i have a newborn and a question?

Question

i had my baby at 8 months and a week and when she comes home should i breast feed or freeze breast milk and feed her that? by the way any one who wants to know her name it is joshlyn tess.

by freeze i mean in my freezer

Answer 1

Your milk will come in no matter how early you deliver, My milk (colostrum) came in at 4mos. (thanks to my hubby feeling the need to test it LOL) Breast feeding is the best way to go, and I also stored up as much as I could and froze it...the extra milk came in handy when she was eating 40+oz. a day!

Also, if she has been in the hospital, you want to make sure you are pumping in the meantime...you want to have a good milk flow when your little one does come home!

Answer 2

You should start breast feeding now at the Nic unit. You can rent a pump through a company the hospital recommends or if you are on state aid you can rent one for free through your local WIC. I froze milk and used some of it, but found it easier to use it when it was fresh. Keep in mind breast milk can sit out longer then formula. I think it's 6hrs. So you can defrost your frozen milk that way too. Breast milk will be the best thing for your little one at this time.

Answer 3

Well is she in the NICU? If she is are they allowing you to breastfeed her while you are there? Every feeding? Are they supplementing her? If they are she will be used to bottles. You can try doing breastfeeding. If she has latch on problems use a nipple shield. My son was born at 41 w 3 days and he even had trouble latching on. It works until you don't need it anymore. They tried supplementing him in the NICU (he was in the NICU for a week) with bottles. I was determined though and wouldn't let them. I breastfed him every feeding except for the first 24 hours of his life. When he was on tube feeding.

After I got to start breastfeeding him, my milk came in. I was told to pump after everyfeeding to get my supply up. Once it was in to quit pumping and only pump in the morning after his first morning feed (around 6 or 8 am). If you do more than this your making too much milk. Your baby is the best pump that there is. She will regulate you and tell your body how much milk to make. Supplementing her with bottles will only hinder your supply. She will work the whole supply & demand.

What are you doing currently? Are you BFing or are you pumping & storing. If possible at all ... try to see if you can get as many nursing sessions in as possible till she comes home. If you do dry up there are ways you can re lactate. Im not sure how though. Talk with a LC or LLL if you want more info on it ...

Hope this helps.

I know have been bfing for almost 2 months. Don't pump at all anymore unless I need to build up a supply. I have no milk saved (sucks) I am working on stocking up currently.

Answer 4

It's safe to store frozen breast milk for 3 months. My daughter was born at 25 weeks, so I had no choice but to pump and freeze. Since it's the only way I am used to, I think of it as almost "normal". So if you want to do it that way, I don't see why you couldn't. To warm up the frozen breast milk, I'd microwave a cup of water for one minute in the microwave and then drop the bag in to defrost it. If the water got too cold from the frozen bag (as it sometimes did if the bag was filled to the max), I'd just heat another cup of water the same way and put it in there. I'd transfer the milk from the bag to the bottle. I wish you luck in whatever you decide to do. I do want to tell you something though. If you want to breast feed naturally, don't put too much pressure on yourself to "do it all". I despartely tried to get my daughter to latch on and feed, while I still continued to pump every 3 hours and I just couldn't do it. I could not keep up with it. I decided to stop attempting to get her to latch on, as it just wasn't happening for her. That's when I started using my supply of milk. It lasted 8 weeks while she was home, then I switched to formula. Again, good luck!

Answer 5

In my opinion, any form of breast milk is best for that lil baby. i nursed my daughter for 18 months. My second daughter i had 2 mos ago and i was not able to nurse. she just did not get wet diapers. I found that when i let her nurse 1st one it calmed her down better and soothed her. rather than feeding her from a bottle ... also. if you do pump and feed from a bottle the lil one will have a better time taking the bottle over the nipple. less nipple confusion

Answer 6

You should do whatever you feel comfortable doing. Its great if you are planning to breastfeed, ideally that is the most perfect food for the little darling. It doesn't matter if its frozen or fresh squeezed, just make sure you don't leave it in the freezer for longer than you are supposed to.

Answer 7

you should definately breastfeed but they recommed that you do not feed the baby from a bottle until she is at least 2-4 weeks old. They are completely different nipples and you do not want to confuse your baby or have her favor one or the other. good luck with the baby

Answer 8

Nice name. I suggest you ask your doctor what you should do. If your baby can nurse from your breast I would think that would be the best way.

Answer 9

I had my first and second at 34 and 35 weeks. I breastfed them both with total success.

Congrats & hope everything works out great for little Joshlyn!!

Much Love!!

Answer 10

breast is best it worked for my premature son hes fine now .dont know about freezing it is that to store it or what and how would you bring it back to your body temperature.good luck with your child.