From the article: Breastfeeding Benefits for Preemies
Choosing how you will feed your infant is a big decision, with many factors involved. What made you decide to breastfeed your premature baby, or to choose formula feeding instead? Do you feel like your decision to breastfeed or not to breastfeed had a big impact on your health or your baby's? Share Your Stories
Very glad I breastfed my preemie
- I was fortunate that our NICU had an encouraging lactation consultant. The nurses there were happy to feed my baby expressed breast milk, and my daughter hardly had formula at all (just some at the beginning mixed in with breastmilk as the doctors wanted to boost her calories). My baby was born at 31 weeks, weighing 3 lbs. 5 oz. She is now 7 years old and perfectly healthy. Breastfeeding is MORE important for preemies- the research that has been done has shown more an improvement in cognition for preemies than for normal birthweight children. One warning - I was encouraged to use a nipple shield to help my daughter latch on, and it turned out it prevented her being able to suck well. We were sent home with it, and she was unable to get sufficient milk (which resulted in a late night visit to the ER b/c she was not maintaining body temperature). I would avoid the nipple shield. Good luck!
- —Guest SusanJ
