Formula Feeding
Feeding Your Premature Infant
If your infant arrives ahead of schedule, proper feeding is critically important. It may also present some challenges. By working closely with your infant's health care team and keeping yourself informed (and calm), you can help her get the nutrition she needs during those crucial few weeks.
Here is some information you may find helpful:
Your infant needs to gain some weight in the hospital before she can go home.
Her doctors want her to eat enough volume to assure that she gains the weight she needs to become stronger and healthier. Ask the nurses to watch you during feedings to be sure you are holding the infant in a comfortable position and feeding her correctly.
Breastfeeding your baby is usually possible through pumping.
In the hospital, your infant's doctor may recommend adding a milk fortifier to your expressed breast milk to give your infant some extra protein, vitamins, calcium and other nutrients. As she gets more mature, your doctor may tell you that she is ready for direct breastfeeding.
If you are formula feeding or supplementing, your infant's doctor will probably recommend a special formula for premature infants, fortified with extra nutrients.
Learn more about Enfamil® EnfaCare® A+®
Premature babies need to eat at least every 3 hours.
Tinier infants have tinier tummies. This means she'll have to eat a lot of small meals in order for her to gain weight.
Their mouths are often extra-sensitive.
If your infant has spent her first few days with tubes and respirators in her mouth, she may assume that anything that goes into her mouth is painful, including a breast or a bottle.
Premature babies are slow to feed.
Feeding her too fast by mouth may result in a feeding aversion or spitting up. She is also likely to have more digestive problems than a full term infant, since her digestive system may not be as mature as a full term infant's.
Try these tips on feeding your premature infant:
- Each infant is unique. Follow the advice of your infant's doctor.
- Introduce your infant to a nipple. Even if she is still feeding by tube, this will help her adjust to bottle feeding when she's ready. You may need to try different nipples at first.
- Stick to breast milk or one type of formula and nipple to help her adjust.
- Keep a record of your baby's feedings.
- Get growth charts, specially designed for premature babies, from your infant's doctor to help monitor her progress.
- Make sure your infant is fully awake before feeding.
- Don't force your infant to eat. If she's not sucking as fast, sealing her lips or turning away, she may be full.
- Feed her on demand, not a schedule. Studies have shown that premature babies grew at a faster pace when fed on demand.
- Enlist the help and support of family and friends, to give yourself a break.
