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Ask a Baby Blogger: Why Supplementing is Bad News

Question: I’ve read lots of your stuff about breastfeeding. You often tell moms not to supplement if they want to breastfeed but I thought I read somewhere that you supplemented with your younger three? Can you explain when it is okay and not okay to supplement? This is a really tricky question to answer because each individual situation is different. Let me preface my answer by saying that I believe that moms need to do whatever they need to do to get the baby fed. That sometimes includes supplementing with formula. However, let me say that supplementing is not the … Continue reading →

Nursing Nuisances: What to Do With the Tongue Tied Baby

If you haven’t read it yet, check out yesterday’s article on what it means to be a tongue tied baby, and how to identify that this might be the problem. Again, having a tongue tied baby doesn’t mean that you can’t nurse. However, it is definitely one of those situations under which you will need to consult a certified IBCLC and you will most likely have to have the baby undergo an office procedure. But I’m getting ahead of myself. In addition to the physical signs of being tongue tied, you may also suspect something is wrong because breastfeeding is … Continue reading →

Un-confusing the Nipple Confused Baby

Just in case I didn’t make the point perfectly clear in my last blog, the easiest thing to do is to avoid nipple confusion entirely by not giving the baby anything besides your breast until breastfeeding is well established–this includes pacifiers and/or bottles of expressed milk! However, if your baby is hospitalized that just might not be possible. For us, we already had other children at home and I simply couldn’t be at the hospital for every feeding. There was no other alternative but to feed Meghan bottles while I was not there. While most babies transition easily between breast … Continue reading →

Don’t Panic! Babies Are Supposed to Lose Weight!

Many breastfeeding moms believe that significant weight loss after birth is reason to supplement with formula. In fact, I remember being told by a nurse when I was in the hospital with my son (aka the latch-on technique king of the world) that he had lost too much weight and I was starving him. I did not supplement with formula because I knew that in fact, weight loss after birth is normal. In fact, a new study has suggested that babies are over fed in the hospital with formula when they are supplemented. Here are a few reasons why babies … Continue reading →

Should Formula Cans Contain Warning Labels?

We have been talking about this particular issue in the forums. You can catch up on the debate here. However, I have to say that there isn’t too much of a debate. The overwhelming majority of people feel that warning labels on formula cans are “like a slap in the face to mothers who choose or have to formula feed.” However, like all debates, we are fueled with our personal experiences and I thought it might be helpful to provide some background information on the issue. Background The initiative to put warning labels on cans of formula is backed by … Continue reading →