Hi, title says it all, imreally hoping to bfed Teddy (born at 31+6 now 33+5 and no signs of being ready to start trying to suck tho appreciate early days) but wanted to hear if anyone managed it.

thanks

Hi hun. congratulations again on the arrival of Teddy.
When Grace was in they said that they don't start to get the suck swallow reflex until after 34 weeks. I did express for her but had nothing like as much milk as you have been producing-it used to take 40 minutes to get 20 mls total from both breasts.
I wanted to BF and was given the opportunity to but not much help and support from the staff (its the one thing that I fault my scbu for) so neither of us really knew what we were doing. I would've thought that as you have(I presume?) BF before that at least one of you will know what you are doing.
Grace came home on BF, EBM and nutriprem. I was allowed to feed her for 10 mins(otherwise she got too tired) then give her either EBM or formula and then I would express. It was a nightmare that took around 90 minutes as she took so long to take a small amount and my expressing took so long and after her being in hospital for 4 weeks I had almost constant visitors and theres only some that you can express in front of!!! I was also told not to leave her more than 3 hours from the start of one feed to the start of the next and with the whole palava taking so long it laft me only around 90 minutes before we had to start all over again.
I had her home 2 weeks and then I made what for me was the agonising decision to stop BF. Looking back it was probably a very good decision as after that I was able to start to enjoy her more and she came on leaps and bounds on the nutriprem.
BTW Grace was 32+2 but only 3 lb 5oz so she was a small 32 weeker from what I've learned since. To look at her now you'd never imagine she'd been prem.
If I ever manage to concieve its likely that I'd get PE again and possibly have another prem I would certainly want to BF again and would seek the assistance of the breastfeeding councellor. I think every hospital is supposed to have one so perhaps they could give you some help? if the hospital don't know how to contact them I would've thought that your com. mw would be able to for you.
I know that when they are in it seems like the only thing you can do for them is to provide the milk. I have to say that although G and i didn't do very well the joy of sitting in a room with her on my own snuggled up next to my skin is one that I fully remember.
I hope someone else comes along with a better 'success' story than mine.
I hope that you get him home soon and that the rest of his stay is without upheavals.
Helen.xxx

Hiya and congrats on Teddy's arrival!

My lo was born at 33+2, and she came home partially BF, and partially on EBM by bottle. She didn't really show much sign of being strong enough to latch on when she was discharged at 37 wks. But we persevered for another week and than resorted to EBM by bottle only, and eventually after another 6 weeks to Nutirprem2 by bottle.
I am sure it must be possible, and I'm pretty sure there are other ladies on here who have done it from memory!
Are there any BF consellors in your hospital like Helen asks? There were 2 mornings per wk in my hospital and I really wish I'd taken the bull by the horns so to speak and gone along looking back.

Good luck with Teddy!

Iz & Skye x

my daughter was born at 26 weeks but they dont have the sucking reflex until 34-35 weeks so she was about 9 weeks old before i was even able to try breastfeeding her.
she came home at 16 weeks old on EBM. i did try to BF but it turned out she had a tongue-tie so never managed to latch on. i would definately try BFing if i was you cos expressing is exhausting. i did it for 6 months.
herbal tea or brewers yeast are supposed to help if your milk starts to dry up although i got domperidone from my GP
nnu had BF trained nurses who could help and also a drop in centre once a week.
good luck

Congratulations on the birth of Teddy, how is he doing?

I would definately recommend breast feeding. Its hard work, especially in the beginning when your trying to get your supply going but its worth it. My son was 35 weeks until he was managing feeds and in a couple days he had it mastered.

I think i was a bit pushy with the nurses as I always asked at feeding time to try BF, some would say he was too tired so I would tell them i would have kangaroo care instead. I wore a baggy soft zip fleece top with nothing underneath and just pop him in beside me naked and zip it up. The feeling of him so close to me was amazing and he loved it too and it really boosted my supply as he would sometimes give feeding a go.

Anyway, im waffling now. I BF my son for 9 weeks and felt it really helped me bond with him after our shaky start.

