How is it supposed to sound? I am getting about an ounce and a half every 3 hours, I am pumping every three hours. I was feeding him without pumping, but he’s a preemie and he seems to be wanting to nurse for an hour, sometimes more, and then will take 1-2 oz formula after that.
February 26th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Ask a doctor
February 26th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Your doctor is right. When a preemie is nursing for an hour or more they are buring more calories then consuming.
So they air sound – the system should be a close system and their shouldn’t be air getting in. The sound could be just a normal suction release sound. Make sure that your nipples are moving in and out and if that is happening then the suction is usually good and the sound could just be normal.
There has been some recent studies that have shown that preemies have better breastfeeding results when the mother was using a nipple shield. In order to get breast milk the infant has to be able to creat negative pressure in their mouth. Sometimes for a preemie creating this negative pressure is very hard work and they are unable to maintain it. With the use of a nipple shield the area in the mouth is fuller and easier to create the suction needed. Also you could try using the dancer hold when nursing. Put your hand up and look at the inside of your palm. Now lay you hand in a horizontal position. You would hold your breast so that the breast tissue is laying in the palm of your hand and then you would place the infants jaw in the soft skin between your thumb and pointer fingers. Then you would use your thumb and pointer finger and place them on your baby’s cheeks. You can provide jaw support resting on your hand and help with the negative pressure by gently appling pressure with your thumb and pointer finger on the cheeks.
Some times beer will help but you can drink the non-alcoholic beer. You can also try some massage and pumping. Massage breast (massage breast and nipple, jiggle, shake) for 5 minutes then pump for 5 minutes then massage 2 minutes then pump 5 minutes then massage 2 minutes, pump 5 minutes massage 2 minutes and pump for 5 more minutes. Try pumping every 2 hours during the day. The amount that you are getting out by pumping is a normal amount of milk to express.
Smoking does not help milk supply. There is a small amount of nicotine that is expressed through the breast milk. If you are going to smoke the best thing to do is to smoke right after pumping or nursing. This way the nicotine is at the lowest level the next time you are ready to feed again.