Breast Feedi

If you want to. Both of my boys had both and had no issues switching between breast and bottle. But be warned that some babies find it difficult, and many will ween from the breast earlier because the bottle is easier to get the milk out of. My son stopped breast feeding around 3 months, so in order to keep giving him breast milk I would have had to pump.

Please see an LC to get him to latch properly. And keep asking for help til something works. His output will tell you about his input. Please get local help for this concern.

Do whatever works best for you. It won't harm your baby at all to have a combo of the two and, if it makes your life more manageable, do it.

If you want to breastfeed, you may be able to fix his latch. Meet with a lactation consultant - you can get referrals from you doctor or the hospital, or contact La Leche League. You can also try Motherlove Nipple Cream, which can be more soothing than Lanolin. Put it on before nursing (it's all organic and safe for the baby) to help ease the pain.

The first few weeks of nursing are awful, but it does get better. If it's not for you though, switch to formula (or a combination) so you are happy.

You could, but 100% breast milk is best. Is there a reason you want to introduce formula? Once you introduce formula, you're introducing all kinds of synthetic materials into your baby's digestive tract and immune system that you can avoid with 100% breast milk.

Kellymom.com has a ton of great information on breastfeeding - check it out if you have questions or need more info...just about every question I ever had about breastfeeding was answered on that site.

Even babies that have the tongue-tie ie. their tongues are too attached with a too-long frenulum can learn to latch and breastfeed properly. You would need to talk and meet with a lactation consultation at the hospital so that they can teach you and your son. That could help you avoid getting the frenulum (that little piece of skin under the tongue) snipped before he's older.

If you go through with it, you can ask them to numb it before they do it. It's a very fast procedure and they may not even need to stitch it. If they do, it would be one stitch that's dissolvable. They heal very quickly. You should ask about pain management for him. I won't tell that you it won't hurt him, but it won't hurt for long. It will also be easier to do it sooner, do it now, than to wait until he's older and it gives him speech problems and other problems. My brother had to have it done when he was around 6 or 7 and he still remembers it as being painful... plus since he was bigger there was more blood and more stitches and my mom had a harder time comforting him.

Anyway... you can give him both breastmilk and formula. People call that "supplementing" but even a nursing baby that has the tongue-tie should be able to get enough breastmilk. Watch his diapers for wetness and watch him for weight gain. If you do supplement with formula you risk reducing your breastmilk supply.

If you're able to pump your breastmilk, he can take that into a bottle. See if your hospital will rent you one.

Have you met with a lactation consultant? They can be lifesavers and get things back on track. They might be able to figure out why the latch isn't working and how to correct it to make things easier. Your doctor or the hospital should be able to refer someon to you. I needed one and she helped make it possible for me to breast feed for 2.5 years. I did have to supplement in the beginning, and was then able to nurse exclusively once I got back on track.

You can see if your doctor or the hospital you gave birth at can recommend a lactation consultant. I had to see one for my second kid and it made all the difference in the world (and I was kicking myself that I went through six long weeks of pain before making an appointment!).

Please contact your local Le Leche League for help. I went to a meeting in my area and the moms were great and helped me to fix my baby's latch. If they can't help you, they know the best lactation consultants and can help you find someone good to help you. Please call them. You can look them up here:
http://www.llli.org/webus.html

You can give a newborn both breastmilk and formula, but your breastmilk supply will probably go down pretty quickly. The only way to produce enough milk is to nurse - and to nurse you need to fix his latch. Good luck!

As long as you supplement, your body will continue not to make enough milk. You need to see a lactation consultant.

Yep! Try mixing the two so that he/she doesn't develop a preference for one over the other though.

Yes you can. Some children have high arches in their mouth and are unable to latch properly. Does not matter if you feed breast or bottle as long as he is getting feed. Who cares what others think. Do what is best for your family.

Yes you can alternate the two if your milk has not fully come in yet. I would suggest doing that so your baby does not get hungry. You need to consult a lactation nurse to get more specific instructions. Good luck.

M., My first son never latched well. I think it was because I didn't get a lactation consultant because I thought nursing was supposed to be natural. It is and was when all women nursed and all women helped one another...not today. Please, find a lactation consultant and work with her until you get a good latch. Nursing is based on supply and demand or rather demand will create the supply. If your baby needs more milk, he will want to nurse more, and his being put to the breast and sucking will trigger your body to make more milk. Please go to kellymom.com for the best breastfeeding info out there. You are at the first growth spurt - 7 to 10 days after birth. Baby should want to eat, eat, eat. Just sit in a rocker or a recliner with baby and nurse and watch TV with a ton of water for mama!!!

You can do this but you need to really work at it the first 2-4 weeks. I nursed baby number two until he self weaned about 20 months!

Hugs, it is hard and mamas are tired! Have your partner change the diapers:) C.

I always supplemented with a little formula at first. In order to build up your supply and not cause it to diminish, always breast feed first, and have a bottle with a couple of ounces of formula in it in case he's still hungry after breastfeeding. If so, feed him the formula and then pump both breasts. Put him to the breast and pump often, and you will start increasing your supply.

Yes, he'll be fine. its a question of your supply. Breast milk is a supply and demand kind of thing. If you go down the road of supplementing, it can be a slippery slope to get your supply where it needs to be. That said, many woman have used a bit of formula to get past the difficult first few weeks.
The best way to increase your milk supply is to feed (or pump) more frequently. Just watch out with formula that you only top him off just enough to get him to last 2 or three hours between feedings. If baby is going 4 or even 5 hours between feedings (this can happen with formula), your breast milk supply will do terrible.
a few four hour stretches at night are okay though, just make sure you hit a minimum of 8 feedings to stimulate your milk supply.

If you aren't making enough milk, your baby will not be healthy. I recommend that you work with a lactation consultant to see if you can fix the latching problem. If it doesn't work well enough, if your baby is not gaining weight or if he doesn't have enough wet diapers, you HAVE to give supplement with formula. If you don't, he will end up in the hospital with needles and tubes in him, a very sick and dehydrated baby.

My younger son had trouble and I had to supplement him with formula along with nursing. You do what you have to do.