Author: B. Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, IBCLC

Baby supplemental feeding methods.

How To Prepare For Supplementing When Breastfeeding Your Baby In The Hospital

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Mothers who experienced delayed onset of milk production or experienced low milk supply with their first baby often contact us for support to try breastfeeding again. They typically have anticipatory anxiety because they have lost trust in their lactation professionals and hospital staff and are unwilling to attempt breastfeeding again without supplementation. They want to know how to supplement their baby until their milk supply becomes sufficient to feed them safely while providing proper breastfeeding stimulation for optimal milk production.

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Baby bottle forming the F word.

The New Seven Letter “F” Word

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As soon as the word “formula” rolls off your tongue and leaves your mouth for everyone to hear, uncomfortable silence occurs. Parents are reluctant to talk about or admit freely they feed their babies infant formula. Most are suffering from the deeply entrenched shame and judgment that is associated with formula feeding; they have experienced it first hand in countless social media parenting groups, from friends, their health care professionals, WIC offices, and even in their hospitals.

How did we get to the place where talking about infant formula is profoundly divisive, shameful, and anxiety provoking for parents? 

 Let’s face it, infant FORMULA is the new seven letter F word. The scarlet letter F.  FAILURE. 

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Mother and newborn baby skin-to-skin.

I HAVE SO MUCH REGRET NOT QUITTING BREASTFEEDING EARLIER; WE SUFFERED AND FEEL VERY LET DOWN BY PROFESSIONALS AROUND ME FOR BEING SO ANTI-FORMULA

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Knowing now how many babies have been lost or suffered an injury due to insufficient nutrition and dehydration in those early days, I feel so much anger towards those staff who dismissed my concerns, as we could so easily have gone the same way. By this point, my son’s urine was like brick dust and barely meeting the minimum frequency—but home we went, away from any medical supervision. 

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Close-up photo of a baby's face.

My Breastfed Baby Starved While Under The Care Of Health Professionals For 5 Weeks

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My beautiful baby girl Mary-Kate was delivered by emergency c-section, and although there were complications during labor, she was healthy on arrival. Having done a bit of research and listened to the advice of professionals, as well as the threat of the global pandemic posing a risk, I decided I would breastfeed my daughter, to provide her with passive antibodies for COVID-19 from my milk.

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Mother breastfeeding baby comfortably.

I Supplemented My Baby Until My Milk Came In And We Are Still Breastfeeding At 3 Months

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My son will be three months old tomorrow, and I’m reflecting on our nursing journey with gratitude. I had infertility and recurrent pregnancy loss before having him, and (after two rounds of IVF and six embryo transfers), he was born at 35 weeks. So we had a lot working against us for successful breastfeeding, but I wanted to try breastfeeding, and I was ready to advocate for myself and the baby if needed in the hospital since I knew I had significant risk factors for delayed onset of milk. 

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