What did you feed baby before your milk came in?

[kath68]

A friend of mine had a baby a few weeks ago. The baby lost about 1 lb in the first few days before her milk came in. Her ped (normally very pro bf'ing -- I know because he is my ped, too) told her to supplement with formula, just the smallest amount -- a 1/2 oz once a day -- until her milk came in. But the only reason why was the exreme weight loss. The baby is doing fine and is totally on BM now.

Colustrum is plenty nutritious and *designed* to tide the baby over for the period before your milk comes in, even for several days (it is common for milk to come in 3-5 days after birth), so barring extreme circumstances you don't need to supplement. You just have to nurse frequently.

But you are doing great already; educating yourself on what will be going on in your body and your baby's body will give you a lot of confidence and conviction to do what you know is right. Good luck!

[VClute]

You've gotten lots of great advice here, Mama. Just thought I'd share what we did:

DS was born on a Monday. We latched on for the first time within one hour of his birth (probably more like a half hour) He wasn't interested much at that time (only on for about 5 minutes) but about 2 hours later, he stayed on for 40 minutes! On Tuesday, I would have to wake him up to get him to nurse. On Wednesday, the same thing UNTIL we got home. Then he nursed almost non-stop until (FINALLY!) my milk came in Thursday morning. We took DS to his newborn checkup Thursday morning and he had lost a pound. But that is NORMAL. (He was 10.5 pounds at birth, and up to 10 percent loss is considered ok.) So I wasn't worried. By 1 week, he was back to his birthweight. The growth spurts were hellish, as was thrush and sore nipples, but I'm so glad we hung in there because BFing is so EASY now!

Full-term babies are born with a certain kind of fat that they use for energy for those first few days. They generally don't need anything but colostrum until the milk comes in. (There are some exceptions to this, of course.) I viewed my baby's crying and frequent nursing as his programmed method of bringing my milk in. Kind of like how contractions are our bodies programmed way of bringing baby to the world.

Amy in NC
mom to Dixon, born 2/14/05

[momma_boo]

I think it's one of those things that you just have to educate yourself about (which is what you are doing) and then decide at the time.

Here is my experience:

With DD#1, I didn't nurse her for at least 2 hours after she was born b/c of some severe bleeding (for me) that required lots of medical attention. She latched on strong and did fine. I did send her to the nursery at night so that I could sleep and they would bring her in and wake me up when she wanted to nurse (every 3-4 hours). During the day, I just nursed her on demand. Went home on the third day and she became miserable. After over 24 hours of no sleep and lots of crying (hers and mine), we called the hospital maternity ward and a nurse suggested giving her a little formula. I had brought home the free formula samples and gave her an ounce. She promptly fell asleep for a good 4 hours and was fine after that. Never had formula again. I think my milk finally came in the next day. We nursed until she was gradually weaned by 14 mos.

DD#2 - I had a cold for a few weeks before she was born and had been taking sudafed constantly as well as Ricola cough drops (both of which are NOT good for your supply). I started nursing her soon after giving birth and she did great. She nursed A LOT. The first night I got no sleep at all b/c once I fell asleep, the nurse would bring her into me after an hour. By the second evening, I was a mess and made a decision - after nursing her around midnight, I instructed the nurse to feed her 1/2 an ounce of formula when she got hungry again. But to bring her to me after that. This allowed me to get a good 4.5 hour stretch of sleep which really made a big difference. It took another couple of days for my milk to come in and I think she may have had another 1/2 ounce once after coming home. She's now 6 mos and we're still going strong w/ BFing.

Good luck w/ the rest of your pregnancy!

[Canna]

The baby is not without food or water because it is getting colostrum...as I understand it babies are designed to live on this in the first few days. I certainly wouldn't want to introduce some foreign substance like artificial milk (formula) into a newborn's pristine and delicate tummy. :( Putting the baby to your breast as often as possible will help him/her get the colostrum s/he needs and also help your milk come in.

We did not do any kind of supplementation.

[KW_102701]

I fed my DD colostrum. My milk didn't come in for nearly 5 days (DD born on a Sunday evening, milk in on Friday morning). I nursed her all the time that first week and she DID lose weight anyway, but again, I think that's just part of nature. Once my milk was in, she gained 1lb in 3 days! The way I see it, women have been making and nourishing babies for umpteen years - our bodies know what they're doing... usually.

[wencit]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing all your different experiences! It has definitely given me something to think about. I guess the most important thing is to be prepared, so I'm going to print out this thread to arm myself against hysterical grandparents. :)

Breastfeeding is so scary and intimidating -- thank you for reassuring me that I won't damage my poor baby.

[tiapam]

In my case, it was a horrid nurse at the hospital who tried to get me to give my baby formula. So it's not just the grandparents you have to watch out for.

-Pam

Charlotte born October 2004

[Wife_and_mommy]

Erica,

BFing is so hard when the uneducated are constantly spewing their nonsense at you. Print out this thread and *KNOW* your BF info so that their attempts won't work. You'll have to stand strong and know what's best for you and your baby.

BF doesn't have to be scary/intimidating but if it is, it's only for a few weeks. After that, it'll be a piece of cake and so worth the effort. We're all pulling for you. :)

Also, make sure you educate your DH as well so he knows the correct info. It's very important that he be behind you 100%.


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[C99]

W/ Rose, nothing. Until my milk came in (day 4, I think), she got colostrum. W/ Nate, because he was a preemie in the NICU, he got formula mixed w/ pumped colostrum until my milk came in (day 2, I think -- I started leaking colostrum at 22 weeks, so it didn't take long after birth for it to drop).

I don't think the problem w/ formula is that it's inherently evil as compared to breastmilk. My biggest problem is the mode of delivery. You can't feed a baby formula from the boob, and nipple confusion is often a real problem.

[sntm]

Okay, haven't read all of the responses, but remember that this is the way babies are DESIGNED, by God or nature or however you see it. If babies were dying of thirst or hunger, how would they have survived all these millenia before some chemist mixed up formula??? colustrum is food and water, all they need.

A newborn's stomach is the size of a marble. Not even the big shooter ones, but a standard marble. They cannot handle more than the colustrum, which they should get frequently (not knowing the situation, more than likely your friends were not nursing often enough or not nursing correctly or the babies were just agitated for other reasons). When newborns are given large amounts of formula, their stomachs stretch out like after a Thanksgiving day gorge, and they are sedate but not in a good way.

Sigh. This is what decades of bottle-feeding have gotten us to -- where we don't know what is normal and what is abnormal. This is not a crticism of the poster AT ALL -- just a reflection on society I have from time to time. And I totally blame my predecessors in my profession.
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shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
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Breastfeeding 2 years & counting