and not fortifying and then ended up with a FTT kid months down the line, if they are having trouble with their weight you should really listen to your doc

Oh then that makes sense I didn't think of that.

Is there a way you can maybe pump too ?

Mrs.Babbsy · September 2009

I am pumping and mixing in the formula for the extra calories, but she doesn't eat that great. Maybe it's just needing to change the formula.

TriciaJoy · September 2009

I'd talk to your doc. We came home with the same advice, but Robbie just wouldn't take the formula.. and then would puke it back up. So he was on straight breastmilk for MONTHS and did well. He was eating great for a while and thriving, so my doc was completely fine with me feeding him plain breastmilk on demand as long as he continued to gain weight well.

preemieparent · September 2009

I would certainly ask your doctor about it.

If you do switch to just breast feeding than I would monitor weight gain to make sure that your LO is getting enough. It may be that your LO seems to be eating well but isn't actually taking that much in or burns too many calories.

My son used to love breast feeding but he was only taking in 1/2 has much as he did with the bottle.

SaranJonathan · September 2009

Ask to speak to the dietitian that has been following your LO. She can show you the growth chart and what her goal is. When I give d/c instructions to moms I tell them goal amount of volume of fortified BM a day with x amount of nursing at breast sessions I am comfortable with. Maybe LO would do better with a different bottle, nipple, etc. Also they could tell you what LO was doing on average in the hospital. HTH

franciscaz · September 2009

Mrs.Babbsy:
It was on her discharge paperwork. I am pretty sure her sister will have the same restrictions in a few days (hopeful she will come home). I add formula to the breast milk for extra calories, but it doesn't make sense when she won't even take her min amount of ml. She just seems so content with BFing.

Call your pedi... if this is the case than adjustment might be necessary.

sweetpea18 · September 2009

DD did well with breastfeeding, too, but was burning too many calories. She wasn't gaining weight. Its a lot more work to breastfeed than it is to eat from a bottle.

mommamorris · September 2009

i heard that from one of our nurses (who was a nicu mommy herself). they told her to bottle feed so she could keep track of how much they were getting. (and they wanted her to fortify it.)

i say bf all you want. if your little one does awesome at it then go for it. (be sure to check weight gain.) i don't go for the fortification, i kept my daughter off of it (they tried 3 different kinds and they all gave her terrible gas and diarrhea) and she gained weight like a champ once she went to an ad lib schedule. breast milk has all the nutrients they need.

before they took the ng tube out, when i first started breast feeding, they would actually pull up what she fed to check and see how much she got. (not all the nurses, and not all the time. but often enough that we knew she was effectively getting milk.) did they do anything like that?

goblue · September 2009

I say go with your gut and see if EBF works for your LO to gain weight. This is actually one of my regrets -- DS did best BFing but they wanted us to fortify half his feedings, so that's what we did. It EXHAUSTED me however, to have to get up and pump (DH would give the overnight bottle, but still) and then get up and BF the next feeding - just so much more work for the moms. I would say give it 1-2 weeks and go into your pedi for a weight check. My DS also had reflux, and I know now that adding the formula to his BM made the reflux worse. I really wish I had gone with my gut and just tried EBF for 1-2 weeks to see if he would gain weight as well as with the fortified BM. Good luck.

vixyash · September 2009

This was the same as us. She came home on 2 BFs a day, and slowly we've worked our way up to 4 (currently). The reason our pedi did this is because the BFing takes more energy & burns more calories. Also, my production doesn't seem to be enough for her yet. So, we're slowly working up to EBFing, but I guess we're not ready yet? I wish we were... but right now we do 4 BFs, 2 of those have supplement bottles, then 3 full bottles every day.

We go for our 4 month checkup next week and I'm really hoping they'll bump up the BFs. My Savannah has reflux/choking issues with her bottles (not w/ BFing) so I really wish they would let me EBF. I'm just not sure if she'll get enough... crossing my fingers!

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