My Baby’s Nutritional Needs

In the beginning, very tiny premature (ELBW and VLBW) babies cannot suck, swallow and breathe well enough to meet their needs. This is why your baby’s first calories will be given through an intravenous line (IV). Your baby may also be fed breast milk or special premature baby formula via a fine tube through her or his nose or mouth into the stomach.

Using intravenous IV lines and tubes for feeding has worked well for thousands of babies. You might think that the tubes in your baby’s throat or into the veins could cause her or him pain or discomfort, but they do not. Any discomfort just lasts for a moment or two while the tube is first placed into your baby.

Your breast milk will provide your baby with nutrition to fit most of her or his needs. If no breast milk is available, your baby will receive a special formula for premature infants. Nutrition, through IV lines and/or through tubes, will be balanced and adjusted to what works best for her or him. As your baby grows, the natural suck and swallow reflexes will develop. Then your baby will be able to breastfeed, or if you choose, to bottle-feed.

Breast milk provides the best nutrition for your baby. It provides important nutrients that a premature infant needs to grow and also provides protection against infections. Some of the nutrients and protective agents in breast milk are not available in premature infant formulas. Even if you were not planning to breastfeed, it is important for your baby that you produce breast milk by expressing your breasts with an electric breast pump. This milk will be fed to your baby through a feeding tube or by bottle.

The nurses can explain to you how to pump, store, and transport your breast milk properly. You will need to start expressing (pumping) milk from your breasts soon after giving birth. It is important to try and express your breast milk at least 6-8 times a day. When your baby starts to feed from your breast, work out a feeding plan with your baby’s nurse. It is important to find the right combination of breastfeeding and pumping to ensure that there is a sufficient supply of breast milk to meet your baby’s needs. It is important that your baby is feeding well at your breast before discharge.

When your baby comes home, you may have to continue to pump breast milk once or twice a day to ensure that you continue to have enough milk during the first weeks after discharge.