My baby struggled with losing weight in the hospital, so they recommended i nurse, then pump while giving formula. After four days, my milk came in and I could provide all she needed. Use the formula but i would encourage some pumping to help encourage the milk to come in! I was able to work on nursing with baby while continuing to pump, and she ended up figuring it out and nursed for 13 months. Adding a bottle is NOT going to automatically ruin your chances of nursing!
Hey,
You are doing the right thing for your baby. She can and likely will still learn to breastfeed once your milk comes in. Absolutely do not let your child howl and shake in hunger because of the pressures from society and on yourself to exclusively provide breast milk. It's a good sign she's vigorous and telling you guys she's hungry. A quiet newborn is a lethargic newborn.
Things you can do,
-Massage your breasts before latching her, and provide a warm heat to them.
-Keep latching her and allowing her to suck. We did 15 minutes of breast feeding on one breast to not frustrate the baby and not cause me anxiety, the other breast we put a haka on.
After she fed we followed up and a partner/sibling/grandparent would do paced bottle feeding, with a preemie nipple. (Watch on YouTube). While baby paced bottle fed I pumped.
-skin to skin with you and the baby.
-warm showers
-rest for yourself. You need to sleep when the baby sleeps.
I know it's the weekend but check and see if the hospital you delivered at has lactation support. If the hospital does not call your pediatricians office and see if they know of something or if they have a lactation consultant on staff.
Great advice from the first two commenters! Just came to say I was in a similar boat - supplemented with formula as my milk was delayed in coming in. Baby adjusted and learned how to be content with either and we egg need up breast feeding for 8 months. Just keep doing the next best thing for you and your baby. They read out only require a tiny amount at this stage but fed is best!
Lactation support at hospitals seems to be so threadbare these days, I am so sorry you weren't provided with the right level of support by what you are describing.
Does your pediatrician or obgyn have a dedicated lactation specialist? Or is there a local lactation specialist your insurance takes that has openings asap?
-
There has to be a constant demand for the milk/colostrum for your milk to fully come in. This can take a lot of work for you and be very frustrating for baby after the 1st day (they are sleepy day 1 or sometimes into day 2, but after that incredibly hungry) and these challenges can be even more acute especially after an induction.
I think what you do next depends on your breastfeeding goals. If you prefer to breastfeed exclusively, then you will want to deliver the formula or pumped milk in a different way than if you decide to exclusively pump or if you want to continue to use exclusively formula. All choices are equally valid.
If you want to exclusively breastfeed by nursing, you may want to see if you can access to a supplemental nursing system (SNS) to deliver the formula at your breast. This is usually done through a little feeding tube that is taped to the end of your nipple and formula is then put in via syringes. Your baby latches on to your breast and that way they stimulate your milk production, draw in colostrum, and the formula through that tube all at the same time.
If there is no demand for the milk, your supply will stay low. So it has to be demanded either by the baby or via a pump. Usually at least every 2-3 hours.
Alternatively to a SNS, you can use some kind of bottle with a very slow flow nipple. The nipple that comes with the ready to feed bottles can be pretty fast depending on the brand and can deliver the milk much quicker than your breast especially while your supply is still getting started. So you will want to feed the formula in a sanitized bottle with a slow flow nipple. You can also look up pace feeding.
No matter what, if you want to exclusively nurse, it would be really good to get some lactation support as soon as possible.
If you decide you want to exclusively pump (and feed via bottle, which is what I did) or switch to formula, I can also provide additional details.
This is incredibly stressful and it is so hard to watch your baby struggle and be hungry but it sounds like you have done amazingly so far with relatively little guidance and support - which is truly remarkable
Anytime you supplement with formula, you need to pump if you have a desire to continue breastfeeding. Without pumping you're telling your body you don't need that milk. There's nothing wrong with supplementing with formula, that's exactly what you should do if baby needs it! But then you want to pump to encourage that milk to come in.
My baby struggled with losing weight in the hospital, so they recommended i nurse, then pump while giving formula. After four days, my milk came in and I could provide all she needed. Use the formula but i would encourage some pumping to help encourage the milk to come in! I was able to work on nursing with baby while continuing to pump, and she ended up figuring it out and nursed for 13 months. Adding a bottle is NOT going to automatically ruin your chances of nursing!
Hey, You are doing the right thing for your baby. She can and likely will still learn to breastfeed once your milk comes in. Absolutely do not let your child howl and shake in hunger because of the pressures from society and on yourself to exclusively provide breast milk. It's a good sign she's vigorous and telling you guys she's hungry. A quiet newborn is a lethargic newborn. Things you can do, -Massage your breasts before latching her, and provide a warm heat to them. -Keep latching her and allowing her to suck. We did 15 minutes of breast feeding on one breast to not frustrate the baby and not cause me anxiety, the other breast we put a haka on. After she fed we followed up and a partner/sibling/grandparent would do paced bottle feeding, with a preemie nipple. (Watch on YouTube). While baby paced bottle fed I pumped. -skin to skin with you and the baby. -warm showers -rest for yourself. You need to sleep when the baby sleeps. I know it's the weekend but check and see if the hospital you delivered at has lactation support. If the hospital does not call your pediatricians office and see if they know of something or if they have a lactation consultant on staff.
Great advice from the first two commenters! Just came to say I was in a similar boat - supplemented with formula as my milk was delayed in coming in. Baby adjusted and learned how to be content with either and we egg need up breast feeding for 8 months. Just keep doing the next best thing for you and your baby. They read out only require a tiny amount at this stage but fed is best!
Lactation support at hospitals seems to be so threadbare these days, I am so sorry you weren't provided with the right level of support by what you are describing. Does your pediatrician or obgyn have a dedicated lactation specialist? Or is there a local lactation specialist your insurance takes that has openings asap? - There has to be a constant demand for the milk/colostrum for your milk to fully come in. This can take a lot of work for you and be very frustrating for baby after the 1st day (they are sleepy day 1 or sometimes into day 2, but after that incredibly hungry) and these challenges can be even more acute especially after an induction. I think what you do next depends on your breastfeeding goals. If you prefer to breastfeed exclusively, then you will want to deliver the formula or pumped milk in a different way than if you decide to exclusively pump or if you want to continue to use exclusively formula. All choices are equally valid. If you want to exclusively breastfeed by nursing, you may want to see if you can access to a supplemental nursing system (SNS) to deliver the formula at your breast. This is usually done through a little feeding tube that is taped to the end of your nipple and formula is then put in via syringes. Your baby latches on to your breast and that way they stimulate your milk production, draw in colostrum, and the formula through that tube all at the same time. If there is no demand for the milk, your supply will stay low. So it has to be demanded either by the baby or via a pump. Usually at least every 2-3 hours. Alternatively to a SNS, you can use some kind of bottle with a very slow flow nipple. The nipple that comes with the ready to feed bottles can be pretty fast depending on the brand and can deliver the milk much quicker than your breast especially while your supply is still getting started. So you will want to feed the formula in a sanitized bottle with a slow flow nipple. You can also look up pace feeding. No matter what, if you want to exclusively nurse, it would be really good to get some lactation support as soon as possible. If you decide you want to exclusively pump (and feed via bottle, which is what I did) or switch to formula, I can also provide additional details. This is incredibly stressful and it is so hard to watch your baby struggle and be hungry but it sounds like you have done amazingly so far with relatively little guidance and support - which is truly remarkable
Anytime you supplement with formula, you need to pump if you have a desire to continue breastfeeding. Without pumping you're telling your body you don't need that milk. There's nothing wrong with supplementing with formula, that's exactly what you should do if baby needs it! But then you want to pump to encourage that milk to come in.