- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Preemies
Questios about feeding, etc, in the NICU.
How much say do we have while our baby is in the NICU? They have moved our baby from eating every three hours to every four, with a larger amount. She's not nippling well every time (she gets tired), and she's having some spitting up issues. Anything I have read has been that preemies should be eating 8+ times a day. Well, that is every 3 hours, not every 4.
I would think they should try to nipple her every time. If she eat less, but more often, that would be best, instead of more, less often (with a gavage)... those are my thoughts about it.
What have your experiences been with feeding your preemie baby? How often are feedings, if they're not cue-based?
How much of say do we have in her care while she's in the NICU?
PS I'm not allowed to breastfeed her because I didn't give birth to her (hospital policy - no "donor" milk allowed)
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Questios about feeding, etc, in the NICU.
I would speak to your primary nurse (if you have one) about your concerns and try to get a feeding consult. Although we didn't really have feeding issues many of my NICU mom friends did and the consults helped come up with a tailored plan of care. You could maybe try to get an order that if she doesn't eat a full bottle the remainder does not get gavaged, that helped one of my friends, her son was hungry enough at the next feeding to nipple and didn't get full and sleepy as quickly. (This may not be an option if you are having opportunity with weight gain)
As far as eating eight times, both my boys were on the every three hours schedule but since they turned 37 weeks and proved they could bottle feed and gain weight they have been ad lib (Hunter at home and Liam still in the NICU). They eat anywhere between 6-8 times a day and between 2-4oz each time, more food at night and first thing in the morning, less in the afternoon. They have been gaining weight well (hungry little boys) and they sleep for longer stretches this way. The only time I have really heard of a baby given discharge instructions to keep it to every 3 hours no matter what is in situations where the baby is not waking to eat or is having difficulty gaining. (That could just be my NICU though)
Good luck and I hope you can get a plan of care that you feel comfortable with and that works for your daughter. As mom you know her best and the NICU should be willing to address your concerns.
I would talk to a nurse or the Dr. to ask about the feedings. They most likely will be able to give you answers as to why they are doing things the way they are.
Our boys had feeding problems and would tire out very quickly while eating. Due to this, every other feeding was done through the tube so they can save their energy. When they're that small, they can end up burning more calories then they're putting in, if they having trouble eating. It wasn't til they got better at eating that they would try feeding them from the bottle at every feeding. They also would only let them eat for 25 minutes for the same reason for tube feeding every other time.
As for your say in their care, don't be afraid to speak up and ask tons of questions. Anytime I had a questions I would ask them and if I didn't understand, I would ask them again and again. Hang in there.
I campaigned for WEEKS and finally got the staff to agree to feed Scarlette every 2 hours. It completely fixed her issues. Now she can go about 3-3.5 hours btwn feeds but if you feel like that is what will work, ask for a conference w/your nurse and the doctor and lay out your reasons why.
For me, Scarlette would get hungry at the two hours mark and start screaming her hungry cry. She'd get so worked up, she'd wear herself out and fall asleep during her 3 hour feed and have to be tube fed. She kept losing weight and I kept insisting it was because she WANTED to eat and was burning all that energy. Finally they recalculated how much she could take and gave her a bottle every 2 hours and she was like a new baby, and gained weight every night since. I totally agree with your line of thinking- less more frequently is still the same amount overall and it worked better for my baby. Nurses hate it though, b/c it keeps them really busy to have to feed a baby that often. They flat out told me that was why they were saying no, which led to my protest (especially since I was there for almost ALL of the feeds anyhow so it wasn't really cutting into anyone's time!)
I had to conference w/everyone and tell them that I was officially requesting for this to at least be attempted with her.
Also, ask if your NICU has a speech therapist that does tiny baby feeding issues. Once our speech therapist began working with us, she dictated when Scarlette could nipple/gavage and volume amounts. I felt like she really listened to me and also that she taught me a lot about the best way to feed my baby. W/her help, Scarlette has made tons of progress. The NICU nurses have to follow the feeding therapist protocol so that helped us out a TON.
Good luck. I say follow your instinct. Even if it doesn't help, you'll feel better knowing you tried it and can rule it out.
Andrew was on our NICU's standard feeding schedule - every 3 during the day and 4 hours at night. He would skip most of his feeds or maybe take a sip and stop, acting just way too tired.
When he reached his due date and the behavior didn't stop, we started asking questions. Long story short it turned out to be silent reflux. They reluctantly put him on a on-demand schedule (hard for the nurses) and gave him Prilosec. He started eating and came home shortly after.
I'm not sure what to suggest other than to ask questions and follow your gut.