What did you feed baby before your milk came in?

[wencit]

I've read a couple different breastfeeding books (So That's What They're For & Nursing Mother's Companion), and I haven't been able to find a good answer to this question, so I thought I'd turn to the REAL experts.

I talked to two close friends who have had babies recently and were committed to breastfeeding. However, it took a while for their milk to come in (2-3 days). In the meantime, their babies were screaming bloody murder, and both of their mothers were yelling at them to give the babies some formula because they were "starving their grandchildren." Needless to say, both of my friends were terribly distressed during this time, even though they stuck to their guns and refused to give their babies any formula. They both felt like terrible mothers and thought their babies were dying of thirst and hunger.

I would like to know what to do in this situation. I know the books say that colostrum is all the baby needs in its first few hours, but is that really true? I don't know that *I* could go for 3 days without food or water, let alone a little baby. Is it OK to give the baby formula, or would that jeopardize the nursing relationship, as both my friends feared?

By the way, both of them are now successfully nursing their babies, but I would like to avoid the stress and confusion both of them went through! Thanks!

[nfowife]

Actually, the colostrum is plenty for your baby for the first few *days*. Your baby is born with fat stores that he/she will use along with the colostrum until your milk comes in. It really is true! If you give your baby a bottle that early in the game, IMO (and many experts' as well) you are getting off to a rocky start. You don't want baby to get nipple confusion that early in the game. The most important thing you can do to get your milk to come in as quickly as possible is to nurse your baby as much as possible- the more your baby sucks, the more she is stimulating your breasts to make breastmilk. Simple as that. So all you need to remember is to nurse, nurse, nurse in those early days! And get some books on breastfeeding now so you have a resource for info. Also it would be handy to get the name of a lactation consultant you can call early on with questions or problems, and definitely call the hospital you are delivering at and find out what type of breastfeeding support they offer.
My milk didn't come in until Day 5 (DD was born on Monday night, and my milk was in on Saturday) and I did have to supplement for about 5 feedings on Friday due to DD having severe jaundice (her bili level was 25) and not having enough pees and poops to get it out (she was admitted to the hospital for phototherapy for 3 days and I was with her in our own room so we could continue nursing). I was so heartbroken about it but fortunately the hospital and ped were very pro-BF and did whatever they could to minimize the formula feeds- they'd weigh her before and after I nursed her and then me or my DH would cup feed DD 1-2 oz. of formula. I even started pumping colostrum to cup feed DD so she had the minimal amount of formula. The next day my milk came in and we discontinued the supplemental feeds. So while I do think that supplements have a place, they aren't necessary in general at all. And if they are used, you should use a cup or syringe so there is no chance of nipple confusion.

[Rachels]

It's NORMAL for milk to take three days or so to come in. It's normal. Colostrum, which is what the baby gets in those first few days, is absolutley packed with antibodies, and it works especially well to help the baby pass the meconium. It's a perfect system, and it's what babies need.

Formula in the first few days is not a good idea. The more babies nurse and suck, the better in terms of bringing milk in. Also, formula, even a little bit, changes the baby's intestinal flora in ways that can be damaging.

Here's some info on normal nursing in the first week and on how milk production in the very beginning works:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/ne...ing.html#week1
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

The other thing to consider is latch. In order to actually GET the colostrum (and thus feel more comfortable), the baby needs to have a good, strong latch. If the baby isn't latching well, that will affect how much she can draw from the breast. Having the numbers of SEVERAL LCs is really worth it.

Kudos to your friends for sticking to their guns and doing what was best for their babies!


-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02
New baby coming in October!
(Holy smokes, it's a boy!!!)


"When you know better, you do better."
Maya Angelou
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...ethyst_36m.gif
Nursed for three years!

[kim_d]

I will let you my experience FWIW. I ended up supplementing with formula for the first week or so with my DD. I was in an unusual situation,though, my milk didn't come in until day 8. I was given a SNS when I was discharged from the hospital.

My DD was a good size baby (8lb 3oz) and had a great latch from the onset and was getting very upset that she wasn't getting anything from the breast. We used the SNS every feeding or every other (with about an ounce of formula) and as soon as my milk came in we stopped using it. It still took her over 2 weeks to gained her birthweight back, so I can't imagine what would have happened if we didn't supplement that first week.

We are still breastfeeding 10.5 months later with no need for supplementing.

I think everyone's situation is different, but if you *have* to supplement in the first few days use a SNS or syringe.

Kim
Mom to Liam Boyer (11.29.02) 7
Jameson Keelyn (10.28.04)

[lizajane]

my milk didn't come in until day 5. schuyler was 9lbs 9.5 oz at birth and never went below 9lbs. by 8 days old, he weighed 10lbs 2oz. i just nursed him constantly that first week. every 2 hours or more often. just be prepared to nurse ALL THE TIME. don't let anyone give you a TIME to nurse, just let your baby keep sucking as long as s/he wants to-even if asleep. it is HARD that first week when you are tired and you want to let someone else take over for a while. but if you can get through it, you will be SO glad you did!

