Breastfeeding for preemie

Hello everyone.
We just had a lovely little boy on January 7th. He was 29 weeks and is
currently residing at the NICU at our hospital. He's doing very well so
far and I am trying my best to give him as much breast milk as
possible. He is currently getting food through a tube and I am pumping
every three hours or so at . With any luck he will be able to start
breast feeding in a few weeks. I have a few questions though.
How much milk supply should I have right now? Currently I seem to be
producing about 1/2 to 1oz per breast at each try. Should I have more
than that or when should I see it increase?

How long should I pump at each try? I've been pumping for 15 minutes
every 3 hours or so. The nurses at the NICU said to pump until just a
few drops of breast milk are coming out but it doesn't seem like I ever
have a steady stream. It doesn't seem like I'm out after 15 minutes
but I do need to sleep and do other things than pump.

Are there things I could be doing to increase my milk supply? It isn't
really a huge issue right now because he's only getting a few cc's at
every feed but the goal is to be way ahead of him so that when he comes
home we're at the same level. I know that I need to eat well and get
rest but this is a little difficult right now as we are running back
and forth from the hospital. My husband is trying to be there for
mornign feeds 9am and noon and I am coming in for the 3pm and 6pm
feeds. It seems like I should have a lot of time to rest but we're a
half hour from the hospital and I'm trying to wake up and pump every 3
hours at night

I've talked to several people at the hospital about this and they all
say that I'm doing fine. I'm just getting frustrated and it seems to
me like this is one of the few things that I can do to help my baby and
I want to do the best that I can.
Thanks for the help
Dani

the one thing that strikes me is are you getting a let down? when I pump, if
I get a let down my milk shoots out and I pump until it slows down, but if I
try pumping and don't get a let down that's when I get half an ounce.

Sorry to say this, but pumping for half an hour every 2 hrs is a more
realistic timetable. Where do you pump? is there a room off the nicu? even
if you could spend half an hour at it a couple of times a day it would make
a difference from always being just 15 minutes.

Also, how long are you going overnight? if you are still doing every 3hrs,
you might consider stretching one of those spaces to 4hrs, could make a
signigicant difference, that extra hour of uninteruppted sleep. Or, if you
are sleeping though, you need to get up at least once.

You don't say what pump you are using, you really need to be using a
hospital grade double electric breast pump if you aren't already.

Hope this helps

Anne

Dani skrev:
Hello everyone.
We just had a lovely little boy on January 7th. He was 29 weeks and is
currently residing at the NICU at our hospital. He's doing very well so
far and I am trying my best to give him as much breast milk as
possible. He is currently getting food through a tube and I am pumping
every three hours or so at . With any luck he will be able to start
breast feeding in a few weeks. I have a few questions though.
How much milk supply should I have right now? Currently I seem to be
producing about 1/2 to 1oz per breast at each try. Should I have more
than that or when should I see it increase?

How long should I pump at each try? I've been pumping for 15 minutes
every 3 hours or so. The nurses at the NICU said to pump until just a
few drops of breast milk are coming out but it doesn't seem like I ever
have a steady stream. It doesn't seem like I'm out after 15 minutes
but I do need to sleep and do other things than pump.

Are there things I could be doing to increase my milk supply? It isn't
really a huge issue right now because he's only getting a few cc's at
every feed but the goal is to be way ahead of him so that when he comes
home we're at the same level. I know that I need to eat well and get
rest but this is a little difficult right now as we are running back
and forth from the hospital. My husband is trying to be there for
mornign feeds 9am and noon and I am coming in for the 3pm and 6pm
feeds. It seems like I should have a lot of time to rest but we're a
half hour from the hospital and I'm trying to wake up and pump every 3
hours at night

I've talked to several people at the hospital about this and they all
say that I'm doing fine. I'm just getting frustrated and it seems to
me like this is one of the few things that I can do to help my baby and
I want to do the best that I can.
Thanks for the help
Dani


Maybe your milk hasn't come in yet. Have you had the cannon ball feeling
in your breasts? When it does it may be easier to pump larger amounts of BM.

Tine, Denmark

Dani writes:

: Are there things I could be doing to increase my milk supply? It isn't
: really a huge issue right now because he's only getting a few cc's at
: every feed but the goal is to be way ahead of him so that when he comes
: home we're at the same level. I know that I need to eat well and get
: rest but this is a little difficult right now as we are running back
: and forth from the hospital. My husband is trying to be there for
: mornign feeds 9am and noon and I am coming in for the 3pm and 6pm
: feeds. It seems like I should have a lot of time to rest but we're a
: half hour from the hospital and I'm trying to wake up and pump every 3
: hours at night

You don't say how old he is. If it is less than 5 days, you milk may
not have come in yet. I can't remember if it takes longer to come in
for a preemie. Also, I posted some things to increase your supply in
m.k.p. I won't repeat it here. Since you have to spend so much time
going back and forth to and from the hospital, you should be sleeping
when you are not travelling or pumping (easy for me to say!)

