Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

If your milk didn't come in yet? Or if you wanted the first 2 nights to rest?

I didn't even think this was an option if you are bf'ing but I obviously don't know very much

Thanks!

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

I did not. I had issues with my milk coming in and DS was losing weight, but it was all OK. Babies need very little those first few days, they will be just fine if your milk does not come in right away.

Once we got home, I ended up supplementing for a little while because DS was having latching issues.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

I kept DD in the nursery both nights and they gave her formula. It didnt affect my milk coming in at all.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

I nursed from the beginning. She had no bottles. However, she had to get phototherapy because she was jaundices. My supply was not great and she'd been hungry and because of the jaundice I was encouraged to give her a bottle of formula. Apparently formula was more effective/better when a baby is jaundiced, though I forget the specifics.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

I did not have the nurses give DS a bottle at night. They brought him to me every 4 hours at night and I fed/atempted to feed (because we both didnt know what we were doing at the time) constantly throughout the day

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Message edited 7/12/2010 8:07:31 PM.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Yes, it was nice to get some sleep.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

no

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Nope- no bottles. I didn't want to give DD formula nor did I want her to go through nipple confusion. That happened to DS in the NICU and he never latched.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

No bottles here. I was one of the weirdos that kept the baby with her the whole time. With ds my milk didn't come in until he was 3 days old. With dd it was in the day after she was born. She started gaining again before we even left the hospital.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

No- I had them bring both DDs to me. Those first few days the baby suckling helps to promote a good supply right from the get go. It also helps your supply come in faster.

To help DDs "fill up" a bit, I DID use this little syringe type thing they gave me to feed her formula WHILE I nursed. This way she was still on my breast, but got a little something until my milk came in.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Yes - so I could get some rest.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

No. DD didn't have any formula until 5 months old. My milk didn't come in until about 3 or 4 days after she was born and she was fine.

The first night I told the nurses to take her to the nursery but no formula... they brought her to me after she was in the nursery for 3 hours and I kept her with me 24/7 after that. I didn't want her to go!

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Message edited 7/12/2010 8:48:06 PM.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

I did not, but for me I wish I had. DS was severely jaundice, in the bassinet under the lights, really badly. But I was going to BF him, so I said no bottles. Turns out, aside from my milk not coming in, he wouldnt latch either. I found out later he was (and still is) tongue tied.

Needless to say, bc he wasnt getting any food, or not enough, the bilirubin wasnt being flushed out of his system and he only became more jaundice, so much so that I had to be discharged without him and once he was released, I had to take him to the Drs once a day for almost a week to check his levels.

In hindsight, if I knew it wouldve been the difference between leaving the hospital with him and leaving the hospital without him, I wouldve let them or myself, give him a bottle. Which is eventually what we ended up doing anyway bc since he was so tongue tied I couldnt BF him anyway.

If we have #2, I do not plan to breastfeed bc I cant do for one what I couldnt do for the other, I would feel too guilty. Additionally in hindsight, I shouldve slept while I could!

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

No, and my milk didn't come in until the day we went home, 4 days later. DS was fine, he still nursed every 2 hours and was getting the colostrum. That is all they really need when they're just born, their stomachs are like the size of a pea. It's really a very personal decision though. I was very insistent on no bottles and no formula at all. And the no sleep, I was basically accepting that with exclusively nursing that I wasn't going to get any sleep those first few weeks/months. I was committed to BFing solely so I just sucked it up I guess. DS roomed with me 24/7 while we were in the hospital.

Message edited 7/12/2010 9:05:06 PM.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

With DS1, I had pre-eclampsia and was on a lot of meds. Because of that, he had to be on formula for the first 36 hours. The next few nights, he had formula at night too so I could get much needed rest. I continued to BF for 9 months.

With DS2, he was in the NICU for a week. I first BF him on his 2nd or 3rd day in there, but he mostly got bottles (of formula and what I was able to pump). I pumped the first day though to start my milk production up. I EBF him for 15 months.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

My son didnt really eat much at first. He wouldn't latch, and the nurses said he didn't really need the formula, that newborns don't really need much the first few days.

He wouldn't latch, and we also didn't want nipple confusion.

He ended up being jaundice, and I did give him 1 1/2 oz of formula because calories are one of the best things to give. Then my milk came in so I was pumping. I pumped everything he needed, so there was no more need to supplement.

The nurses did give him his middle of the night bottles ,but that was only after I attempted breast feeding, as well as pumped. So it was not for the sake of me getting rest.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

no, no bottles.
but i had a csection, maybe the drugs knocked them both out because they both slept through the night in the hospital.
my milk did not come in for awhile.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

Nope. I kept the baby with me and nursed for all feedings.

Re: Moms who BF- did you have the nurses give the baby a bottle in the hospital?

No, I wanted my son completely EBF. My milk didn't come in until after I was home anyway (I think in most cases, that's how it is- first few days are colostrum).