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I don't have experience, but what happens when you put baby to the breast now? Are you concerned that you're not producing enough?

I would start by always trying to breastfeed first. Milk supply is a supply and demand thing, so the more often you put baby to the breast and/or pump, the better. Do you have a partner to help you? I would put baby to the breast, and then have DH top up with formula if necessary while I pumped immediately after to stimulate more milk production... if there's concern about milk supply.

@ruby26: It sounds rough, but you're only a few days in, so this is totally doable! Try putting premie nipples on the bottles, so they are less appealing. You can also try to hand express a bit so that there is milk at the ready when baby gets to the breast. Keep trying... good breastfeeding advice is to never give up on a bad day, good luck!

I agree with the others that you could try pumping or hand expressing until you feel let down, and then switch to baby. This might help with the frustration.

I also like the idea of switching to the preemie bottle tops.

I'm sorry you're going through this. You're doing a great job! I'm sure the LC will have some good advice for you tomorrow too! I'm sure they see situations like this often.

With DS the pedi had us start formula on day 2 because of jaundice, my milk hadn't come in yet either. The hospital nurses were great. They told me to put him at the breast every 2 hours for about 15 mins then give him the bottle of formula. When my milk finally came in I tried to put him on the breast then give him a bottle while I pumped. He did not do well nursing at first. But something clicked when he turned 1 month old and he started nursing better. We weaned off the formula and he was breast milk only until 13 months. You can do it, don't give up. Good luck!!

Both my boys had really bad jaundice. First son was in NICU for it and my milk didn't come in for a week. My LCs were fighting with the NICU nurses about formula supplementation and it made me feel like a failure because I was nursing and I pumping around the clock at my LCs' recos but he kept losing weight and his levels were going up and he finally got better with formula.

With our second we didn't hesitate with the formula and just gave it liberally and we were able to avoid NICU with a biliblanket at home. He still had weight loss issues too but my milk came in 4 days PP instead of a week.

I have not EBFed both my boys - they both got a bottle of formula a day - but I was able to nurse and pump for DS1 for 9 months and DS2 is 8 months now and still nursing and taking bottles just fine.

Once the bili levels are down jaundice is over so you can just focus on the weight. 'Once you hit your 2 week check where the baby has met their birth weight, just try nursing as much as possible. Baby will probably fuss and be pissed but let them go for a while, take a break, try again, and go on 2 hour cycles. If you do breast compressions while you nurse it will help your milk to flow much faster and yes to hand expressing for a little bit before the feeding. If you do need to bottle feed use premie nipples - once my milk came in my second son actually got pissed about the premie nipple because it was slower than the breast!

Ultimately my boys got 90% BM, they both nursed or took bottles of BM or formula just fine, and I liked the flexibility.

I don't think you did you did anything wrong - it's better to triage issues one at a time. And honestly I felt more pressured by the LCs than anyone. For us it was: Safe delivery, then jaundice, then birthweight, then breastfeeding. By 6 weeks it was a lot better because their mouths are bigger and their oral muscles have strengthened. That's gonna be the big thing about nursing - getting their mouth strong through constant latching and nursing. So if it's important to you, keep nursing

@ruby26: best of luck!!! BF didn't come super easy both times, but worth fighting hard for!

It sounds like your headed the right direction.

The other thing Ive heard is to try to do lots of skin to skin time and let baby really smell you and learn to reach for it!

With my first, he ended up in the NICU with jaundice because I refused to supplement with formula. So please don't regret using formula to bring down the bilirubin. I wish my pedi had insisted, because the admittance to the NICU was awful (an IV into the scalp because he was dehydrated, for instance). I massively regret not supplementing.

With #2 and #3, I used formula right off the bat and continued until they were cleared of jaundice and my milk was in. I successfully weaned off formula and EBF all three from that point on.

I don't think a few days of bottle feeding will affect your nursing relationship. Good luck!!