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Breastfeeding on CPAP

AmandaFaithAmandaFaith member
in Preemies
Have any of y'all been able to successfully do this? If so, what was your experience? My NICU's policy is typically not to allow it, but they do occasionally make exceptions depending on the situation, due to the fact that some institutions embrace the notion more. (Or so I was told today by DD's nurse.) If DD has a good night and tolerates a wean in her MAP, I'm going to be able to try non-nutritional BFing (pump immediately beforehand) with her for the first time tomorrow.

Our twins were born at 25+0 and will be 37+0 tomorrow, but due to a variety of setbacks neither has gotten to the point of taking a bottle or breast yet--only via a feeding tube. DD desperately wants to eat by mouth though (she LOVES her paci) so the NNP made the decision to let her try tomorrow. They originally wanted her to transition to a high flow cannula beforehand, but they're thought process is that if she wants to be a big girl they'll give her the benefit of the doubt to a certain extent (hence, why I have to pump beforehand). I'm super excited but a little nervous at the same time because I don't know what to expect. They've told me if she takes right away that'll be great, but it may just be "play time" to help her begin transitioning. DS was on a high flow cannula for a couple weeks and doing great with it, but wasn't allow to try BF because he was waiting to be reanastomosed (sp?). He had surgery last Wednesday and is still in the vent and recovering, but hopefully he'll catch back up soon.
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Re: Breastfeeding on CPAP

  • Jenrn2203Jenrn2203 member
    Our Nicu wouldn't do any oral feeding unless on low flow cannula too much risk
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  • Pips09Pips09 member
    We were not allowed to attempt any feeding on the CPAP. It was an earlier GA, though, so I don't know if that has something to do with it.
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  • rkcarawayrkcaraway member
    No advice because we weren't allowed to try, but I think it's great that your NICU is willing to attempt it.  



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  • SarahA918SarahA918 member
    My son was bottle feeding limited amounts on 3 liter high flow cannula even though that's agaibst the hospital policy. He was doing great with feedings, but deteriorating respiratory-wise, so he needed to be transfered to the location near the children's hospital and the pulmonologists. Try put him back on cpap and they wouldn't allow him to bottle feed or even be put to a dry breast for a long time even though he had swallow studies and aspiration tests. When they finally allowed it weeks later after me fighting for it, he had already lost interest. Now he has a gtube and refuses all bottles and only occasionally will go to breast but not long enough to draw milk. There are some hospitals that allow feeds on the cpap - I wish mine was one of them!
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  • AmandaFaithAmandaFaith member
    Thanks for all of the feedback ladies.

    @SarahA918‌ - I'm so sorry to hear that. :/ That definitely gives me motivation to stick to my guns and continue non-nutritional feeds as long as DD continues to do well with them. She did great today! Latched immediately. We did have a few minor issues with the CPAP slipping around (which is part of the reason they don't usually allow it), but she held her sats beautifully and was truly a much calmer, happier baby after we were finished. The doctors are going to do a high flow cannula trial with her tomorrow and if that goes well we'll have scheduled non-nutritional feeds twice daily for the next week, working up to actually allowing her to eat from breast and bottle.
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  • thishappyhousethishappyhouse member
    keep talking about it and asking about breastfeeding.  Every baby and every situation is different.  We were not able to do any oral feeds while my DD was on CPAP but she also showed quite a bit of oral aversion and it just wasnt a good idea.  Surprisingly though, we started breastfeeding around 39 weeks and she did well.  She was partially breastfed until 14 months and always did better at the breast than with a bottle.  

    I hope she is able to go to high flow tomorrow!!  sounds like you have a great plan in place :)
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  • AmandaFaithAmandaFaith member
    @thishappyhouse‌ - DD got to try out the high flow cannula today for about an hour and a half and did great! I wasn't anticipating getting to try non-nutritional feeds again with her the first time she was on the cannula, but a different NP suggested it and she did well. Her FiO2 requirements went up just a tad while I she was at breast (typical whenever she's being held right now due to chronic lung disease) but we were reminded the cannula only provided her with a flow of 4 liters versus 5 liters from the cannula. She's continuing to latch well, and even though I'm pumping before hand, she is still getting small amounts of milk and is swallowing/digesting everything just fine. :) Hoping DS will catch up to his "big" sister soon. (She's 3 minutes older.)
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