My fourth baby was a preemie and I pumped for him for several months and eventually got him nursing, which was wonderful! And then a few months later I was….pregnant again!….and lost my milk supply.

It was very hard to not be able to nurse my preemie any more, and worried about him through RSV season since he did not have all those wonderful breastfeeding health benefits.

I think the best things I did in spite of not being able to nurse were to do all the cuddly things that I would have done even if I had been breastfeeding still. Hold him when he ate, slept next to him, and just made the feeding process as nurturing as possible.

It can be really hard to have breastfeeding be out of reach, but you can still love and nurture your little one no matter what!

I can tell you that my preemie is now 7 years old, and he’s been just as healthy as my other 5 children.