Our a month old (preemie) boy- choking while feed bottle- how to??

[JakeF150fx4]

Please forgive my english grammer is not that great but i ll trying :-)

Our boy Tommy born on june 28, He is 30.8 weeks (9weeks earlier) 3.8 lbs and is gaining weight and now over 4lbs and 14oz.

we brought him home last week monday WHOO HOO!

So, My wife cant have a breatfeeding for our boy due to pills.

we are feeding him with formula (preemie formula) w/ bottles. he sometime choking once or twice a day for shortly it scares crap out of us. he was out of breath for 1-3 seconds...geez thats scare us .

We tried few different nipples, bottles- nothing works . we tried sit him upright while feeding him...nothing works...most of time hes doing fine but once a while he choked.

I know cpr for baby that i learned from my job and i taught my wife. thats how he do okay after choking.

I wonder if i m only one who have this issue?? I really hope it doesnt effect Tommys healthy in future.

Tommy is do well, really good.

ANy tips, suggest or whatever will be BIG HELPFUL FOR US.

Big thanks!!
Jake

[sparklett]

Hello,

I am sorry you are having such problems. If you are to the point where you have to worry about using CPR, then you should go back to the doctor and get some help. It could be that you need to use the special low-flow preemie nipple on the bottle. Those kinds of nipples are usually availalbe through your doctor.

[jaramirez19]

What kind of a choking is it? If his lips are turning blue than you should worry about his oxygen levels. If he is just coughing and then pausing for a few seconds to take a breath but not more than a second it sounds normal. My son still does that and he is 2 months old. He was born at 32 weeks on may 20. My doctor said it was normal for all babies to do it. Its like he gets so excited to be eating he swallows it wrong and coughs. Its like when you do it when you drink too fast but with babies you have to be careful because if they go for too long without oxygen it can be damaging. Hope this helps!

[Amys1st]

Maggie did that a bit until after she hit her due date then it seemed to stop. You need to take your time bottle feeding a preemie or use a slower flow nipple on it. The baby might be having apnea and need a monitor.

[rmayherbs]

Congrats on bringing your baby home!

A little coughing / choking can be normal, esp in preemies but my ds had a condition called dysphagia which caused aspiration and he would choke a bit on the bottle or the breast. what tipped us off is that he had real bad congestion starting at three months and it did not go away. He was happy and gaining weight, so we just watched it until he got older and it got worse. he also had reflux which complicated things too.

I'm not trying to scare you, as dysphagia is a very rare condition in babies, but be on the lookout for excessive chest congestion, as this may mean too much formula is ending up in the lungs thru aspiration. i'd mention it to the doc if i were you.

and cpr is always good to know. whether a baby has a problem or not.

good luck!

[CalliesMomma]

Callie had a hard time with that for months! We used to turn her on her side and feed her that way and it helped quite a bit. Here is a picture of what I mean:

http://www.babyhomepages.net/picture...&currentalbum=

[Sassypants]

Hi
and congratulations on bringing your son home, that's a wonderful feeling!

Our daughter had trouble and choked sometimes for quite a while both in the NICU and at home, she did it whether she was bottle feeding or breastfeeding. We were told by the physical therapist that it's common and it's just a matter of getting the baby to coordinate the 'suck-swallow-breathe' combination. It's something we do automatically, but babies (especially preemies) have to constantly think about it and sometimes, if they're really hungry or if alot of milk is coming into their mouth at once, they choke and get freaked out.

Believe me, I know how scary it can be to watch your baby start choking and feel helpless. The main thing we found that helped was laying her on her side while she fed and she also learned to feed from a bottle called a Haberman (you might ask the NICU if they have a couple you can try or you can order them, Medela makes them) It has a nipple that has an 'adjustable' flow so you can make sure your baby is getting the slowest flow possible. Then you can gradually increase flow over the weeks, but if your baby starts choking again, you know what to do - go back to slow flow.
There is also something called a 'Vagal nerve' (sp?) that sometimes needs help developing, it's the nerve that controls the throat and swallowing reflex. In extreme cases the nerve has to be stimulated by an outside device (think of a pacemaker but for the vagal nerve, not the heart). But that is an extreme situation, I doubt your baby has those problems if it's only a couple of times a day that the choking happens.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I was just going through all the stuff we tried and learned about when our baby girl was dealing with the same thing.

Basically, lay him on his side, get the absolutely slowest nipple you can find (if you cant find a Haberman) and keep pulling the nipple out of his mouth every couple of minutes to be sure he's swallowing what he has before he gets too much and starts choking. You'll get to the point that you can kinda tell when he's getting into trouble before he actually starts to choke after a while. You can do it! Good Luck!!

[ernalala]

We've been feeding our 34,5w pre-term baby with expressed breastmilk for the first weeks. The bottle didn't really work, so we fed him with a little spoon or an injector. It is EXTREMELY time-consuming, but it was the only way to feed him. I suggest that next to bottle-feeding you may try similar methods.
And get some medical advice too.
Also think it may be the formula, changing brands could be an idea?