My first daughter was slightly premmie and was in nicu for 9 days too... She had an NG tube for the first 5-6 days and they said she had to be able to go 48 hrs not necessarily gaining weight, but not losing it feeding without her tube... I wanted to breastfeed her so badly, but got very discouraged because She couldn't latch and so I gave in and as long as she was getting breastmilk, I didn't care if it was via breast or bottle... At each feeding, I would try to get her to latch, the nurses helped and we even got a lactation consultant to help too... Once we were almost at the 48 hr mark with bottles, I tried one more time, just for the hell of it, expecting yet another failed latch... And she got it, for the first time she latched, and with slight repositioning we had our first breastfeed...... It can be very frustrating, but don't give up... It's a skill that you both need to learn, and it's worth it....

You could also try a nipper sheild

Yes I try at every feeding to do breast first and than bottle of breast milk after. In the nicu I worked with a lactation nurse too and my daughter started to latch but she just wont stay on . Its like she knows the bottle flows faster so she doesn't wanna work for the breast milk from the boob. Im still trying to breast feed like I said before every feeding but it has been so difficult . Im afraid she just isn't ever going to nurse and just always prefer the bottle. Maybe as she gets a little older it will get easier for her ?