spoon feeding a new born

[sunbob]

Hello, Does anyone have any expertise on this please? Spoon feeding colostrum then milk to a newborn? When our LO was in special care she had a tube up her nose to feed her but someone mentioned that spoon feeding could be an alternative although they had no one to teach it to me on that ward.

That is all behind us now, with a lovely healthy 21 month old, but if we do manage to have another baby and the same situation arose I would really like to try this alternative, to avoid the whole tube feeding thing.

Thanks.x

[Fuschia]

i fed one of our twins by syinge at first, when she wouldn't latch

not heard about spoons, but a friend used a tiny cup

[Fuschia]

i fed one of our twins by syinge at first, when she wouldn't latch

not heard about spoons, but a friend used a tiny cup

[Pickle]

My son started off having colostrum (and then milk) by syringe. When we were still in hospital we tried little cups (the white paper ones they give you in hospital with medication in them) and a spoon, but found we were loosing too much of the precious milk so stuck with syringe as the best and easiest option.

[minder]

I remember trying to spoonfeed my son (now 18) in King's. He was born 4 weeks early and weighed 61bs 1oz but was very tiny and wouldn't latch on and was also in an incubator for 3 days for jaundice.

I think someone was there advising this but I just found it very difficult and most of the milk just dribbled away!

I ended up bottlefeeding as he wasn't getting enough milk (and I had mastitis) and I was getting uptight about it all (as you do).

[Au'Lait]

My baby wouldn't latch, so I used what I call an eyedropper and the midwife referred to as a pipette. I found it easier to use than a syringe with the small amounts of colostrum, and it seemed more comfortable for him. I did try spoon feeding but found it too messy, I couldn't afford to spill what I was offering.

Apparently it's not really the done thing though, none of the midwives or the lactation consultant had ever heard of such a thing.

Worked for us.

[sunbob]

Thank you everyone. Did you put the syringe/pipette a little way in to their mouth on the tongue? As Au'Lait said professionals at the time might not know how to, so as much detail as poss would help me feel better prepared to fight my corner.

As 'minder' says you do get uptight and stressed at the time, my OH and I were exasperated at the staff all just doing stuff to our baby without properly talking to us about it and not going out of their way to discuss it with us and come to decisions including us.

[snowboarder]

We used a little cup to give our little one some of the milk bank donor milk at Kings in addition to b/f in the first couple of days - it was specifically provided for that purpose and that seemed to be how the midwives administered the milk...and they showed me how to do it. I remember the achievement of getting 25ml down him!

[bea_filkin]

Which hospital were you in? In St thomas's with a bit of pressure they were pretty good at teaching me to cup feed my premautre boy. They also use a technique where you tape a thin plastic tube to your finger and dip one end in to the milk. I found it very fiddly, and near impossible when sleep deprived. I found the cup easier, though also exhausting.

[sandy_rose]

We used a syringe at Kings, which is what they gave us before she could go on to bottle. We gave her a dummy to pacify her as poor thing was being starved and so really hungry. We just put the syringe in her mouth next to the dummy and she would drink every drop. Can't even imagine feeding a sleepy newborn with a cup, bottle was hard enough with her falling asleep every 2 mins.

[snowboarder]

sandy_rose Wrote:

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Can't even imagine feeding

> a sleepy newborn with a cup, bottle was hard

> enough with her falling asleep every 2 mins

Hmm. Maybe it was just my little one but he was never ever sleepy....sigh....

[Belle]

I found cup feeding so hard, we did it for 10 days or so, then switched to the bottle (against advice) - we were just losing so much or felt like we were 'tipping' it in only for it to come right back up. Can see the thinking behind it, but it was such a fiddle!