Feeding the preterm infant after discharge.

In recent years, much attention has been focused on enhancing the nutritional support of very preterm infants to improve both survival and quality of life. In most countries throughout the world, preterm infants tend to be discharged from hospital earlier than the expected term for economic and other reasons. The question has arisen whether such infants might require special nutritional regimens or special discharge formulas. Since nutrition during hospitalization tends to improve, thereby reducing acquired nutrition deficit, the question of the systematic use of specially designed nutrient-enriched discharge formulas should be questioned. Recommendations for feeding the preterm infant after hospital discharge are made keeping in mind that the goal in nourishing preterm infants after discharge should be to promote human milk feeding, minimize nutrient deficits, promptly address these deficits once identified, and avoid over-nourishing or promoting postnatal growth acceleration once nutrient deficits have been corrected.