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We supplemented with formula in the early days as well. Our problem was with LO's latch. She had formula for the first couple of weeks of her life. I hand expressed until I got a pump and until my lactation consultant and doula could come over. I found hand expression to be super easy and effective, for what it's worth. After we fixed LO's latch we didn't have to supplement any longer and I'm still breastfeeding her at 18 months.

Best advice is not to beat yourself up over having to supplement. Especially after having a traumatic birth experience, still being in pain, and having a new baby! And it's great you have help--having someone, like your doula, be supportive of your efforts will help.

We supplemented for the first couple weeks for similar reasons-- high % loss of weight, jaundice, milk not coming in, and then low milk supply. What worked for me was pumping after every single feeding (supplemented or not) to help increase my supply. By 6 weeks my supply was up and we didn't need to supplement anymore. Hugs to you-- I know how tough it is!

We supplemented with formula for about the first month, then were able to go to only breast milk. I liked the combination of nursing and bottle supplementing, that we continued to do it even after all of our bf'ing problems were done, we just used pumped milk instead of formula.

We had to go on 100% formula due to my LO having Breast Milk Jaundice, so I had to exclusively pump for several days, two separate times (the jaundice saga lasted a month, her levels would NOT go down)…She DID have some nipple confusion the first time, mainly bc I didn't know to use slow-flow bottles. So we just used regular bottles and she was like "Oh wow, I can just lay here and not have to work and this just pours itself down my throat! Awesome!" I was really worried she wouldn't go back on the boob, but I basically did lots of skin to skin and nursed like crazy until she got the hang of it. And then the 2nd time we used slow flow bottles and she was fine.

I also had to supplement when I returned to work…I could never pump enough to cover what she ate in a day. But I ended up quitting work after 3 months and I have EBF since then and she is totally fine/supply seems okay:)

It took me until about 8 weeks when my supply got high enough to EBF my twins, until then they had a few bottles of formula each day but now we are at 5 months and still EBF so using formula in the beginning didn't mess anything up!

Sadie was born on Tuesday night, and had lost 11% of her body weight by her check up on Friday morning. We supplemented, and I tried to BF, but it just didn't work out. She hasn't had any breast milk at all since maybe 3 weeks old. Stopping trying to BF or pump was one of the best decisions I've ever made - formula feeding works well for our family.

(Meaning, if EBF doesn't work out, it's okay!)

I supplemented for the first three weeks. Like you, my LO lost a lot of her weight the first week, and my milk didn't come in until day 5 or 6. I pumped a lot during the early days to try to encourage my milk. We also used a syringe to feed her formula after each nursing session to avoid nipple confusion.

After about 3 weeks, our pediatrician and lactation consultant felt that she gained enough weight that we could cut out the supplemental feedings. I took lots of more milk plus, fenugreek, and blessed thistle for the first three months or so to keep my supply up. I also pumped A LOT.

We didn't need to supplement after that, and at 20 months, she's still nursing once or twice a day.

Good luck! The early days are so challenging

I voted on behalf of my BFF whose milk was slow to come in so they supplemented for the first couple weeks but she was able to go on to EBF until her LO was one.

We supplemented in the first week or two, due to weight loss, a sleepy nudser, and my milk being late. I was worried at first about him not getting enough, too, but he was okay. Remember that she has a tiny belly, and growth spurts can be frequent early on, so sometimes she might want to do tons of nursing. It can feel like you don't have enough, but baby is just telling your body to build a bigger milk supply as her capacity grows. We went on to EBF, and are still going strong at 10 months. In spite of all the stress in those first few weeks, I actually love nursing now.

Supplemented for the first week because my LO was early and my milk was slow to come in. I was pumping to build my supply from day 2 on. Since day 7 it has been BM, either from the breast or pumped in a bottle. LO is 5 months. If BFing is important to you, I'd suggest pumping, pumping, pumping. Nothing wrong with formula, but if you want to BF you need to pump whenever you give formula if not more often.

Yep, we had DS on formula for a day or two while my milk came in. It was a bit of a struggle getting to re-latch (due to flat nips and getting used to the formula btl), but after that first day, we've ebf and is still bf at 11 months