Formula for jaundiced baby v virgin gut

[cornflakegirl]

I've seen a few posts about the effect on a baby's gut flora of even one bottle of formula, and it's got me thinking.

When ds was born, he was really sleepy and refused to latch. After about 18 hours, the midwife gave him a bottle of formula to try to get something into him.

At 24 hours, he was diagnosed with jaundice and whisked off to SCBU, where they tube-fed him formula for 16 hours while he received phototherapy. I expressed colostrum for him too, but I wasn't getting anywhere near the amount of formula he was being given.

When he came out of SCBU, he was topped up with formula through his tube after the next few feeds, to make sure he was getting enough fluid to clear the bilirubin. After that, I was allowed to just breastfeed him (although he still had difficulty latching for the next couple of months!). He was then exclusively breastfed till he was 5 months (when we started solids) - and he's still breastfeeding now at 17 months.

I'd hadn't heard of the "virgin gut", so didn't even question ds being given formula. Probably wouldn't have questioned it anyway - was too busy being completely distraught that my baby was ill.

Was the medical advice / action right? My instinct says yes - there was something potentially seriously wrong with my baby, and they fixed him. But I'm interested whether anyone disagrees?

I did this because my baby having low sugar levels. I fed formula by cup until my milk came in and he still had to go to the scbu to be tube fed too. I did read of some posters on here refusing formula when they had same condition as me (gestational diabetes). Am not sure if their babies had to got to the scbu as well. But I figure thats not something they don't do to babies lightly. It would rather have not done so but would prefer a thriving baby to an ill one.

I remember being really hacked off with some woman I met saying how upset she would be if someone had given formula to her newborn. I almost said well I would rather having a living baby than not. I didn't though but did mention how glad I was to have bf for a year (she had stopped at 4 months)

"he was really sleepy and refused to latch."

Of course it was right to give him formula. I guess you could have tried "harder" * to get him to breastfeed but formula was probably the best option.

• I don't mean this in a judgemental way BTW! Coudn't think of any other way to phrase it. I don't mean to imply that you half heartedly waved a breast in his face and then said "sod it, give him formula".

Formula undoubtedly saves lives.

CG, I was in a very similar situation. My ds (17 months too) was topped up with formula and had jaundice. However, he wasn't refusing to latch (he only did that after he'd been on top-ups for a few days) and he didn't even have too-high bilirubin when the hospital bullied me into topping up. After 4 weeks mixed feeding, I got him off the formula and we too are still bf to this day
The difference from your situation is that if I hadn't had bad advice from the beginning, I might not have had to give formula - but as it was, I did, and I don't 'regret' it as such - it played its part in keeping him nourished during his breast-refusing phase. That you went on to exclusively bf enabled you, I'm sure, to recoup a lot of the benefits. ds is very robust and has never had anything more serious than a cold, and I think a lot of it is down to the bf, 'despite' the formula at the beginning.

You did the right thing!