Expert: ruth kraft - 12/22/2009

Question
my baby is premature born in 34 week,and was in NICU for abt 14 days now she is back home initially she refused to take breast milk but now she is taking little im expressing my breast milk and giving her also advised by doc to give formula..her weight is not increasing much she was 1kg 500 gm when born and after 30 days her weight is 2 kg 200 gm is it ok.also tell me if its ok if she takes little breast milk and i will supplement her either with expressed milk or formula.

Please help me im worried for her.

Answer
when you have a preemie, you HAVE to get food into them. little amounts over time. I also had a 34 weeker with a 2 week nicu stay and she gained slow for the first year. However, giving her breastmilk is even more important than full term babies because they have such immune systems. So, pump every 2 hours, eat extra fiber 3 times a day and nurse as often as possible. The more breastmilk she gets the better off she will be. IN the meantime, you have to suppliment with formula and remember that small feedings frequently are better than a large feeding with such a small baby.  have patience and know she will grow. I hope that helped!