Parents experiences of feeding their extremely preterm children during the first 2‐3 years – A qualitative study

Aim To describe parents of extremely preterm children experiences regarding feeding of their children during the first 3 years of the child's life. Methods This is a qualitative study involving interviews conducted with 12 parents of nine children who had been cared for at one neonatal intensive care unit in Sweden. The interviews were conducted between May and September 2018; the data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results All parents experienced some difficulties with their child's eating development and described feeding their child as sometimes both difficult and frustrating. Variation in when these difficulties arose made it hard for the parents to obtain the individual support they wanted and needed. Parents experienced a need for more support – from both staff members and parents with similar experiences – during and after their child's stay at the NICU. Conclusion All parents participating in the study experienced difficulties during some phase of their child's feeding development. They expressed the need for more specialised support both during and after their child's time at the hospital.