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I had no problems. They asked if I was breastfeeding or bottle feeding and I said Bottle. I don't recall getting pressured to Breastfeed.
They stocked my cart with the premade bottles and we were on our way.

Probably depends on the hospital! Ours is "baby friendly" so they probably would have been a bit rude (so dumb) but if you stand your ground they should leave you to just snuggle!

@kjpugs: I'd just bring my own supplies, I would rather that than not have formula be stocked and then have to have my husband running around.

If anyone came around, I'd just decline.

@kjpugs: Our hospital is very pro BF. But they are also stocked with formula and give it when asked. LO2 needed it for blood sugar issues and also in the middle of the night when I just couldn't take her screaming.

I would definitely talk to your OB about it and see if they have some input on how to best get your message across in the hospital. I think it really depends on the nurse staff. Unfortunately, some nurses just aren't great.

Mine is also baby friendly but they definitely had formula on hand. When I was admitted, they asked if I was going to breastfeed. I think that is their trigger to know to send in LCs etc. I would make sure at admissions and with all nurses what your intent is.

With LO I did not want to and they were rude. I had to fight my battle but in the end my mom was a huge bitch and they backed off. They provided the formula and nipples. We had a choice between Enfamil and Similac.

@kjpugs: I told them all thoroughout the pregnancy, in the hospital I didn't want to breastfeed, and honestly they put her on my breast when she was born! She immediately latched, and I mean I didn't want to fling the baby off so I rolled with it lol. It ended up working out, but in the future for lo 2, if I decide to bottle feed from the start I'll bring my own stuff for sure! Good luck!

for both deliveries it went well. Our hospital is very pro BF, they require all the nurses for L& D to be LC. But they ask while you are getting settled what your plan is for feeding. They did ask if they could ask why I choose to not BF. I gave them a short answer and it was done. They provided 2 types of formula. My time in the hospital was very relaxed, not stressed and just cuddled I hope you have a good experience.

I think you should put it in your birthplan! The important thing is that you feel good and your baby gets fed (and lots of cuddles!) and I think if you state it upfront they should respect that!

@kjpugs: With your first experience, I doubt you'll have engorgement, especially if you never latch LO2 on, but you may want to get some No More Milk Tea too? The baby may root to nurse when you do skin-to-skin, especially if she smells milk, so proactively drying up might help you if in your sea of postpartum hormones you feel conflicted at all.

Even though they likely have formula on hand, I’d bring your own and your own bottles, especially if you have a preference on brand/type of to give your next LO.

I was planning on BF, but had NO MILK in the hospital (and my milk never came in, either). I *requested* that they give LO a bottle of formula (and they asked me, and I confirmed, AGAIN, that yes, give her food – WTF is so hard to understand about that!!) and they wouldn’t. They simply kept bringing her back to me to “try” BF again or brining the LC around. LO was super upset and wouldn’t stop crying because she was starving and I had no milk and they wouldn’t give her formula. As a FTM recovering from a c-section, let’s just say I’m still a little bitter about it. That’s to say, just be prepared to stand up for yourself, or have someone on hand who will.

Honestly, this is the only thing that scares me about giving birth again. My first experience was HORRENDOUS in terms of pushy nurses/Drs/LCs at our "baby friendly" hospital and i am so scared to go through it again.

I've written a "Feeding Plan" that I am having my OB put in my chart. I want my intentions and wishes to be made very clear to everyone who enters my room. Dh thinks I'm a little nuts and that we will just verbally tell them, but I'm such a people pleaser that I can be easily swayed into doing what they want (EBF). I also hated having to explain my wishes to everyone who came in my room so hopefully this will stop me from repeating myself 99 times. Here's what I'm planning to give to my OB: sorry it's so long!

Nurses, Doctors, and Staff, 

The purpose of this plan is to clearly convey my feeding wishes for my newborn.

My baby will be fed with a combination of formula and breast milk via bottles. 

I will do skin to skin as early and as often as possible. Please do not misinterpret this as a desire to exclusively breastfeed. 

I will be pumping from Day 1. The use of the hospital pump and refrigeration area would be very much appreciated. 

If I or my husband ask for formula, please bring it in a bottle with a traditional nipple, without judgement or lecture.

I do not need any research or rhetoric on breast feeding. 

My baby can have a pacifier.

Please respect my decision and understand that it has come from a place of extensive research and first-hand experience.

Visits from the Lactation Consultants are welcome; however, I do not wish to be persuaded to attempt exclusively breastfeeding.
 
Please share this plan with anyone who will be working with me and my baby during our stay. 

Thank you for your understanding and support. My goal is to have a happy and healthy baby; I am confident that this will be best achieved for us through the combination feeding approach. 
Sincerely,
Charm54

Our hospital had signs for the door and tags for the baby's bassinet so that the nurses were informed up front and didn't ask you a million questions. I hope they respect your wishes!

We delivered at a baby friendly hospital and I had a breakdown twice while I was there (for lots of reasons, but breastfeeding was included) and basically after my first breakdown, we had the head charge nurse come in and told her what our needs were.

After that conversation, she put a sign on our door that said absolutely no one was to enter my room unless it was pre-cleared with my shift nurse (we got 1 nurse every 8 hours) with the nurse's pager number. I would ask for a similar consult once you get into your room and instruct them to put a "formula feeding only" sign or something on there and make it explicit to your nurse so that she will let the next nurse know when shift changes happen.

Our baby friendly hospital definitely had formula (our son needed it in NICU for jaundice) and they sent us home with a TON of nursettes and binkies. They had just about every kind of formula under the sun, actually. If you are concerned, just buy a box of nursettes before you get to the hospital.

I like this! "DH is adamant about not letting them be pushy about it".

I think there are a lot of good suggestions to handle it here and beyond that just let him take over the discussion if they try to push the dialogue (hopefully they won't but I unfortunately experienced some "baby-friendly" crazies at my hospital and know exactly what you're talking about).

Even though I was able to BF #1 in the hospital without too much stress and am planning to try again w/ #2, I am really looking forward to having the experience and confidence this time to stand up for myself and say "back off" and don't send the LC in unless I ask for help. I don't want some lady with crazy eyes bringing me my baby in recovery again and hovering over me watching his every latch.

edited to add: that's great to hear from your OB! I hope it won't even be an issue.

@kjpugs: I'm so glad you had a good visit! That's so reassuring.

If we have another I really hope to EBF, or at least combo feed again but with less drama than last time. But I still am going to bring nursettes of formula as well as a SNS. Like @yoursilverlining: my baby was starving for 3 days in the hospital and no one ever suggested that I, um, feed her. I don't understand how that is "baby friendly." Not going to let that happen again.

@kjpugs: Good news! I'm glad your appointment went well!

Our hospital had formula (nurselettes? - 2 oz disposable bottles) to feed LO with and they even send us home with a bunch!

I worried about "bad/well meaning" nurses too. I would say 80% of our nurses were totally cool with formula supplementing and 20% were pushy and wanted us to try harder to completely breastfeed. Hopefully you only get understanding nurses!