Breastfeeding a premature baby

by Theresa
(Charlotte NC )

My daughter was born 7 weeks early. I was not sure if I would be able to breastfeed my daughter. I had to start by pumping to get my milk in. I insisted that the nurses not feed her with a bottle, I had them feed my milk through a tube the feeding that I was not there. It was a difficult time, she was very small and it would take an hour to feed her. I remember times were I would try all I could to get her to eat, and after weighing her finding out that she had not even gotten an ounce of milk. Many times i thought that it would just be easier to give in and feed her formula, but I worked through it. Eventually she and I became a pro at breastfeeding and I continued until she was a year old.

And I am so glad I did, and here is why: When she was born I was told that she would probably have health issues and that she would never be on track of a normal kid her age. By a year old she was over the 50 percentile for height and weight. She had only gotten sick once that year. And now my daughter is 4 yrs old and has never had the flu, an ear infection, an eye infection, or anything worse then a 24 hour cold. Breastfeeding helped the health of my daughter. I just had a son and I will also breastfeed him for the first year because I have seen the benefits and would not want to take that away from him by giving him formula.