Will My Baby Get Formula in the Hospital?
You should know before you go to have your baby: Hospitals should not routinely give breastfed babies any water, sugar water or artificial baby milk (a.k.a. formula). They should support and educate parents on breastfeeding/chestfeeding.
What is Supplementation?
Feedings given in place of, or with, breast- or chest-feeding (which may include expressed breastmilk, formula, or water).
Methods of supplementation include:
Using a syringe or dropper at the breast
Using a syringe with a feeding tube at the breast
Feeding with a spoon
Feeding with a cup
Feeding with a dropper
Finger-feeding with a dropper or a syringe with a feeding tube
Using a nipple with a wide base and slow flow
Does My Baby Need Supplementation?
Healthy term newborns rarely need supplementation.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breastfed babies should not be given anything except breastmilk for at least 6 months unless medically indicated.
Breastfed babies are only offered supplements when medically needed. For example: Low blood sugar, premature babies, excessive weight loss, or jaundice due to poor feeding.
What if My Baby Gets Formula or Water That Is Not Medically Needed?
Giving any formula changes the kind of bacteria in your baby’s gut/intestines.
The suck on a bottle is different from the suck on a breast. If fed bottles in the first days of life, a breastfed baby may have later problems latching onto the breast. You can try to minimize this by using small, appropriate amounts and paced bottle-feeding.
Formula takes longer to digest than human milk. It empties from the stomach slower than breastmilk. This increases the time between feedings. If your breasts are not emptied often your milk production will go down.
Research studies have shown feeding a healthy term baby often without supplements encourages early milk production. This will decrease the chance of jaundice and provide better weight gain for your baby.
Early use of formula may increase the risk of allergies.
While any amount of bodyfeeding is better than none, some of the benefits of bodyfeeding are associate with exclusive bodyfeeding.
Exclusive breastfeeding/chestfeeding means nothing except breastmilk for the first months of life.
Most breastfed/chestfed infants will not require any supplementary feedings, but if you have any questions, please ask your health care provider, lactation consultant or your baby’s pediatrician.
