Preemies
One (of many) things that sucks about the NICU experience...
Scheduled feedings instead of feeding on demand.
Eric has been waking up up to an hour early for feedings... they'll adjust the schedule somewhat when he's up and hungry early, and I know that there are other babies to care for, and on-demand really isn't as feasible there as it would be at home...
It just sucks watching him from home waking up and making all these hunger cues, and a pacifier getting put into his mouth to buy some time.
Ergh. Can't wait to get the kid home.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: One (of many) things that sucks about the NICU experience...
That does stink! I remember Jonathan would wake up 30-60 minutes early, and would cry and cry and by the time they would get his bottle ready, he would be so tired, he'd drink like 15 mls and then go back to sleep. I would get so mad, because if they'd let us feed him when he was awake and smacking his lips, he probably wouldn't have tired out, and maybe would have drank more.
It does get WAY better when they finally come home and you can call all the shots.
I don't understand why they aren't feeding him. Our babies were fed every 4 hours but that was to get them going. When they began rooting, they went to on demand but no more than 4 hours. I would personally have a talk with the charge nurse and/or dr. and tell them your son is ready to eat and shouldn't put a paci in his mouth. Unless of course they have a reason why he can't eat sooner.
He's all po now (it's been a couple of days), but he's on a 3 hour schedule. He's so small that they're worried about the energy he's expending on feedings, since his intake is also really small - generally in the neighborhood of 20-25 mLs.
Sophie (my older child) was fed on demand, too. I'm sure I'll appreciate the schedule when he gets home... but for now it's really frustrating to watch him root and suck his fingers and start crying - and not be able to do anything about it, kwim?
Is it possible to speak to someone while he is rooting? Just grab one of the nurses and say, yeah, he's hungry and needs me to feed him right now.
Sounds like he should be home very soon!!
I agree let them know everytime. They probably might up his feed amount too. I can't remember w/o referencing your ticker, but DS was on 50+ ml before he was all po.
this happened to us too. they were feeding my daughter around 50ml when she went to a variation of "demand feeding". (really it was more like scheduled feeding with some wiggle room.) when she was able to eat what she wanted at every feed she went up to 80ml almost immediately. (they were basically starving her! well, that's a bit melodramatic, but based on weight, she should have only taken 50mls or so, when she really wanted 80!)
this made her tummy really happy, and she easily went the allotted 3-4 hours between feeds without troubles.
ditto with the routine. what the other moms said is dead on! i have said many times "the only positive thing that came out of that nicu stay was the fact that she's already got a routine!" and we transitioned into parent directed feeding (from babywise) really easily. she's got a great temperment, sttn now for 2 months +, and still eating/gaining well.
That is weird they don't do on demand feedings. That was one of the things I thought was great for our LO was that when she was hungry they'd feed her. It was one of the big milestones she had to reach before going home, was on demand feeding. I am sorry you have to deal with that.