I dont know where to post this querry..so am posting it here.. this for a friend of mine as she is very busy handling the baby all alone in UK..she is unable to ask these personally.
my friend has given birth to a baby boy(normal delivery) on 7th of this month.. she was due on 21st december.. so the baby is 2 weeks premature.. though the baby is absolutely fine but the weight of the baby is 5 pounds.. had he been little less he wud have been considered a underweight baby ..my friend is little concern about the health of the baby as the baby is very small and delicate.. plus she is unable to breast feed her as there is no milk formation due to some hereditery problems in her family.. her mom was unable to feed her and her siblings when they were born due to the same reason.. so currently baby is on infant milk suggested by the mid wife here in UK.. what she wants to know is what can she do to help the baby gain some weight and since he is very small can that by any means hamper the growth of the child for the coming months.??
is there any special precaution she needs to take for him? thankfully till date the baby is drinking the infant milk properly and there has not been any health issues so far.. except the baby was born with slight jaundice to which the doctor said that thats quite normal and he will recover by himself very soon..
if u can tell me what to do in this case i will convey ur msg to her..
thanks once again
Catch_sb Hetal replied. if the milk formation is due to hereditery problems, it is unlikely that after pumping and eating all good foods, the milk formation happens..
prduction of milk dpends on health of the body and whether or not its in body capacity to produce milk,,irrespective of diet or sucking/suction from breastpump or baby.
now it further depends on what hereditry problems your friend is having ! if the body is sufferng from something that is related to hormones thn its not safe for mother to bf her child ! irrespective of supply.
if the genetc probs is in particular organ,mostly like in breast, lungs,or ne related to upper part of body,,thn its not advisable for mother to bf the baby,,irrespective of knowledge.
if the probs are related to breast,or montgomery glands thn its unlikely that mother will be able to breastfeed !
if woman is sufferng from ne uterus related probs,,thn its unlikely that mother will be able to breastfeed..however it depnds on the malfunction of uterus and its contractns....

about wght gain,
the child can gain good wght with watever he is fed on,,if the child is PRETERM(not premature),,thn preterm babies are able to gain wght or let me say that they are able to get to normal conditions by the time they reach 3months of thr life.
however, it dpends on whether or not baby was born early due to ne complication related to grwth, and mother havng certain hormonal probs.
the other thing is if the baby is declared premature,thn she is likely to come to normal conditions by 3-6 or in some cases the developmental stages are acc to 1month less time gap,,which means even if physically they are healthy enough to cope with,,it is likely that mentally or thr developments are slow..

right now, your friends baby is only one food that is infant formula, and that being the only sole nutrition of her baby,,there is no other alternative that can be tried or tested on such a delicate baby..feed him well, make sure he is not havng ne other infections,,and it should go smooth..
once you start solids,,may be we can frame his diet in accordnce to his present health conditions and its likely that it will help him gain more wght.
apart from that, to keep the body healthy,,the other things that can be done are a good massage with ne good pure oil(ask dr in case of preterm/premature baby, about the oil application/type of oil,,let me suggest one ),,and a good hygne should help him grw healthy.

hope this answers !
good luck
lakshmi replied. hi,

When my son was born, even i did not have any breast milk. So, i rented the breast pump from the hospital and started pumping every 2 hrs. My son was on formula until i was able to breasttfeed him. I stopped pumping when the milk was fully established.
Ask ur friend to do the same.Tell her to drink lot of liquids.

hope this helps