Feeding a baby food for the first time is a challenge. Feeding a preemie food for the first time seems almost impossible. It took us months to get where we are today, but B is finally actually eating purees!
Our journey started on a feeding tube. After 4 months in the NICU and weeks of trying, B was able to finally take a bottle. It wasn’t a smooth process once she started though! Our feeding journey never has been great and we even still are having issues. B is now drinking 7oz total…but she isn’t keeping it down. She seems to spit everything back up each time. We have used formula specifically for spit up, we have put rice in her bottles, we keep her upright for about 30 minutes after a feeding, we try to burp her each ounce, but nothing is changing. Our pediatrician has now set up appointments for us to see a Gastrointestinal Doctor and an Endocrinologist. We soonest we can get into them is two months away. So until then, we are working on what we can!
When B was 6 months actual 3 months adjusted, our pediatrician gave us the okay to start solids. We were so excited to start giving her purees in hopes that they would help her with gaining weight and not spitting up. That was not the case. It took us 3 months to even get her to eat food without just pushing out. B has a very strong thrust reflex, which has been a challenge since the beginning. She was never able to hold a pacifier herself, she always pushed out the bottle nipple, and then she would push out food. Three months later we finally got her to eat bananas. Yes, I know I shouldn’t start her on fruits, but that was the first thing that she actually would swallow. Now she is eating green beans, rice, and Oatmeal.
So how did we do this? Lots of practice! Our infant development team explained to us that instead of scooping the food onto the roof of her mouth (like we have all been taught before) that I should place the spoon on her tongue and let her figure out how to get the food off the spoon herself. After three months of practice, she finally started to suck the food off the spoon. From there she quickly picked up biting the spoon, and now she is actually eating everything! The key is to keep trying, and lots of patience. Practice! Practice! Practice! Don’t start with a while bowl full of rice. They won’t eat it all. I have slowly been increasing the amount I make the more she wants it.
However, our feeding journey is not over yet. We still have the GI doctor appointments and later on introducing her to non puree foods. Small steps! A preemie moms job is tough. All moms jobs are tough. We just have a bit more of a challenge and a bit more time before milestones are reached. It’s hard for us to watch everyone else post about their baby’s weaning journey and their new foods they like, while we are still trying to get them to even take a bottle at six months! Not all preemie moms have the same challenges, this is just my experience. I have to remind myself that our journey was meant to be different. We needed to learn patience and we are learning. We are just happy to have her alive and well here with us. Not all preemie moms get that and my heart goes out to them!
Confessions of a Preemie Mom 