Doctor wants to supplement

schnookee · August 2014

My son is 11 days old and has been ebf. They said he was 8lbs 14oz at birth (the doctor questions this though) and was 8lbs 4 oz when he left the hospital. He's only gone back up to 8lbs 6oz since then and now the doctor wants to supplement. I'm very upset. I don't want him having formula at all and I'm scared once he has a bottle that's all he's going to want. Anyone have any suggestions?

lilies&orchids · August 2014

Without knowing any specific medical concerns, let me share my story...

My first son lost 10% of his weight, I supplemented per doc orders, was constantly stressed/concened about whether he was getting enough, caved and went to all formula pretty quickly.

Fast forward 5 years, baby #2 also lost 10%, but this time I had a very pro BF pedi who said "technically, I should tell you to supplement, but bf every 2 hours during the day and 3 at night, no less, and come back Monday for a weight check." (I was letting baby sleep a bit too long in those early days.) That made all the difference for me. I was committed to making it work, and with her support and the support of this board, I did make it to a year without formula and baby gained very well along the way.

If you do need to supplement, make sure you pump whenever you are giving formula. That was a step that I missed with DS1...

Hopefully you get everything worked out!

BootsOrHearts · August 2014

Agree with Theresa, supplement with BM if you want to avoid formula. And see a lactation consultant to evaluate what's going on. I hope you get to the bottom of it, please let us know what happens!

MC03 · August 2014

I was in a very similar situation with my DD2. I ended up having to supplement with some formula for a period of time, buy I also worked with an LC and eventually went back to EBF.

If you want to give it another day or two I would stay at home and nurse as much as possible, then go back for a weight check. If he still hasn't gained weight here is what we did for supplementing and I think it worked well. I still breastfed her at every single feeding, then after the feeding I would offer a bottle of 1.5-2 oz of either pumped milk, or if I didn't have any stash left then we used formula. I also pumped after every feeding to help build a stash and up my supply.

You could also try a sns, I did that at first but it was kinda messy and I found that the bottles didn't mess up her nursing. An LC can help you with an sns. Good luck!

SouthRNComfort · August 2014

Original poster: any updates? Please know it's not the end of the world nor the end of breastfeeding..I too had to supplement for 2-3 days with my LO, but my supply kept building over time and she's been breastfed ever since. My LO lost about 10% weight in the first few days and a pediatrician in our practice (the weekend covering one, not ours) gave me the best explanation. She said LO was using up all her energy ineffectively sucking at the breast, which wasn't boosting my supply, which meant she didn't get enough milk to build up her energy stores, which meant she couldn't suck effectively to fill her tummy, and it was one big cycle. She said the 1-2 days of supplementing was to easily and quickly give the baby some calories so that she could eventually suck effectively. She told me to nurse both sides about 10 min each and then give baby an ounce of formula or pumped breast milk after nursing. I did this for 2 days and at the next weight check baby was back on track. By the 3 rd day I had stopped supplementing all together. Also for most of the supplemental bottles on the 2nd day I gave pumped milk that I had pumped and saved from the first days supplementation with actual formula. I also breastfed every 2 hours during the day and every 3 at night (I had a sleepy baby) and put my baby to the breast every time she made a peep. My mother said "is she hungry again? It hasn't been 2 hours" but it wasn't about hunger, it was about putting my baby to the breast to stimulate my supply as much as possible. One other thing that helped: I was obviously emotional just after giving birth and the BF difficulty only made me feel worse. So I set some limits and was the only one to supplement with the bottle. It seems kind of control freak now, but at the time it was important for me emotionally that I still be the only one to feed her that young, even if I wasn't always feeding her with my body. Just my two cents. I hope everything is working well for you and your LO!

MJC1116 · August 2014

We had to supplement both our Littles when they were just born because they weren't gaining back weight properly but also because they weren't pooping. We only had to end up giving DD 1 supplemented formula feeding and DS a few formula feedings. Neither got attached to formula and were easily right back on the breast.

Salemkitty13 · August 2014

DS dropped from 6 lbs 11oz to 5lbs 5oz in a week and was hospitalized. I would nurse on both sides then bottle feed pumped milk or formula and pump. Every two hours around the clock. We went to the pedi weekly and got help from the hospital LCs. DS never developed a bottle preference. It took weeks to get him on target but we made it. We didn't have to use much formula but when we needed to we did. Hugs to you and good luck!

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