"inevitable" to top up with formula?

[ahhyesiseeyouvepooedonyourfoot]

Quick query - someone recently told me that I would 'inevitably' have to introduce formula to my baby at some point as people don't have enough milk to exclusively bf until they are on solids? This isn't true surely?? It's what I presumed I'd do, and bf is going really well and I love doing it, or have I misinterpreted the info about bf??

It isn't true.
By 'topping up', you may be compromising your supply.
If maybe you aren't making enough milk, then maybe, but in my experience formula was never needed.

it's rubbish. ds2 and dd refused to drink formula at all, and refused to drink from a bottle despite me trying every single brand of bottle & sippy cup on the market. both were breastfed til 14 months at which point both moved on to drinking goats milk.

I wonder how the human race survived before the invention of formula if we inevitably fail to produce enough milk for our offspring

Rubbish! My DS was bf for one year and never had formula and my DD for 2 years and never had formula. Neither had a bottle either as they refused point blank.

You can go straight to cow's milk in weaning foods, porridge etc.

No, its not true.

I did have to 'top up' for a few weeks initially because I had low supply to begin with, but the more a baby feeds the more you make so didn't need it for most of the time. As far as I can see most women who BF don't need to top up. If you start doing so you'll find your supply tends to adjust downwards.

Well if that were true my 2nd and 3rd children would have starved to death, neither ate much food until about 11 months and both were bfed until then, no formula, plus they were 99 percentile babies so my milk must have been plenty for them.

I topped up my first which ended with him being formula fed from 3 months as my milk dissapeared, hense no top-ups for my later babies.

Sounds like you're doing really well! No, it isn't inevitable- what Rita said, in fact.

You're better off asking this question in the Breast and Bottle Feeding area.

But no, this isn't inevitable. Many mothers do introduce formula, because they worry they don't have enough milk.

What absolute poppycock. There's lots of babies made it through to adulthood without a drop of formula passing their lips.

Not inevitable. But what I really wanted to say was that your name made me laugh.

Why thank you surgeonsmate, I walked past our lounge and heard DH saying that really gravely to dd as he changed her nappy, beautiful moment

thanks to everyone else phew!! so glad that's bollocks, the thought was making me really sad and she's only 5 weeks, no problems at all with my supply, in fact the HV said "wow you must have been a jersey cow in a previous life" will carry on as I was!

Also sorry notquitecockney only recently graduated from ante natal and didn't know there was a feeding board, will know next time

No, it's not true. Mine just had bm until they were weaned. Then formula at about seven or eight months, possibly later, I can't remember now.

None of my three have ever had formula (apart from one attempt at giving it to dd at 6 months but she spat it at me so i didn't bother again)

Not at all true! The more you feed, the more your supply grows.

May not be inevitable but it worked for me tbh. I mixed fed two boys.

Nice comment from your HV btw - I'd take it as a compliment though.

Sounds like you're doing just perfectly.

Yes I was told this as well - some people may need to, I don't know, I never did. :)

I bf all mine for over a year, and then they went straight onto cows milk.

I've never 'topped up' with formula. I BF DS1 until he was 21 months and I've been BFing DS2 for five months now. If you BF on demand and eat and drink well there is no reason why you should ever need to use formula. After all, formula has only been around for about 50 years so what did women did before it was invented?

BFing mothers are set up to fail by the system of 'support' in this country. When I told my HV at her first visit that I intended to BF exclusively, as I'd done with my first child, she proceeded to tell me how to make up formula

You sound like you're doing a great job. Trust yourself and your instincts and you shouldn't go wrong. And if you need help contact the La Leche League - they won't tell you to top up with formula!

Two people have told me to top up with formula in the past week. Despite knowing that ds is happy, healthy and gaining plenty of weight, I did start to worry that I was doing something wrong. Then I came to my senses and realised that they were talking complete rubbish!

If breastfeeding is going well, I can't see the need to introduce formula. It's great that you are enjoying it

ahhyes - Here's a post I wrote about how breastfeeding supply works - should help you understand why it's not at all inevitable that you'd need to top up with formula! Silly HV! Point her to my blog so she can educate herself

Of course it isnt inevitable. Though if I remember the figures correctly (and its possible I havent), less than 1% of babies are EBF until 6 months.

If you are bf well, and the majority of women do bf without real problems, then you do not need to top up. At all.

I was misadvised this when in hosp with DD and topped up for the first week (she was low birth weight and they were worried about her losing weight) until DD herself did not want to do this, she refused the bottle and I spent a long time rebuilding my supply up, but did it and fed her exclusively until she was 5.5 months and I started to wean. However, due to her continued lack of gaining weight and other pressures from pretty much everyone with an opinion, we offered her a bottle at 10months again and she took it and that was the end of of BF as she prefered the bottle. As it happened, her weight was purely just who she was an the cows milk did not change her weight at all!

With DS now 23 months I did not top up with formula at all and exclusively fed him until I started to wean, again at around 5.5 months, and fed him without a bottle top up ever until he stopped at 16 months. I was 'advised' by lots of people to top him up as a) this was why he was not sleeping well at night an b) it is easier c) lots of other reasons (even from DH at some stages). I just ignored them this time and did my own thing. I think DH offered him a bottle at one point and DS refused anyway.

Don't be pressured to change something that is working absolutely fine. If you are giving your child the milk he naturally should be getting, and he is fine with that, why would you want to give him milk from another animal, from a plastic bottle?

Yes of course, that's why all babies died of starvation before formula was invented in the 1870s