From Alison

Thank you for sharing your important message. My husband I found your website and resources when we were four months pregnant. While pregnant, we regularly talked about the stories you post and my husband’s older son who became severely dehydrated and underweight in his first two months of life as a result of inadequate breastmilk supply. Your stories and my husband’s firsthand experience helped me recognize the importance of putting the health and safety of our soon-to-arrive baby ahead of any pressure to exclusively breastfeed.

Our son was born last week. The first night he cried hungry cries—a cry I didn’t know as a brand new mom, but one my husband recognized. I am so fortunate that my husband knew the signs and sounds of hunger. I tried to breastfeed but our son was too overwhelmed and exhausted, and frankly, so was I. We requested formula from the hospital (to their credit, they provided it with minimal comment) and fed our baby.

My milk supply did not come in until my son’s fourth day and he was not latching, so we supplemented with formula. Now that our son is a week old, my milk has come in and we are no longer using formula. We nurse and bottle-feed him breast milk; the measurable pumped milk gives us regular assurance that he is getting adequate food and allows my husband to participate in feeding.

I am 100% sure that if we had not found your website and had as many conversations as we did about what we think is right for our child, I would not have so willingly embraced formula during the early critical days of our son’s life. Thank you for helping us have a happy, healthy baby.

#earlysupplementation #Listentoyourbaby #fedisbest

For more information on how to protect your baby from feeding complications due to early exclusive breastfeeding, please read and download the Fed is Best Feeding Plan, a way to communicate your feeding choices to your health care providers.

In addition, please read and download the Fed is Best Weighing Protocol to prevent newborn dehydration and failure to thrive.

Lastly, for more detailed information, please watch our educational videos on Preventing Feeding Complications.

Our full list of parent resources can be found on our Resource Page.