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Feeding my Preemie

ashmariedunnashmariedunn member
in Preemies
My sweet little Lily May is now a 35 weeker, who was born at 28 weeks. From the very start, she has been a fighter, progressing at an extremely fast rate. So here we are... Pretty much ready to go home. No cannula, no issues with bradys/desats, she had minimal reflux which we got under control within a few days... Only issue is feeding. Before she gets sent home, the nursery requires her to be taking all of her feeds by breast and/or bottle and gaining weight while doing so. I put her to breast 3-4 times during the day, and the rest of her feeds are gavage through an NG tube. Out of those 3-4 times that I'm putting her to breast, we're lucky to get 1-2 actual full feeds or we'll just get 1/2 a feed before she refuses to eat anymore. I'm using a nipple shield when feeding her because she's still fairly small and has difficulties staying on without it. When she actually does eat, she goes full force for anywhere from 10-17 minutes. She doesn't have any trouble with the suck/swallow/breathing and is really good at pacing herself if she feels overwhelmed. Nurses have tried to introduce a bottle to her twice. The first time, the flow of the nipple was too fast. The second time, she just refused to take it from the nurse. I love breastfeeding her but I also have to go back to work soon and I need her to be taking bottles as well. Does anyone have any idea as to why she might not like the bottle? According to the nurse, she literally refused it. Wouldn't even open her mouth for the nipple, yet she does great with the nipple shield and is a strong sucker with her pacifier. What are we doing wrong?
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Re: Feeding my Preemie

  • KatFCoKatFCo member
    Have you spoken with the NICU lactation consultant or occupational therapist? They might have some tips.
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  • ashmariedunnashmariedunn member
    I have met with the lactation consultant to work on the breastfeeding, which she says will get better once LO gets gestationally older but we haven't met about the bottle. The nurses kind of pushed me to bring in the bottle now (which I wanted to do anyways, and they all think she's ready) and I'm hoping to meet with speech at some point this week.
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  • ashmariedunnashmariedunn member
    I made it known to my nurse that I'd like to meet with Speech ASAP, so hopefully within the next day I'll get a chance to talk with them and work with LO. As far as I know, the nurses have tried a few different nipples, but we don't think it's a nipple issue seeing as in she won't even let us get the dang nipple in her mouth. She does fantastic with the nipple shield and her pacifier, so I'm thinking it might just be a comfort type of thing. I, myself, have not had a chance to put her to bottle but I am defintely going to try it myself and have her in a sideline position close to my breast to see if that makes her more comfortable. It could also be the NG tube that is causing her to reject the bottle, but it's so hard to tell, especially when she's such a quiet baby, she never really tells us much.
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  • ashmariedunnashmariedunn member

    So a little update for you guys... I guess her "light bulb" moment was today! Had speech come in to work with me and the moment we got her comfortable enough to take the nipple into her mouth, she sucked down 50 mls in under 10 minutes, which is a full feed for her. I was such a proud mama! I'm so happy. They say she'll come home within the next 7-10 days, depending on how her weight gain is once she's taking full feedings from me. Thank you all for the lovely advice!

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