You may have heard that feeding your baby even small amounts of formula can sabotage your efforts at breastfeeding. Your breasts supply milk in response to baby’s demand, after all, and when you’re feeding your child with a bottle, your body notices a reduction in that demand. If you’re wondering how to supplement with formula on a short term basis, while increasing your supply enough to eventually breastfeed exclusively, you’ve come to the right place.
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My milk didn’t come in for nearly a week after my first child was born. The lactation consultants kept asking if I felt letdown. I felt disappointed all right, disillusioned by the whole idea of ever nursing, but of course that wasn’t what they meant. They were asking if I’d felt the physical sensation of releasing milk… and how could I know? I had no frame of reference for what it felt like, so who was I to know whether or not it was happening? In hindsight, it wasn’t happening, and it feels like being punched in both breasts at once by large (but relatively weak) fists inside your body. As soon as you feel it, you know for sure the faucets are on. The dull ache only lasts about ninety seconds, and then it’s gone, but if you’re pumping or nursing the milk can continue to flow for a long time.
Anyway, back in my hospital room that day, I didn’t know how to answer the consultant’s question. Nurses weighed my daughter several times during our stay (An extended stay due complications I experienced during delivery. Did you know a traumatic delivery or c-section can cause a delay in your milk coming in?) and she was gradually losing. Before we were discharged, a nurse talked with me about how to supplement with formula. I had done enough reading to know this was likely to mean the end of breastfeeding for us, and my raw, hormonal heart was shattered. But the nurse explained that we could give our baby formula with a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) rather than in a bottle.
She poured some formula into a tiny, cylindrical bottle, and at the end where a nipple would normally go, she attached a little plastic nub connected to a very thin, long tube. She clipped the bottle upside down onto my bra strap and taped the end of the thin tube to my breast (postpartum is such a glamorous time for us, ladies). When I nursed my daughter, the end of the tiny tube went into her mouth along with my nipple, and she drank the formula that way. This worked better for us than a bottle would have, for three reasons:
- My baby was still getting all of the colostrum (a sort of pre-milk, filled with antibodies) that I had to offer
- She wasn’t running the risk of nipple confusion (when babies adjust to drinking from bottles and then have trouble switching back to the breast)
- My body was still being stimulated to produce more milk at every feeding
We went home with the SNS, and instructions on how to supplement with formula in terms of ounces per feeding. It was inconvenient to add the task of flushing out the system after each feeding to all the other things I had to do. But with support form my husband and my mom, I was able to use it at every feeding and also pump afterwards, to further encourage my milk to come in. I experienced my first real letdown on our third day home from the hospital. I put the pumped breast milk into the SNS at my baby’s next feeding, and from then on we were good to go. We got to toss the bottle and tube in favor of nursing exclusively for the next year and a half.
Taking into consideration the physical and emotional benefits of breastfeeding, and the low cost of this system compared to several months’ worth of formula, I can’t recommend the Medela SNS highly enough. You may feel helpless and discouraged, knowing your baby needs more nutrition than you can provide, but you have a choice in how to supplement with formula. The right method could make the difference between weaning early and reaching your nursing goals. In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I’d like to share a few other things I wish I’d known, for any moms just getting started.
Secrets to Breastfeeding Success
- There’s a good chance you can get a free pump from your health insurance company, whether you plan on going back to work after baby is born or not. Call the number the back of your card and ask. You’ll likely get a choice between a few popular models. I liked the Medela Pump in Style.
- Starting somewhere around the fourth day, and lasting until somewhere around the fourth week, every feeding will be out-of-this-world, unbelievably painful. You’ll probably think you know what pain is, after having just given birth and all, but take a (padded) seat my friend, and grab something to squeeze so you don’t end up crushing your baby. Each time, I would forget how bad it was, and start to think I had to be doing something wrong. The ugly truth is that if every initial latch-on feels like you’re piercing your nipple with a scalding hot needle, you’re probably doing it exactly right. I imagine it would be even worse without lanolin, a great protective product that’s safe for baby to consume. Buy tiny tubes and keep them everywhere.
- You’re going to want to give up. Breastfeeding is exhausting. Baby will want to latch on every hour and a half or so for feedings, possibly more often just for comfort. Any attempt to space out the feedings could be detrimental to her health and to your supply. Your sleep-deprived mind will wonder how it could hurt to supplement with formula just this once, or just once a week, so you can enjoy a four-hour stretch of sleep. Hang in there. That’s a slippery slope that can lead to a diminished supply, and your baby will be sleeping longer stretches before too long.
- You’re going to be hungrier than you ever were during pregnancy. It makes sense, when you think about it. You’re still providing all the nutrition for a growing baby, but now that baby is bigger than ever and is consuming more calories than before. Plan ahead to keep plenty of healthy (or reasonably healthy) snacks on hand, otherwise you’ll end up eating anything and everything you can get your hands on.
- It gets easier. In a few short weeks, you’ll be able to stand under the shower stream again without wanting to jump out of your skin. Baby’s latch won’t hurt anymore, and you’ll start to feel like it was all worth it. Once I made it to week five or six, I realized breastfeeding was by FAR the easiest way to feed a baby. No need to research or stock up on formula, no need to worry about how many bottles to pack when going out for the day. No need to walk into the kitchen at night and to measure and mix baby’s 2am feeding. You’ll always have what it takes to make your baby happy, right there on your body, and you won’t have a hundred bottles to wash at the end of each day.
- Avoid antihistamines. If it’s allergy season and you take a Claritin to help your runny nose, it won’t hurt your baby, but it could dry you up in more ways than you bargained for.
- Drinking plenty of water, eating real oats (not the instant kind), and pumping regularly are good ways to bring your supply back up if it dips, and we’ve covered how to supplement with formula (or pumped breast milk) if necessary in the meantime. Oversupply is a much less common issue, but it can happen, and it can be inconvenient and uncomfortable when it does. The upside is that you may be eligible to donate excess breast milk if you find you have more than your child needs. Companies like Tiny Treasures Milk Bank/Prolacta buy milk from carefully screened mothers, and use it to create fortified nutritional products for premature babies.
- Don’t bother bringing pumped bottles with you to feed your baby in public places. I tried this with my first, because I didn’t feel comfortable pulling my shirt down anywhere and everywhere to nurse. What I wasn’t taking into account was that getting milk into my baby was only half of feeding process that needed to take place. At the same time intervals that she was eating, I also needed to get milk OUT of my breasts. And what’s more awkward than nursing in public? Pumping in public (I don’t recommend ever doing it). If you don’t pump as frequently as your baby is eating, your body will be confused and issue you a spontaneous letdown. Meaning you’ll just be going about your business, and suddenly milk will spray out everywhere. You can stop this when you feel letdown begin, by immediately applying pressure to your breasts with your hands or forearms, but if you aren’t wearing nursing pads, you’ll probably still leak through your shirt. And you’ll go on to experience some swelling and discomfort until you can eventually nurse or pump. If this happens multiple times, your body will get the message that you have more milk than your baby needs, and your supply will tank. So do yourself, your baby, and all of humanity a favor by boldly nursing wherever you are, whenever it’s necessary. Be part of the solution, and help normalize breastfeeding everywhere.
Between my three children, I breastfed for about four years, and it was an experience I’m so happy to have had. I understand it isn’t for everyone, and that moms change their minds on it for a wide range of perfectly valid reasons. But low supply is a common reason moms feel pressured to give up on nursing before they’re ready. I wish more moms knew how to supplement with formula in a way that supports, rather than undermines, breastfeeding.