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mommy06
member
If you have/had a nicu baby....
mommy06
member
How long did it take before they would nipple feed? My dd was on the vent for 12 days and has been tube fed for 15 days. We are starting therapy tomorrow to work on suck, swallow, breath. I was wondering if anyone else had any experience.
Thanks!
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Re: If you have/had a nicu baby....
It's hard, so many factors can come to play. My son was on the vent for almost a month, and didn't have a bottle until he was a month old. Due to his birth defect, they said he would have a very hard time learning to suck/swallow. He did really well, and was able to bottle feed the first day, but only 1x a day. It took awhile for him to be able to do more then that. It is exhausting for them to eat.
Take it one day at a time, and listen to the nurses about your baby. She will be different then every other baby. Hugs to you, the NICU is a wild ride.
My son was born at 41w3d, and was in the NICU for 21 days. He didn't start feeding by mouth until he was 13 days old. And, even then, it was a very slow process.
He was never vented. We left the NICU with an NG tube, that stayed in place for 2 weeks post-discharge. We used a Joey pump to assist with feedings until he was able to fully eat by mouth at 5 1/2 weeks old.
My son was vented for a month and then after that we started to work on oral feeds. He was a champ, but his acid reflux was so bad that he kept just throwing it all back up. We then got the gj-tube placed and he was vented again for another month. We were slowly working on oral feeds when we got home at 3 1/2 months old, but he never did well with it at home. He is still fed 100% through his gj-tube, but is taking some soft foods by mouth now. It will be a long process to get him to 100% oral feeds.
But, every case is different. My son had a serious heart defect that caused major airway issues. Feeding and airway are very closely related, so this is why it was so hard for him. I know many other babies that were completely orally feeding by the time they went home.
Most of those feeding therapists are wonderful in the NICU. They will work you through all of it. Good luck to you!
Every baby is soooooo different, but my daughter was on the vent for about 2 weeks then weaned to a CPAP and then to a cannula. She never did eat well. She could suck but her reflux was so horrible she still throws up daily even at 2 1/2 years old. She was tube fed (NG tube) for over a year.
That being said, she was a severe case. Many babies who were vented longer have done much better than her. I hope your little one does well, some babies eat like a champ and some, like my daughter, never do. Good luck, and hang in there!