Premature babies are a special group that requires special care and must not be fed in a sloppy manner! So how should preterm babies be fed properly? 5 types of feeding methods for preterm infants: Breast milk: For preterm infants with birth weight > 2000 grams and no risk factors for malnutrition, breast milk is still the first choice after discharge from hospital. It is important to pay attention to the mother’s diet and nutritional balance. Breast milk + breast milk fortification: Very (ultra) low birth weight infants and those with unsatisfactory pre-discharge evaluation of nutritional status need to continue breast milk fortification until 40 weeks of gestational age. Thereafter the caloric density of breast milk fortification should be slightly lower than during hospitalization, e.g. half amount of fortification (73 kcal/100 ml), depending on the growth. Since breastfeeding is especially important for preterm babies, the mother should insist on expressing milk to the hospital every day during the baby’s hospitalization. You can freeze the breast milk if you can’t finish it, and there is no problem in 6 months. This way the mother will have more and more milk and when the baby is discharged from the hospital she can continue to have breast milk. Premature formula: artificially fed very (ultra) low birth weight babies need to be fed until 40 weeks of gestational age; if breastfeeding weight gain is not satisfactory it can be mixed (no more than 1/2 of the total daily amount of preterm formula) as a supplement to breast milk. Post-discharge formula for preterm infants: suitable for preterm infants fed artificially or as a supplement to breast milk. Infant formula: Suitable for preterm infants with birth weight > 2000 g, no risk factors for malnutrition, satisfactory weight gain after discharge from hospital, and artificial feeding or as a supplement to breast milk when breast milk is insufficient. Premature infant home care should pay attention to 7 points: 1. Prevent infection: The baby’s room should avoid too many people walking around and try not to take the baby to crowded public places. Baby’s daily necessities should be clean, baby’s room morning and evening 15 minutes each ventilation, if necessary, once a week with vinegar fumigation room. 2.Warmth: the room temperature of the baby’s room should be maintained at 26-28℃ in winter and 22-24℃ in summer, and babies weighing less than 2000 grams should not take a bath in the cold season, but can take a proper bath. 3.Feeding: Breastfeeding is preferred for premature babies after discharge from hospital, without breast milk, choose suitable milk powder for premature babies, with suitable size of nipple hole and formulated strictly according to milk powder instructions. Bottles and nipples should be cleaned and disinfected each time. If the baby eats milk well, you can increase the amount of milk for the baby by 5-10 ml each time every day, and supplement vitamin C, vitamin E, calcium and cod liver oil from 2 weeks after birth until 2 years old. 4, touch: preterm babies are born with low life skills, poor resistance, plus sudden changes in the environment outside the womb, often not easy to adapt, more eager to be touched or hugged tightly. The clinical pediatrician said that the mother’s body temperature is much better than the warm box, preterm infants in the mother’s arms body temperature will gradually rise, if the preterm infant is uncomfortable or sick, the mother or medical staff timely touch will make the crying child calm down, very conducive to disease recovery. 5, sports: pediatricians believe that the more preterm babies move, the smarter they are. After the baby was born, a warm bath can be considered the first exercise class of life, and conditions for the little baby to swim is also a better way to exercise. 6, careful observation: because premature babies are not fully developed organism to this world, the body function may be affected by some, so if found “different from the usual look”, should pay attention in time to avoid delaying the disease. 7, pay attention to physical examination: after the premature baby is discharged from the hospital, the mother should regularly take him to the children’s health care institutions for physical, nutritional and other examinations, within 6 months of age once a month after discharge, 6 to 12 months of age once every two months, 1 to 2 years of age once every three months, in order to timely detection of deficiencies in parenting, to promote the healthy development of the baby. Regularly measure the infant’s weight and observe the infant’s weight gain to determine whether the amount of milk is adequate. Infants should generally be weighed once a month or once every two months, and a healthy infant should gain 500 grams to 1,000 grams of weight each month. If an infant is not gaining enough weight, he or she may not be eating enough milk or may be ill, and the cause should be carefully sought and, if necessary, checked at the hospital.