If your lo has had surgery-come in

jegoffin · February 2014

DD2 is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday. We have to be there at 10:30am, surgery time is set at 12:00pm. She cannot have any breastmilk after 4am. How did you handle not being able to feed a hungry baby? We have an hour long drive to the hospital which I expect to be pretty hellish. My local LLL ladies have recommended forcing one cluster feeding cry couple hours after bedtime until 4am to try to keep her full as long as possible. Also-how long after they woke up from anesthesia were you allowed to feed? Any other advice?

gutsymama · February 2014

You should check out this thread: https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12213809/anesthesia-for-lo#latest

I don't have a lot of helpful advice about the pre-op fasting; Luke's surgeries were all before he was even close to full feeds. But we have had some times when he's had to drink only Pedialyte instead of milk for a few days, which doesn't come close to keeping him satisfied; those days can be rough, but I try to just keep him busy and guard his naps with my life. Does your LO have a favorite toy? Our Laugh & Learn puppy can usually buy us some time no matter what. And lots and lots of cuddling. You'll also likely be busy with pre-op stuff well before noon, and if they're running on time, an IV will be started and LO will be taken back before noon, so you're not really looking at so very many hours in which you can't feed her. Hopefully she'll sleep in the car?

BM is considered a clear fluid so we were able to give him a bottle immediately after surgery. I'm not sure if formula is the same - @KikiCohen might be able to help you there.

ETA: Hang in there, mama! This will be much harder on you than on her, I promise.

E again TA: I guess the formula part doesn't matter since you said you were nursing. With BM you should be good to go.

[Deleted User] · February 2014

Just wanted to send some good vibes your all's way. Good luck

chiboo9 · February 2014

LO had to undergo an MRI when she was 2 months old. We were lucky enough to be able to secure a 7am procedure. Our cutoff time with feeding was 12am. We woke her up and made sure to tank her up at midnight. She's FF and we were given a longer gap from last feed to procedure time. With BM though, I think it was a shorter gap since it's considered clear liquid. We gave her a binkie to distract her when she did wake up.

We were able to feed her about an hour after she recovered from anesthesia. She only took 2 ounces of formula, and we didn't want to give her anymore than she could handle since we were told that vomiting was common after recovery.

No other advice, but just hoping that it all goes well. Good luck! It'll be over before you know it. Keep us posted!

Pink724 · February 2014

No advice here, either, but wishing you all the best!

jegoffin · February 2014

Our paperwork doesn't consider breastmilk a clear fluid. It's lumped with formula, solids, etc.

jegoffin · February 2014

@Rmnam1 They are doing a couple scopes and most likely an alteration to her epiglottis. She has severe obstructive sleep apnea.

DenverBride2005 · February 2014

no advice but I just wanted to say good luck and will be thinking of you! I hope everything goes smoothly!

KikiCohen · February 2014

My LO's surgery was first thing in the morning, so we really didn't have to worry about fasting. In fact, he went into surgery about the time he usually had his first bottle of the day. I would just feed your LO as close to 4am as possible. Try to keep her busy with toys if you can. Can she have water or anything after 4am? If so, you could try that if she's really upset with not eating.

After surgery, we were told to start with sugar water (they actually gave us two bottles of it in the post-op recovery room). After that, they suggested giving him half a bottle of formula and if he kept it down, we could return to his normal feeding schedule. P didn't actually end up getting sick from the anesthesia, but I do remember his discharge instructions that said vomiting up to 3 times the day of surgery was considered normal. Also, he was pretty out of it for awhile after surgery, so if he was hungry, he wasn't complaining about it.

I'm not going to lie, I was a complete mess when P had surgery. Oddly enough, as soon as they took him into the OR, I felt much better. My advice would be to make sure that you have a list of questions ready to ask when you get there so you don't forget them. I definitely wanted to know about how long the surgery would be, when we could see him, and how updates would be given to us. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to PM me! @mimi4347 and @MyLittleSweetPea were super helpful to me when I needed advice.

MRads · February 2014

No advice but good luck!

shara3333 · February 2014

No advice, but good luck!

Kitten80 · February 2014

My 2nd LO had surgery at 2 weeks and it was an emergent situation. Anticipating that she would require testing/surgery/airlift for surgery they made her NPO which was horrible. We cuddled, sang, and watched her cry. It sucked. She was not able to feed for awhile following surgery. After several hours they did an IV, I think next day (so 15 hours ish?) she was given breast milk by bottle, nursed 3 days post op.

I agree to cluster feed up to cut off. Try to milk (ha ha pun) those naps. And as pp stated, if they are on time there will be pre-op stuff going on and they will take LO back a little before scheduled time.

Good luck and big hugs.

KateJuly2013 · February 2014

I have no advice but many hugs

MyLittleSweetPea · February 2014

Our first surgery was scheduled first thing, but we wound up getting bumped until noon. Feed as close to cut off as you can. Maybe you'll be lucky and score a nap on the car ride there.

We were allowed to feed soon after he was awake in recovery. LO was starving and after each surgery he eat too much too fast and I've left in hospital scrubs after he puked both times. My advise would be to take it slow.

I agree with PP that it will be more difficult on you that your LO. Hang in there! We will all be thinking of you!

MrsAJohnsonToBe · February 2014

I'm a lurker, but my lo has had to be npo 4 times for MRIs with sedation, the first two he was admitted to the hospital and was only 3 months old and they gave us sugar water (sweet ease) to dip his paci in and he was hooked up to IV fluids so those weren't bad and he was npo after midnight and until about 3pm the first two times. The second two times I was allowed to nurse him about 10 minutes after he woke up. The last time he was npo was about two weeks ago and he thought that me giving him water in his bottle at 3am was a joke. You would be surprised how well they can deal with being npo, he was easily distracted from the fact that he was hungry by dh and I playing with him. Also I work in the operating room and occasionally go to outpatient surgery on days where we do pediatrics and play with the littles before surgery to help tired parents out. And when they let you feed your lo is dependent on the type of anesthesia they had and will vary by hospital. Good luck!

Want a personalized experience?

If your lo has had surgery-come in

Re: If your lo has had surgery-come in

Choose Another Board

Search Boards