Have formula on hand before labor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. If you plan to BF, you don't need any bottles or formula. Having it around just makes it easier to doubt yourself and give up. Unless you had issues previously, I wouldn't even worry about it.

Bad advice.
With my first, I planned on exclusive BF. I had no idea I wasn’t producing much. After discharge, at the 1 day well visit, he was already jaundiced and starving. They had to admit him, and give him an IV. Since it was post discharge, he couldn’t go to the NICU. They really struggled to get an IV in him. He was under blue lights for 24 hours. I started pumping to try and increase my supply. It barely worked. I had to supplement the entire time.
My advice - be prepared and have a small amount of formula ready.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who supplemented, how did you decide you needed to?

Baby having to be admitted to the hospital. Jaundice. IV. Blue lights. It was miserable.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I just bought a couple of bottles of ready-to-feed for my second just in case. I’ll donate them to a shelter/hospital if I don’t need them.

DC 1 and I had trouble in the first few days and spent hours at the pediatrician’s and lactation consultants office. It was a mad scramble to get formula. I went on to nurse DC1 for 1.5 years so it clearly didn’t effect breastfeeding. With covid, I want everything in the house before this one gets here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always do. My milk doesn't come in for a few days and no need for baby to starve. I nursed until 20 months and 2 years.

Oh gosh, this is nature. They aren’t starving. Them going bonkers to get that milk to come in is how it’s supposed to work. They definitely won’t starve otherwise humans wouldn’t have survived this long.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes they can starve. Please look into infant mortality prior to the advent of formula.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it’s possible that I’ll make enough colostrum to thoroughly hydrate/feed the baby while waiting for the milk to come in, right?

Possible but unlikely for a first baby. Most do need supplementation

[Anonymous]

Gorillas in the wild also don't have c sections or antibiotics etc. I'm not sure why you'd want to raise a kid like a gorilla in the wild. I know there's crazy people out there who refuse prenatal care and free birth. They are like cults and they cover up when peoples baby's die - you're not allowed to post death stories in those groups

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who supplemented, how did you decide you needed to?

Meeting with 5 different lactation consultants, pumping every 2 hours for 4.5 months, taking thousands of dollars' worth of LC recommended supplements, and still never getting more than 2.5 oz in a given day.

The idea that anyone who does not successfully breastfeed just didn't realize they were a mammal is absolutely BS. That would be like me saying every baby can sleep through the night from 9 weeks on if you just suck it up and Mom right, just because I lucked out with an amazing sleeper. Many women need to supplement at first, and others need to supplement the entire time their kid is on a bottle. That's life.

[Anonymous]

I didn't have any formula around when my first arrived, and it was actually hard to get any when the nurse's recommended I supplement. But it was also a major holiday, I was overseas, and it seemed like every last store in the country was closed. Here in the US, I can't imagine it would be hard to pick some up in a pinch.

With both kids, I supplemented with small amounts of formula for a few days while waiting for my milk to come in. I had no trouble breastfeeding thereafter - nursed till 15 months with my first and 18 months or so with my second.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who supplemented, how did you decide you needed to?

Meeting with 5 different lactation consultants, pumping every 2 hours for 4.5 months, taking thousands of dollars' worth of LC recommended supplements, and still never getting more than 2.5 oz in a given day.

The idea that anyone who does not successfully breastfeed just didn't realize they were a mammal is absolutely BS. That would be like me saying every baby can sleep through the night from 9 weeks on if you just suck it up and Mom right, just because I lucked out with an amazing sleeper. Many women need to supplement at first, and others need to supplement the entire time their kid is on a bottle. That's life.

Argh I know someone whose kids sleep thru the night literally from birth. She keeps on telling me "I'm just very firm about it". Yeah lady, being firm doesn't work with a 1 week old lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But it’s possible that I’ll make enough colostrum to thoroughly hydrate/feed the baby while waiting for the milk to come in, right?

Yes, but the trick is that it can be very hard for a FTM to tell that the colostrum is enough for the baby. And the Baby Friendly hospitals sort of gaslight you about it. They are biased towards NOT breastfeeding, so they don't provide you with a lot of guidance for when to supplement. And their line for when to supplement can be very high. For example, my baby was discharged (after 3 days and a stay in the NICU!) from GW having lost about 8% of his birthweight and being borderline jaundiced. They didn't say a single word to me about it. The next day at the pediatricians, he had lost 12% of his weight and was lethargic. The pediatrician had us feed him some RTF formula right there in her office and go get a STAT bilirubin test. Thankfully he was fine, but I shudder to think of what would have happened if we had been discharged on a Friday and hadn't seen her until Monday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always do. My milk doesn't come in for a few days and no need for baby to starve. I nursed until 20 months and 2 years.

Oh gosh, this is nature. They aren’t starving. Them going bonkers to get that milk to come in is how it’s supposed to work. They definitely won’t starve otherwise humans wouldn’t have survived this long.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes they can starve. Please look into infant mortality prior to the advent of formula.

You’re both right. It is nature. Infant mortality rates are naturally much higher without intervention of modern medicine.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely have whatever you need to make yourself as mentally reassured as possible.

[Anonymous]

I supplemented all 3 of my babies in the hospital (Sibley). I went on to exclusively bf all of them for a year +. I don’t think it makes a huge difference to the BFing relationship and it means my little ones got fed while my milk came in. The hospital provided the ready-made formula.

[Anonymous]

Ok this thread is stressing me out and I have a perfectly healthy breastfed baby who hasn’t needed formula or other interventions.

OP go ahead and buy some formula if it will make you more at ease. You can always donate it if you don’t end up needing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are just overgrown apes. What do you think the gorillas do? Formula the first week is a disaster - your body makes colostrum which isn't milk but still really necessary for your baby so giving formula is not a good idea. Just relax, let your body take over and embrace your inner gorilla.

This is OP and I think a lot of the gorillas just die.

Also I'm really identifying better with cows right now.

DP. This made me laugh. OP, you're going to be just fine, whatever you decide. Not because your concerns are silly, but because you can laugh about them too.

That’s just my inner hyena.

NP. I like you, OP. You’re going to do great. You have the right attitude. It makes all the difference regardless of what life will throw at you.