Good luck,
Larry

"Dani" wrote:
Hello everyone.
We just had a lovely little boy on January 7th. He was 29 weeks and is
currently residing at the NICU at our hospital. He's doing very well so
far and I am trying my best to give him as much breast milk as
possible. He is currently getting food through a tube and I am pumping
every three hours or so at . With any luck he will be able to start
breast feeding in a few weeks. I have a few questions though.
How much milk supply should I have right now? Currently I seem to be
producing about 1/2 to 1oz per breast at each try. Should I have more
than that or when should I see it increase?

How long should I pump at each try? I've been pumping for 15 minutes
every 3 hours or so. The nurses at the NICU said to pump until just a
few drops of breast milk are coming out but it doesn't seem like I ever
have a steady stream. It doesn't seem like I'm out after 15 minutes
but I do need to sleep and do other things than pump.

Are there things I could be doing to increase my milk supply? It isn't
really a huge issue right now because he's only getting a few cc's at
every feed but the goal is to be way ahead of him so that when he comes
home we're at the same level. I know that I need to eat well and get
rest but this is a little difficult right now as we are running back
and forth from the hospital. My husband is trying to be there for
mornign feeds 9am and noon and I am coming in for the 3pm and 6pm
feeds. It seems like I should have a lot of time to rest but we're a
half hour from the hospital and I'm trying to wake up and pump every 3
hours at night

I've talked to several people at the hospital about this and they all
say that I'm doing fine. I'm just getting frustrated and it seems to
me like this is one of the few things that I can do to help my baby and
I want to do the best that I can.
Thanks for the help
Dani

Congratulations on your baby! Sounds like you're doing well.

Kellymom.com always has great information:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/ma...pply-pump.html

HTH,
-Patty, mom of 1+2

You don't say how old he is. If it is less than 5 days, you milk may
not have come in yet. I can't remember if it takes longer to come in
for a preemie. Also, I posted some things to increase your supply in
m.k.p. I won't repeat it here. Since you have to spend so much time
going back and forth to and from the hospital, you should be sleeping
when you are not travelling or pumping (easy for me to say!)

born 7th January, so 6 days, I do recall though from Donna Metler that even
with a not so preemie baby her milk only came in gradually.

Cheers

Anne

First of all, are you actually working with a Lactation consultant, or just
the nurses? It makes a big difference. And, if you're working with an LC,
are they experienced with pumping and with preemie issues?

Second, you're probably getting exactly the amount and type of milk you
should be getting now. I got colostrum or really yellow milk until my
daughter was about 2 months old-and she was only 5-6 weeks premature (but
had other issues which precluded nursing). And, until my milk fully came in,
it was little drips at a time, which was extremely frustrating. Your son is
even younger, so you probably won't get much at a time, and you may not get
a full, hard letdown for awhile.

Third, what pump are you using? You should have a double, hospital grade
pump. I'd suggest getting at least two sets of pump parts-tubes, valves,
bottles, or more so you never get to the hospital without them or leave them
at the hospital when you need them at home. You should have a pump at home
as well as know where you can pump in the hospital as well. Most insurance
companies will pay for rental for a baby in NICU.

My LC suggested 10-15 minutes of double pumping every 2 hours, with one 4
hour sleep period-and not to look at what I'd produced or whether I was
still dripping, because at first, you do get little drips all the time (and
hopefully, when your baby is able to do kangaroo care, he'll eat pretty much
all of the time, too), and then increase time as your nipples and body are
used to it and as you space out pumping cycles. She also suggested the
lowest pressure setting, but highest speed initially. Once I got to the
point of getting a true letdown, I could lower the pumping speed and still
get a good output, then sometimes get a second letdown by dialing up. I was
also able to increase the pump pressure as I got more experienced.

Good luck!


--
Donna DeVore Metler
Orff Music Specialist/Kindermusik
Mother to Angel Brian Anthony 1/1/2002, 22 weeks, severe PE/HELLP
And Allison Joy, 11/25/04 (35 weeks, PIH, Pre-term labor)

I'm not sure if I'm really getting a letdown. It just seems like I
drip at the same rate the whole time.
Also, I have a medela lactina at home and an ameda purely yours that
someone lent me. I have been primarily using the lactina. At the
hospital, I am using the medela classic. They are all doubles.

He's six days old. He's so perfect. But I don't know when my milk is
supposed to come in, I don't know how to tell the difference between
colostrom and milk.

Thank you so much for all the information. I have been working mostly
with the nurses but I am meeting with an LC on Monday. I did meet wiht
one initially when I was still in the hospital but I had only pumped
once or so. I think that I need to give it more time and just keep at
it. Today especially, I was just so frustrated. It seems like it's the
only thing that I can concretely do for him and I just want to do it
well. We started doing some kangaroo care yesterday although he had to
go back under the bili lights today so they limited it. Hopefully that
will help out. Thanks again.
Dani