Preemie nursing in hospital

[Laggie]

I have a friend who recently had a baby - she delivered a month early and the baby had to have surgery so she's been in the hospital for a month.

Anyway, she's been on a feeding tube all this time and at first it was formula but they recently started putting breastmilk in it. (yay!) Now, they're telling my friend to basically use her breast like a soother, but they don't want the baby to drink any breastmilk that way because they can't measure it. Is it just me or does that seem like a bad idea? Like, how is the baby supposed to learn how to latch on properly?

She has been letting the baby drink a little bit of breastmilk but she feels like she shouldn't.

The baby is gaining weight and doing quite well, and they hope to release her from the hospital in a couple of weeks but she has to learn to eat on her own first. the hospital wants that to happen from a bottle, with pumped breastmilk.

I dunno, i'm no expert... but my gut feeling is to tell her to breastfeed as much as possible. Am I being silly?

[Lact-o-Mama]

Follow your gut.

I don't underdstand how it would be *bad* if she did get milk when pacifying on Moms Breast?? They could still measure her feeds in between, right?
The more the better, especially for a preemie.

Not that I recommend the whole weigh-ing method....but they could also weigh her before and after nursing to see what she's getting...or at least have an idea.

I think hospitals are overly careful.....often they have their best interests (and their insurance) at heart before the Mom and Baby.


What a wonderful friend you are for helping this Mamma so much.

[preemiemamarach]

the only way I could see that being an obstacle is if she has a heart condition that causes the need for fluid restriction. Otherwise, they can do a before and after weight for every nursing session, which is what we did with my preemie in the hospital. Have they mentioned that to her?

[Laggie]

She doesn't have a heart condition. The problem was with her digestive system. They do weigh her diapers so maybe that has something to do with wanting to monitor how much she eats so closely? But it still seems silly to me, that they wouldn't want her to nurse.

[Breastfeeding Insomniac]

That plan only benefits the health care providers! Not mom and baby. Frequent, unrestricted bf is what should be encouraged.

[Laggie]

So... my friend breastfed her baby for one feeding, and she ate really well but she threw up afterward.

So now my friend feels guilty for breastfeeding her and has stopped Which seems so sad to me.

But maybe I should mind my own business. For once.

[WannabeaFarmer]

Our DD was 9 weeks early and as soon as I was given the ok(like 36 weeks gestation)I started our road to breastfeeding. If you dont have a hospital staff that has the knowledge and encouragement to know how to successfully start a preemie on the breast, then the mom has a difficult time and will often give up. This was my observation when we were in the NICU. We are still breastfeeding at 23mo....
We went through a lot and I believe that one of the sole reasons why we have been so successful(and lucky) is because of the support system we had.
I think also it was do to my backgound and determination. I came from a breastfeeding family(even though my mom only breastfed me till 6mo-she had no idea what to do once I started teething)where CLW(for my mom bfing my brother) and breastfeeding was commonplace. So I knew, that it was not only what I wanted-I was going to do it no matter what. Even if it ment pumping for 4 months and supplementing with additional feedings of bm rather than not bfing at all. So, that said, for me it was support and a frame of mind.
I wish your friend all the best on this unique journey.