The Late Pre Term Baby

Called the Great Pretenders!
They look normal and can initially be doing well, only to crash a little later.
If they are not immediate need of the NICU due to immature lungs, poor oxygenation, or increased effort of breathing, be alert to the fact they can still have more trouble with:

Jaundice – because their liver is immature
Temperature – often because they have less body fat to generate warmth, but also an immature nervous system that is unable to regulate the body temp and feeding challenges with an unstable glucose
Glucose – the immature liver and the feeding challenges can both effect how stable a preterm baby’s glucose is

Feeding – these babies can eat normally at first, then not have the stamina or they can look as if they are feeding well but not transferring any milk. This can manifest as not maintaining latch or not generating enough negative pressure to trigger milk flow. Even though sucking is observed. It can show up as difficulty with coordinating suck/swallow/breathe. They are also sleepier than their term counterparts which means they may be feeding less often. So, too, the normal and expected weight loss is more serious in a baby who doesn’t have as much weight to begin with.

All of these systems are intertwined and can domino the others.
What to do? If your baby is stable, start with the skin to skin contact that is so vital to all babies’ neurodevelopment and gut health.
A late preterm baby should be allowed to go through the nine stages, but may need a little assistance getting to the breast and latching.
A latch and feeding assessment by an IBCLC as soon as possible after delivery would be ideal.
You can use breast compressions while nursing to help with milk transfer.
Start hand expression after each feed, then giving baby any expressed colostrum by an alternative method to make sure baby is getting enough intake.
If you “wear” your baby skin to skin, they don’t have to expend as many calories to stay warm and it helps them stabilize faster.