I was talking to my aunt yesterday and she told me that when she had her DD, almost 2 years ago, the hosital gave her [DD] a couple of droppers full of formula. She said that they did this because she [my aunt] wasn't producing enough colostrum and because her milk hadn't come in yet.
I guess that makes sense, but the way my aunt was talking, she made it seem like this is normal for the hospital to give the baby a little bit of formula while they are there.
Is this really normal?
Re: Question re: Hospitals and Forumla
Thank you for the responses - that makes me feel better. I mean, if I am not able to produce what my baby will need then I am fine with formula, but I just thought that the more you breastfeed the more milk will come in so I found it odd that they would try to give the baby formula when she was still producing colostrum.
"Normal" will depend on the individual hospital you deliver at. They have their own cultures and level of nurse education.
No formula was offered or suggested to me, but my nurses were really really busy and didn't have time for a mom/baby pair that was doing pretty well.
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If a hospital routinely offers formula for this reason...they are doing it wrong!!
Babies only need mama's colostrum - yes, it's a tiny amount but they are born with tummies the size of marbles! If mama and baby are having trouble (like say baby is unable to latch well for some reason) there are a number of options to explore (including fixing that latch!) before going to formula...pumping and feeding mama's milk via a SNS for example.
Your milk can take up to a week to fully come in - NORMAL!! Babies are born with extra fat reserves to account for this (and it's normal for them to lose 8-10% of their birth weight - on the higher end of that if you receive fluids in labor).
So, no not normal and in fact very bad policy. If you want to nurse, get baby on the breast as much as you can in those early days and don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it!
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My second son had a tiny bit of formula given to him via a little medicine cup almost immediately after birth because he had low blood sugar and I had a c-section (followed by an unplanned hernia repair that kept me on the table longer than anticipated), so we weren't able to be together right away.
Just let your preferences be known and I think you'll be just fine!
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Ditto for me as well. No formula was ever suggested, and I had tons of help from LCs in the hospital to make sure we weren't having any problems.