[TigerTail]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041221/D8748AEO0.html

'They're taking their bottles. ... They're normal babies," said Dr. William MacMillan.'

feh. bottles= NOT NORMAL! BREAST=NORMAL!

(obviously, with such tiny babies, i am not condemning whatever has to be done to help them survive; tho' i HOPE the mother has been encouraged to pump, good grief, if ever any babies needed it- the smallest in history? my beef is with the stupid quote.)

does this stuff bother anyone else? (i am definately of the 'ff babies are sicker', not 'bf babies are healthier', etc school of semantics. it really does influence your thinking patterns to consider which is the norm & speak from that perspective.)

suse

 

[alegna]

I saw that quote and it set me off too. Not just you.

sigh.

-Angela

 

[crunchy_mama]

things like that aggravate me as well. bottles are not normal, feeding from plastic should be the exception not the norm. I am also of the school of thought that formula babies are sicker and less intelligent, breastfeeding is the norm, ff'ing is a deviation from the norm and causes these problems. I do hope that the mom is pumping as well, both babies need the best start(as do all babies)
amanda

 

[Dmitrizmom]

there was a quote in one of the stories I read about those babies today that said that they were getting bm in their feeding tubes... would they switch to formula instead of bm in bottles with them still being so small?

 

[TiredX2]

I was also assuming it was bmilk in bottles (since the mom had been pumping). I was confused why they didn't go to the breast when able, though I'm not sure of the likelihood of nursing a 2 lb infant. Of course, I *though* that if a baby was strong enough to suck on a bottle, they were strong enough to nurse

Either way, AMAZING. Literally 15X smaller than my full term kids and *living*.

 

[lacysmommy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmitrizmom there was a quote in one of the stories I read about those babies today that said that they were getting bm in their feeding tubes... would they switch to formula instead of bm in bottles with them still being so small?

I saw that they were getting tube fed bm, too. I wonder if they are having trouble latching and mom is pumping for them? I don't think I ever read that they're getting formula.

 

[blessedwithboys]

my best friend had a 2lb 26 weeker. she pumped, but they mixed it 65/35, with the 35 being special preemie formula to make him gain weight faster. can't say if it was truly needed, as i have not researched all the facts, just sharing her story. also, even though the hospital taught "kangaroo care" classes, she was not allowed to do it, or even hold her ds until he hit an arbitrary age/weight. then she could hold him and offer a bottle of ebm, which he was barely strong enough to suck the milk from. he was not put to the breast until 3 mo (week of his dd), but he took to nursing right away. he nursed from 3 mos to 8 mos (supp. w/ebm after every nursing), when she felt his suck was still too weak to keep up her supply. she was really pissed when we discovered the SNS. hospital never mentioned it.

anyway, i think he may have done better having the breast at least put near his mouth right from the get-go, even if he could not actively suck. so, yes, some babies, esp the 2lb-ers, can be too weak to milk a breast, but i think its easier for mom, or a nurse, to "help out" by sqeeezing while db nursing than it is to just assume they need a bottle. am i making sense? prolly not...lol

 

[boingo82]

It just blows me away, my DS was over 17 times that weight.

I sure hope they are getting BM.

 

[orangebird]

Quote:

Originally Posted by blessedwithboys my best friend had a 2lb 26 weeker. she pumped, but they mixed it 65/35, with the 35 being special preemie formula to make him gain weight faster. can't say if it was truly needed, as i have not researched all the facts, just sharing her story. also, even though the hospital taught "kangaroo care" classes, she was not allowed to do it, or even hold her ds until he hit an arbitrary age/weight. then she could hold him and offer a bottle of ebm, which he was barely strong enough to suck the milk from. he was not put to the breast until 3 mo (week of his dd), but he took to nursing right away. he nursed from 3 mos to 8 mos (supp. w/ebm after every nursing), when she felt his suck was still too weak to keep up her supply. she was really pissed when we discovered the SNS. hospital never mentioned it. anyway, i think he may have done better having the breast at least put near his mouth right from the get-go, even if he could not actively suck. so, yes, some babies, esp the 2lb-ers, can be too weak to milk a breast, but i think its easier for mom, or a nurse, to "help out" by sqeeezing while db nursing than it is to just assume they need a bottle. am i making sense? prolly not...lol

I work in a NICU with these little preemies and I don't know why we never use SNS. I ran over and stole one from well baby for one of our moms to try with her baby and all my coworkers including the lactation specialists were not impressed to say the least. They stood back as we tried it but after I left it was thrown away and mom was discouraged from trying it again. They thought it was a strange idea. Anyway, there are alot of things that we do strange in NICU's and every NICU has different policies. We don't have an age or weight minimum for kangaroo care, it is up to the bedside nurse to decide if the baby can tolorate it or not, most unstable babies on ventalators can't, but stable babies on vents can. Plus nurses have different ideas about what they will let moms do. Me, I let them hold any baby (as long as if it is on a vent it is somewhat stable) any size for any length of time as long as the baby isn't getting stressed or cold, other nurses have little rules like "only 30 minutes" or "only when they are 1000 grams" or whatever, so alot depends on the nurse. If one doesn't let you do something, just ask the next one LOL!

 

[AmyY]

I agree, semantics is important. When my girls were in the NICU (huge and healthy compared to the little ones mentioned above), the phrase used to help us determine when they could go home was "nippling their feeds." Although we did both bottle and breast (I was deathly ill and regular pumping was difficult to say the very least) it was mentioned prominently on the discharge orders that "mom feels comfortable breastfeeding" following several consultations with the LCs. (I actually really felt comfortable BFing some months later but that note on the chart made me determined to live up to my reputation!

)

So: "nippling their feeds" vs. "taking formula from bottles" - yes there is a difference in what that means.

That being said, all the best to these babies and their parents. May they survive, thrive, grow and amaze us all!