[inmypjs]

Here was my experience:

Like you, I read books and went to the BF class. I was committed to nursing, knew about colostrum, and knew that lots of nursing would help my milk come in.

My son was born around 8:00am and slept most of that day. When the night came, I nursed him every hour, because that's how often he seemed to want to eat. He cried a lot and would even cry and act hungry after long nursing sessions. The next day the hourly nursing continued and by that night I was just so exhausted. I hadn't slept in almost 3 days. Now I realize that exhaustion is part of being a new mom, but I wasn't functioning. Factor in the hormones and it really wasn't pretty! So I made the decision (with my husband and a lactation consultant) to have my baby fed formula via a syringe so I could get some rest. I later found out that he was given a bottle by mistake...

After I slept some, I resumed nursing and used a Medela supplemental feeder given to me by the lactation consultant. This is the device with the small tube taped to your nipple, so when he nursed my son got colostrum and formula. I only used it a few times, because my milk came in on day 4. I thought it was helpful, because I still nursed a lot and my son was more satisfed. There was a lot less crying and more rest by all.

I think it's really an individual choice. I respect what others said about not using formula or bottles, but I would consider them for any other babies I have (this was my first). It just depends on how things go. As far as nipple confusion is concerned, I have 1 girlfriend who gave all of her 5 kids bottles at the hospital and then successfully BF for 6+ mos. I know another woman whose baby had a lot of difficulty BF after having only 1 bottle. I suspect that depends on the baby.

These are just my thoughts and opinions.. Good luck to you! By the way, my son is now 10 months old and we are still BF. He hasn't had any formula since those first days.

[tarahsolazy]

I think that lots of women get bad breastfeeding advice from lots of sources, including their doctors. Especially advice about feeding the baby every X hours, for X minutes. If a babe is crying or rooting and will latch on, nurse them, as often as possible, for as long as they will stay awake!

My milk volume really seemed to increase on day 3 or so, and the night before that, my son was nursing for 30 minutes every hour for about 6 hours. That seemed pretty normal to me, and to the doctors and nurses at the hospital, in the state with the highest BF rates in the country.

A friend in another part of the country was told that the frequent nursing meant the baby needed formula, from the nurse in the hospital! (She's a ped herself, and educated the nurse right there)

Nursing can be stressful and confusing in the first days, since we have lost the tradition of nursing in our country. I hope that for every one of us that nurses, there is one of our daughters for whom there is less stress, cause they have back-up!

Some babes may need supplements in the first days/weeks, but those should be given under doctor's orders, for serious weight loss reasons, and ideally by at the breast supplementers, like the SNS or Lact-Aid. Personally, I'd also choose hydrolyzed formula, like Nutramigen, Alimentum, or Pregestamil.

[COElizabeth]

Erica,

If you follow this link from the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, you can download a PDF file with that organization's protocol on supplementation. It talks quite a bit about what circumstances do and do not necessitate supplements in the first few days of life. The ABM is also in the process of writing at least one new protocol related to the subject (management of hypoglycemia), so you might check back for more info if you need it again. Oh, and not to be too nasty, but you can assure your friends that yelling grandmothers are most definitely not on the list of medical reasons to supplement! :)

http://www.bfmed.org/protocols.html

HTH.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
and Charlotte, 11-04-04

[Karenn]

My DD had formula when she was in the hospital. She's gone on to nurse just fine, but I don't think that formula helped our nursing relationship at all.

One of the night nurses decided that my DD needed the formula because she hadn't nursed enough. In my post partum exhaustion, I didn't have the nerve to stand up to her even though I was fairly certain she was wrong. So they filled my DD up with a lot of formula. Because my baby was so full of formula, she didn't want to nurse, so they wanted to give her formula again, because she wasn't nursing. Can you see where this is headed?

If I had followed the advice of these nurses, my baby would have been completely formula fed because she would have never wanted to nurse because she was so full of formula! Fortunately, I got my senses back after the first bit of formula and told them "no more." They were worried when it was time for me to go home because DD still hadn't nursed "enough." They almost didn't let me leave, but because I had successfully nursed DS, they let me go home. DD and I parked ourselves in bed and after a day or so, she was nursing like she needed to and quickly gained back her birth weight. Those links from Kellymom were what got us through.

[ett]

>
>I think it's really an individual choice. I respect what
>others said about not using formula or bottles, but I would
>consider them for any other babies I have (this was my first).
> It just depends on how things go. As far as nipple confusion
>is concerned, I have 1 girlfriend who gave all of her 5 kids
>bottles at the hospital and then successfully BF for 6+ mos.
>I know another woman whose baby had a lot of difficulty BF
>after having only 1 bottle. I suspect that depends on the
>baby.

I agree. It's an individual choice and it also depends on the baby. My DS had jaundice and we had to supplement with formula/pumped breastmilk while he was getting the light treatment in the hospital. He probably only had less than 6 oz of formula total; the rest was milked I pumped. We alternated between nursing and bottle feeding and gradually weaned toward just nursing over the course of the first several weeks. Giving him the bottle did not jeopardize our nursing relationship as we breastfed until 18 months.