Medela is currently producing, in collaboration with EFCNI,
a NICU feeding brochure to be disseminated to key opinion leaders across Europe.
This overview of Medela's
NICU feeding solutions is an entry point to more detailed materials and initiatives dedicated to human milk and to breastfeeding preterm infants.
Stick with
the NICU feeding times.
Not exact matches
Make plans ahead of time ie: who will
feed or bathe the baby in the
NICU and how much time each of you will spend there.
A week after the
feeding change, I moved out of their room (I had started cosleeping when left
NICU because breastfeeding twins that way was less exhausting) and as I realised that they were eating little at night I also I dropped the night
feedings, by watering down in 3 days.
My little guy never really took to the actual act of breastfeeding, likely because his first couple of weeks were spent in the
NICU and he was fully accustomed to a bottle by the time he got home, but I'd
feed and pump as often as I could to keep up equal stores for the two of them.
During our 64 - day
NICU stay, he learned to suckle, how to coordinate swallowing with breathing, and how to move from bottle - and tube -
feedings to the breast.
A few hours after he was born, a
NICU nurse asked me if it was OK to start
feeding him formula.
If your baby spent any time at the
NICU, he or she probably already follows a schedule like this; as
NICU nurses must care for multiple infants at once, they don't have the luxury of
feeding a baby whenever he cries.
It's best to select a time when your baby will be getting
fed or hands on care by the
NICU team.
Bottle
feeding allows
NICU staff to know exactly how much milk a premature baby is taking in, and it allows nurses to fortify breast milk by adding extra calories.
Bottle
feeding a preemie in the
NICU can be one of a parent's biggest joys and concerns.
Being able to
feed well at the breast or by bottle is one of the milestones that a
NICU baby must meet before discharge, so it's natural to feel anxious about reaching it.
Over the next many years, I tried to learn everything I could about breast
feeding, and specifically about how to be sure that the babies in the
NICU were given human milk.
We specialize in nipple and breast pain management, low supply, induced or re-lactation, hyperlactation (oversupply), breast augmentation, breast reduction, maternal health conditions, structural concerns, genetic disorders, unspecified
feeding challenges, tongue and lip ties, post revision care and retraining, slow weight gain, failure to thrive, and
NICU to home.
Now, about 90 % of babies in the
NICU are
fed their own mother's milk.
While in the
NICU, I was able to breastfeed them and the nurses bottle
fed them as well.
After a week in the
NICU, I was so determined to get home, I agreed to bottle
feed breastmilk to my little one and work on breastfeeding at home.
I was formula
feeding my baby because she was in the
NICU for 2 weeks and she wouldn't latch.
The
NICU team evaluated her because she was «late pre-term» and determined she had low blood sugar, so my husband
fed her a bottle of donor milk.
Im exclusively pumping my 2 month old due to latch problems from her being in the
NICU for 2 weeks and being bottle
fed my breast milk.
Diaper warmer — NO Changing table — USED WITH FIRST, NOT WITH SECOND Swing — YES!!!!!! Lilly Padz — NO Nursing pillow — NO WITH FULL - TERM, USED WITH PREEMIE IN
NICU Milkies — NO Nipple cream — YES Nursing nightgown — YES Bottle warmer — MAYBE FOR HIGH LIPASE IN BREASTMILK BUT DO NOT BOTTLE
FEED Bottler dishwasher rack — NO Bottle drying rack — NO Highchair — YES, ONE FOR THE REGULAR CHAIR BUT NOT STAND - ALONE Booster Seat for Meals — YES Burp clothes — YES Baby bathtub — YES FOR FIRST KID, NO FOR SECOND Nasal aspirator — YES Baby fingernail clippers — YES Video monitor — NO Audio monitor — YES Gas drops — NO Gripe water — NO Additional Comments / Items?
My twins are now home after a 10 week
NICU stay and are 100 % formula
fed.
Most preemies in the
NICU are not able to
feed directly from the breast just yet because their sucking skills are lacking.
Mothers with babies in the
NICU tend to suffer from engorgement because their baby isn't able to demand regular
feedings.
The
NICU staff were on hand and did what they needed to do and gave me a few more precious moments before she was taken upstairs to be hooked up to oxygen and a
feeding tube.
JonaRose Feinberg: Well, you know I don't encourage putting the babies on a schedule, altough I would say the babies to come home from or stay in the
NICU have already been put on a
feeding schedule in the
NICU, and if they are already on one then it's not a bad thing to keep them on that schedule if it's working for you but mostly I don't encourage scheduling.
My baby had to be in the
NICU for 3 days when she was born & I asked them to please
feed her with a sirenge but they
fed her with a bottle which has caused her to be nipple confused & frustrated with me when I try to breastfeed.
I had a
NICU baby who was
fed my pumped milk as well as supplemented one ounce of formula at each
feeding.
They
fed my baby formula until I was able to pump enough breastmilk (he was in the
NICU so I couldn't breastfeed him).
In this course we will cover how to use various kangaroo care devices and baby carriers to support weight gain and nasal gastric tube
feeding in the
NICU.
Those
NICU nurses were on a very intense schedule and if you missed your baby's
feeding every three hours, even if that just meant missing the big push of formula from a syringe into his
feeding tube, you missed it.
NICU nurses will usually give you special containers to store and label your breastmilk so either they or you can
feed it to them later.
NICU nurses will help you learn how to bottle
feed your preemie, using some time - tested tricks.
Most of the moms who fall into this category have a baby who is in the
NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) who is unable to take oral
feeds.
By the time they leave the
NICU, they are breastfeeding or bottle
feeding well.
I had a 31 weeker, and while I was * immensely * grateful for the amazing
NICU care he received, I would go home and read Jeevan's blog and feel somewhat guilty and so, so sad to read that while my preemie was snug and warm and
fed in his isolette, being watched over by highly trained nurses and respiratory therapists, a baby older than mine died because the power went out in the hospital overnight (no backup generator) and they couldn't keep him warm enough.
How horrid would it be for my
NICU moms who were desperate to breast
feed but were never able to produce to see that?
I would speculate that the
NICU nurses were rough with trying to get her baby to nurse because they knew that it was his best chance for actually getting
fed enough after discharge.
«Many preemies are still working on their
feeding skills weeks after they go home from the
NICU,» says Gerber.
Thank you to Prolacta for this guest post on
feeding your preemie in the
NICU.
Tags: baby in
NICU, breastmilk and preemies, donor milk program,
feeding baby in
NICU,
feeding preemies, human milk banks, human milk for preemies, milk donors, prematurity awareness, Prolacta
If mom and baby are separated for any reason, whether baby has to stay in the
NICU or mom has to go to work, a nursing mom will have to pump if she wants to continue
feeding her baby breast milk.
Integrating best practice into the
NICU also includes family centred care, Kangaroo Mother Care, breastfeeding, breastmilk
feeding and use of donor human milk.
Continue to take your baby's temperature with every
feeding as your baby acclimates to the new home environment outside of the
NICU.
Then the
NICU nurse gave him a bottle & for the next
feeding, a delay in shift change meant he was too overwrought for BF.
If you do have a baby that is in the
NICU, and you're unsure about how you plan to
feed, it is recommended that you begin to pump to stimulate your milk supply in case you decide you will breastfeed.
The
NICU tries to mimic this same process by «
feeding» your baby's cells through the bloodstream instead of the digestive tract.
In the
NICU, when preemies first start taking milk
feedings, doctors start with small amounts of formula at a calorie ratio that mimics breast milk.
These small
feeds are given to your preemie and are increased slowly over the first few days while the
NICU team keeps an eye on how your baby tolerates these
feeds.