what happens?! I mean, I realise not much immediatly but I keep reading about cutting out bottles, swapping bottles with beakers, things they should be doing and eating and Im getting mildly confused.

Brooke has been referred to the dietician now because she is STILL only 14lb at 11 months bless her. We are still under the peadiatrician because she is off the chart with her weight and height (waaaaaay under the 0.4th centile) -she is incredibly small for her age and doesnt eat much at all. she's never been a big milk drinker either-however she has ALWAYS been the same so Im not worried at all.

At the moment, she is cutting out her morning bottle so she is left with a bottle at 5.30am, a bottle at 3.00pm and 7pm before bed-then obviously 3 varied meals a day.

Im trying to encourage her to have a snack in between her breakfast and her lunch of some fruit and a beaker of cows milk or formula but she's having none of it.

Whats everyone else doing or working towards?! Im pretty much just guessing at the moment but because she's so small and only 9 months corrected I dont know whether I SHOULD be cutting out milk/bottles yet and introducing beakers?!

Sorry for long rambly post-can you tell im confused?!

I can't answer your questions, but I will be following the answers closely - I suspect Andrew is going to be a tiny baby same as Brooke, he's way below the chart too!

Hey Donna,

I totally understand where your coming from. OK I don't have the worry about Archie's size but I am still confused on when to cut out bottles etc. Archie has onc when he wakes up, one before bed and one at 2.30pm. I tried to cut the latter one out but he started wakening during the night so he obviously still needs it. I have been trying to get Archie to drink from a cup but he's not liking it..I think the nursery will help with that - he starts in two weeks time.

Its so hard having a prem babies, so many questions with not a lot of places to get answers from.

It is a guessing game but I always go by the corrected age. xxx

^^ do you think so? so I should be looking at what a 9month old is doing instead?! Its sooooooo confusing, because she's doing everything developmentaly that an 11month old should be (I think?!) but her weight means that the food side of it is a real worry.

I asked the peadiatrician yesterday what she thought and she said that honestly she didnt know either, so thats why she has been referred

Thanks for the input ladies Im thinking that this guessing game is the way forward! Oh, and Marleys mum, Ill let you know what I decide / what works when I figure it out!!!

I am going to go by corrected age otherwise I get so confused! Our weaning onto solids is not going too well as Emily seems to only want to eat Carrot puree (this after 6 weeks) am not panicking just yet as she is only 4 months corrected (7 months actual). If I am still in this position in 3 months time (7 months corrected, 10 months actual) where she is still refusing Stage 2 foods then I will seek advice. She stills loves her milk.
Emily is on four bottle feeds and two small puree meals.
I don't want to rush her as she was pushed so hard in the unit (time off CPAP, increased feeds, etc) I want to let the her go at her own pace now.

At the end of the day it is your choice and you need to do what feels right for you and Brooke.
Agree with Dona, there is just no great advice out there for Preemie mums that is why these forums are priceless.

Good luck whatever you decide.

x

Millie is also off the charts, she only weighs 7lb 11oz at five months old (nearly two months corrected).
Weaning at the moment sems like a minefield. She is five months old but the size of your average newborn, even thinking about starting to wean seems wrong, but I know that if I am to go by what bliss says I ought to be considering it in the near future.

Just to make things more confusing, when I questioned the neo-natal unit and Millie's consultant about it shortly before discharge, they said it was not something I would need to to in the near-future.....totally contradicting the advice from Bliss!

Like Marleysgirl will be watching this thread with interest!

Im even more confused now LOL!

I wasn't a preemie, but my Mum apparently started slowly weaning me from 3 weeks old, with mushed banana and milk/rusk mixture!

I dont know what Im meant to be doing, but Im just kind if following Mollys lead. At the moment she is having a bottle in the morning and before bed, and 3 meals (sometimes two as she doesnt always eat breakfast). I'm thinking about cutting out the morning bottle as she woont often eat breakfast but then she wont be having much milk as she will only have it out of a bottle and only at those 2 times . She has a little bit of juice from a sippy cup throughout the day but will only have about an oz if that. She cant really drink well enough out of a sippy cup to make it worth while having milk in it anyways.

Oooh god how confusing is this?!?!?

I'm getting the feeling we should just forget about ages and go with the flow, when it comes to feeding and weaning!

Sherryberry I was told by neonatal to wean now (13 weeks corrected) yet HV is dead against it.

Like I mentioned in previous thread, HVs and such go by books but Bliss is a 30 year old charity, who were around at the time when I was a 29 week preemie, so i am inclined to trust their advice on feeding!

But that could all go to pot because our preemies are all so different not just to full term babies, but to each other too!