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With DD1 we supplemented from day one because colostrum was not enough for her. We ended up supplementing pretty regularly throughout our whole BFing relationship because of poor pumping output.

Second time around we did not hesitate to supplement in the hospital when dd2 started screaming and screaming after nursing. We only used formula the first few days until my milk came in. We've been EBF since. My pumping output is "just" meeting her demands.

@MrsH: oh no! I had a hard time with weight gain and latch issues with lo1 but we got through it and nursed for a year. The first six weeks were really hard though.

With lo2 I was really hoping things would be easier...but he had a tongue tie and basically didn't latch the whole first week. I pumped every three hours from when we left the hospital and fed him the pumped milk via syringe until we could get the tongue tie clipped and have an LC come out to help with latch. He is now actually nursing (with a nipple shield but we can work on that) and it is such a relief!

Losing up to 10% is normal in the first few days. I she you should try to pump and give that milk if you can and try to avoid formula if you can help it. Good luck!

E didn't have a wet diaper in his first 24 hours so they wanted us to supplement in the hospital. They let us do that by using a syringe in the corner of his mouth while he was nursing and we only needed to do that for a day or two. Maybe something you can try so your breasts are still stimulated.

I just have the one LO, but I just wanted to say that supplementing early on doesn't have to cause problems.

We had to supplement for the first week (first with formula and then with my milk), and LO was otherwise EBF. He's still nursing at 22 months.

The lactation consultant had me pump for twenty minutes and then hand express for another five every time we gave LO a bottle. Once he really got the hang of nursing, I had enough milk.

@Woolly Mammoth: Agreed. Or, you can keep on supplementing and nurse for 19 months like I did. EBF is not the only way to BF.

I haven't had a second LO but I feel like there are a lot of great success stories of the second time being easier, especially if there are not latch/transfer issues. Has the LC checked her for tongue/lip tie? You may want to do some research and check yourself as well. Also, look into supplementing with an SNS rather than a bottle. I definitely want to try it next time - your breasts are being emptied/stimulated while you supplement, the flow is slower than a bottle, you get the bonding, you don't have to pump incessantly (assuming baby is removing milk well), etc.!

@Woolly Mammoth: @daniellemybelle: yup yup! I supplemented one bottle regularly and nursed DD1 till about 25 m! I firmly believe it's the formula that helped me not stress about supply later on.

Breastfeeding isn't a all or nothing relationship.

Both babies had a tongue tie that was clipped day 2. My biggest issue is the pain from LOs drawing out my inverted nipple. I gave up on that breast at 10 weeks with LO1. I'm 6 weeks in with LO2 and there is still quite a bit of pain. I did a lot of research and talked.to LCs in advance. Everyone said it should be less painful this time but it isn't. My current goal is 10 weeks and I will reevaluate. I told myself I wasn't going to go through being lopsided oO for a year again.