Let me preface by starting that this is not an “anti-formula or anti-pumping” post. I believe fed is best but wanted to post my experience to help out moms who are put in the same situation I was.

My second son is 7 weeks old. My first is 2.5 and I breastfed him for two years. I knew going into labor that I had very flat nipples and would need a nipple shield to breastfeed at first (I had purchased some but forgot to pack them in my hospital bag). After birth I was stuck in l&d for hours as they got a bed ready for me. I had asked the nurse there if I could have a shield and was told I could have one as soon as I was in recovery. I was fine with this as baby was happy and I had actually gotten him to latch a teeny bit. I get to recovery and ask the nurse for a shield (explaining my history and why I needed one), but am told “no, it won’t do anything if your milk hasn’t come in yet”. I thought “okay, fair enough, I’ll try and get him to latch and ask for it if I have trouble”. Time for feeding comes around and (no surprise), he can’t latch. The same nurse and I spend several minutes trying and, after the nurse painfully squeezing my breast to produce colostrum to bribe baby, he latched. During this process, she mentioned that I would need to pump and feed him with a syringe and formula feed to supplement. At this point my son was less than 6 hours old. I told her no, I wanted to try a nipple shield first and see how that went, since pumping would also do no good if my milk hasn’t come in. She left and didn’t come back until it was time to try again to latch baby.

Again, it’s a fight but we get him to eventually latch. She twice brings up formula feeding him, and I tell her “I am open to formula if my baby is hungry and I can’t satisfy him or he is losing too much weight”. My son was happily sleeping in newborn la-la land and was obviously not hungry at all during my stay. I ask once again for a shield, to which she finally decides to go and get one. She comes back over 20 minutes later, tosses it barely within reach at the end of my side table and leaves before I could tell her it’s far from the right size, but hey! I got a shield. Baby is able to latch easier. A lactation consultant eventually comes in, agrees with me on the necessity of a shield and gets me a better one. Yay! Finally!

The thing is, this nurse pushed formula on me three times before my baby was 12 hours old. I’m still mad about it, but not for me. I spent two years breastfeeding, I had gone through the newborn stage before. I was mad that she might damage the breastfeeding process of a first time mom. With my first, I remember sobbing when he wouldn’t latch (until my angel of a lactation consultant realized I needed a shield), and that was with a good nurse who didn’t once mention supplementing due to low supply. I cannot imagine having this nurse and feeling confident in breastfeeding. “A medical professional is telling me to supplement? I don’t have enough milk?” It was totally normal that my milk hadn’t come in yet. Had I chosen to believe I had low supply, who knows what would have happened. Would I have given up and assumed “well, my milk never came in” or “my baby is hungry and this isn’t enough”?

Your may need to supplement or pump and that’s okay. Trust the professionals, but also trust your gut. I doubt most nurses will be as aggressive as mine was with the formula recommendation (this nurse had a horrible bed side manner and I had other complaints as well), but I want to share my story so that women who want to breastfeed aren’t pushed into thinking they need to supplement when their baby is content. Talk to a lactation consultant before worrying, and get their opinion on pumping and supplementing.