Janet, It is not umcommon for premature infants to be fed watered down milks for early feeds and/or after some sort of gastrointestinal insult. It is also common in my area (Maryland, US) for the ratio of milk to sterile water to gradually increase over a period of days. I admit I have only seen this done with formula, but it could be the neonatologist is thinking along these lines but not generalizing it to EBM. I fail to see any reason why, if this infant needs say 1/4 strength milk, or 1/2 strength, etc... that EBM could not also be diluted. Carla D'Anna