Good luck

My girls came home partially breastfed and partially bottle fed EBM. They were never very good feeders though. They were very slow and never managed to latch without nipple shields so I stopped breastfeeding. I did continue to express until they were 3 months old and they were on half EBM and half Nutriprem 2. I had good access to a breastfeeding counsellors but, to be honest, I think I needed someone to come and live with me while we got breastfeeding established. I never managed to feed both of them at the same time and couldn't leave one to scream while the other took a very sleepy feed. This was my main reason for stopping
Good luck. xx

hi, my little one was born at 31 weeks, my milk didnt come in till 4 days later and i expressed it off, he was tube fed because he was in incubator for a week, plus as others have said, the suckle reflex does not kick in till 34/35 weeks

when i was able to hold him, he used to turn his head and root about for booby. i first tried to breastfeed at 33 weeks and he latched on took two gulps and fell asleep, it tires them out very quickly!!

i was lucky to have very supportive scbu staff who gave me all the help/opportunites to feed him , his feeding tube was in through his nose so not to obstruct my nipple,

when he came home at 35 weeks, it seemed i was breast feeding every hour, because it tired him out so much, but we got there,

he did have some bottles, i was a bit of a dairy cow when it came to expressing and had so much in the freezer it seemed a waste not to use it, but it made things a lot easier, everyone could take a turn, and he was still getting my milk.

i stopped breast feedng at 6 months,
bayley is now 6, and im due to give birth to my 3rd son in 8-9 weeks all being well.

good luck xx
kb

Hey hun i was talkign to you in my random post lol but just wanted to say it took ciaran until 4weeks to latch on, thats why i expressed and kept trying everyday at least once to get him to latch. By the time he came home he was able to latch but obvioulsy drank from bottle when i coudlnt be in scbu 24/7 to bfeed.

Once he got home he was fine and i bfed for about 5months until i dryed up :-(

Good luck hun, and dont worry sure your lo will be fine and get hang of it. i know how depressing it can get and esp frustrating. I was on edge for weeks feelifn shit over him nto latching, but as everyoen says they'll do it in their own time xx

Hi and congrats on the birth of little Teddy.

My son was born at 33+6 and came home breastfeeding with EBM top-ups. After about a week he started to favour the bottle as it was easier for him. I had a chat with my MW who basically said I had to decide what to do as he was getting confused so I decided to go with exclusive BF as he was gaining weight well and I knew I had loads of milk (I would leak constantly and express 120ml in about 3 mins!)

He is now at 7+ months still going strong on the the breast and I am so glad I made that decision. I know it isn't that easy for everyone and it wasn't that easy for me really but it was the best thing for us. I felt so guilty he was early although we were never given a reason and this almost made up for it.

Good luck.

thankyou all for your replies much appreciated as it gives me hope. Im lucky that its not my first in so much as i know what im doing i just need Ted to learn. ive got loads of milk which is half the battle but struggling to spend enough time with him what with the boys, (who have been sick so i cldnt visit cry)

He has tried a few times so just gonna fight for it but the SCBU staff are v supportive and give him a cup and tube feeds rather than bottle.

Dinks that is exactly how i feel, so guilty for not keeping him inside feel that i need to bfeed. everyone says im being silly for feeling like that and thought it was just me so thanks for sharing feel less like a freak. (also feel like a freak as Ted doesnt really feel like mine, when i give him back to SCBU staff feels like im giving him back to his mummy and im just a relative if that makes any sense)

thanks again for you replies

x

Everyone told me I was silly for feeling like that but I did. I would just sit and cry when he wouldn't latch on and say to him don't let Mummy fail at this too. My Hubby used to get really upset when I said it but I couldn't help it.

I was lucky in that my lo was only in for a week and I stayed in that whole time so did every feed every 4 hours including the nights. The nurses tried to get me to skip the mid-night feed and the 4am but I insisted on doing it. But even leaving him to go back to bed was hard, I can't imagine how you feel.

Much love to you and your little family.

oh DB - I have not commented on here as Max was born bang on 34 weeks so didn't think I could comment but he was in SCBU and came home exclusively bf. (As Dinks knows well cos we have discussed it before) I had that guilt to and it was TOTALLY what kept me bf and all though it was BLOODY hard expressing and still expressing and topping up for weeks and weeks BUT I was sooooooooo glad I did it as I loved it and was well upset when Max self weaned at 10.5 months with no warning!!! I too was lucky enough to only have max in SCBU for a week and we were both in hosptial for 10 days so I could see him any time and do all his feeds etc can't imagine how much harder it must be for you! Glad you have all the SCBU nurses support!!!!!!

If you search back through this forum you will find LOADS of other posts aboutt he 'guilt' feeling re bf and all sorts of other things - AND the strange feelings re children and SCBU nurses (I asked for this forum after MAx's early arrival and have read all the posts on it since and I promise you are NOT a freak these are unfortunately NORMAL for us lot!)

Read about teddy doing better on Preg forum so fingers crossed he continues on the UP!!!!

I felt very very guilty that I had failed in my pregancy too and that it was all my fault that I had to leave her in hospital in a plastic box and then rely (sp?) on people to take me to see her. You will get over that feeling DB even though it may take a while.
Sending good vibes to you and Teddy and hope your boys are better.
H.xxx