Hellobee Boards

I had to wait until he was managing O2 on his bottle feeds. Then we would weigh him before feeds and after. Then we put the pumped/fortified milk down his NG tube to make up the rest of his feed. Hope your stay is short.

I'm a NICU nurse and as long as the baby is stable, we usually start putting babies to the breast around 33-34 weeks. They says 34 weeks is when they start to be able to coordinate their suck/swallow/breathe reflexes (they like to do two of the three and forget that breathing is important too!)

If the nurses are concerned about him getting milk from the breast (since they are tracking his feeds closely), then maybe ask if you can pump beforehand and put him to a dry breast. Also, see if they can give his NG feeds while he is at the breast so he associates being at the breast with a full tummy. They can also weigh him before/after feeds to see how much he is taking by breast and keep track of his feeds that way.

Oh also, if you would like to breastfeed, I would ask that they not give him bottles until he is doing well at the breast. That is pretty disappointing that they're bottling him and he hasn't been to the breast yet!!

Congrats on your little one!