Giving newborn formula before milk comes in? please advise

[SilverSixpence]

hi, just wanted to get some advice for my sister in law. Her baby girl is 3 days old, was 6lbs 3 at birth so pretty tiny..Sister in law was v keen to bf before the birth, and still is, however since the first day has been v concerned that the baby isnt feeding well, although have tried to reassure her as much as possible that they just need to suck little and often in the first couple of days. (My DS is 3 months, so i've just been through it all!) They have been giving formula feeds each day, and I just wanted to know whether this is likely to affect her milk supply? As far as i understand it, the baby won't be so keen to feed if already full from formula feed or will it not make a difference. She is already getting sore nipples so i think that is putting her off a bit as well, but i would hate for her to go down the wrong track now and have to give up bfing because of supply problems/nipple confusion etc.

AFAIK, the baby's sucking is what makes the milk come in so if she really wants to breastfeed successfully, the formula will have to go on hold.

Hi

I posted earlier about my friend who's milk also hasn't come in - the consensus seemed to be that it could take another day or two and that giving formula might be affecting the milk coming in unless she is attempting to BF every three hours or so. Trying to express using a breast pump was also suggested.

Two of my dcs were very slow to take to BFing - also had formula to supplement at the start - but it did work out eventually with perseverence...

Sixpence, this is a very dodgy start, and whoever is 'supporting' your SIL is simply not doing their job.

She needs to hold the baby close, skin to skin, and to feed ad lib. If she's sore she needs help. Every formula bottle at this stage is a major step backwards, it truly is

Just wondering...My mum insisted that I would have to bottle feed my dc unti lday 3. I didn't, but I felt that I was breaking all the rules by not doing so. My mum found my babycare methods bewildering anyway. Was I right, or is there not really a right and wrong in this?

Just to add my dc are much older now. Just wondering retrospectively, really...

oh tiktok now i'm worried.. i dont want to interfere too much but have tried to advise as much as possible and have also told my mother in law who's staying there to try and give some support. My SIL's SIL brought the bottles in at the hospital and i thought but didnt want to make too much of a fuss. last nigth the baby cried til 3am and then they gave in and gave the formula so she would sleep.

Giving babies formula before milk comes in is neither necessary nor desirable, clock....it can interfere with the establishment of happy breastfeeding and disturb the baby's gut.

How on earth would nature have arranged it so human babies needed the milk of an entirely different species before drinking their own?

Babies have colostrum for the first days, and jolly good stuff it is, too

I am certainly no bf expert but the first few days are colostrum and then the milk comes in. A newborn baby has a tiny tum so feeds often and takes a wee bit of colostrum at a time but that is enough to sustain them until the milk comes in.

I hope that is a good layman's explanation [sile]

SilverSixpence, you're right to be worried.

Is there really no one in the maternity unit who knows about the right way to get bf going?

It's hard for you to raise it, perhaps, but maybe if you acknowledge that it's hard by apologising, but adding that you know bf is important to SIL, and that this is why you are 'interfering'....

that's such a shame i really hope she can get baby feeding! Looks like she has been very poorly advised however.

Colostrum is the stuff that's packed full of antibodies and all the good stuff! It's always nice to hear someone's given bf a go because then the baby will have had the benefit of the colostrum at least. Sounds as though her baby has missed out though - is she still putting her to the breast?

Your poor SIL isn't getting very good - or any - support by the sounds of things.

I agree with everything already mentioned. Is she holding the baby close, as much as possible? Also, I think a huge barrier to the establishment of feeding is when the mum (or those around her) have this notion of spacing feeds out so the baby is only supposed to feed every 3 hours or something.

That's rubbish - babies at that age will feed small amounts really really frequently - every hour or two sometimes. If the baby is being put to the breast less than that then it's going to mess up supply.

My MW said to me when mine was a few days old and we were struggling a bit "at this age, if in doubt, offer a feed" - good advice, i think.

I hope she gets some more help.

she is trying to feed little and often, yesterday when i was over there (she's at home now) she did put the baby to the breast every 1-2 hours. I think its partly a combination of a difficult birth and the baby wanting/needing to suck a lot. I was fortunate that DS was quite sleepy in the first few days and didnt cry during the night so my experience was different to hers (although i did get sore nipples etc and it wasn't by any means easy!). I just don't want to be the smug SIL who got it all right that's all!