spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered both babies at Good Sam and I formula fed both. Both my husband and I were prepared in case they tried to pressure me to BF, but they simply asked what I intended to do and that was that. They always gave me formula and were great about it.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I planned on bf'ing and dd and I both got the hang of it quickly. My second night in the hospital, though, I needed sleep so badly - I was in labor all night before delivering, and the first night in my room I had my baby with me and didn't sleep. So the second night, I asked them to take dd to the nursery and give her one bottle for her 2 am feeding so I could sleep from 12:30 to 4:00. They woke me up at 1:00 to take my blood pressure, and then wheeled the baby into my room for bf'ing at 2:00. I was so annoyed, I had the nurse turn right around with her and bring her back. I assumed that it was an honest mistake, but after reading these other stories...

spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

At Winthrop ds was in the nicu - I was really sick the first day from the anti seizure medicine so they gave him formula - but day 2 they then encouraged me to pump, and eventually got me setup with a LC to try BF ........ There LC is very strong on keep trying........The NICU thought would ff him if I hadn't brought the pumped back in time.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I never had an issue. I was never pushed about BF. I said I was not interested and that was that.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

With DD#2 I was pressured into giving formula. They told me she was too big and needed more milk. Still mad they lied to a stressed out young mom. Ruined BF'ing for me.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

When DS was born the staff at the hospital gave me such a hard time about formula feeding it was awful I truly tried breast feeding at the time but he wouldnt latch and screamed the whole time. Plus my milk didnt come in right away. I delivered DD at the same hospital and the first thing I did when I stepped foot into the hospital was tell the staff that I was formula feeding. I was unable to breast feed for medical reasons anyway (and still am) but I didnt even want them harassing me about it. My OB also knew that I couldnt breastfeed and supported me when it came to the staff. This just shouldnt be a stress for any woman when in the hospital...the hospitals are so wrong for pushing breastfeeding and making a woman feel horrible for choosing formula.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I gave birth at Good Sam. I had two different roommates during my stay. Both FF exclusively and I never heard anyone pressure them otherwise. I was EBF but having a rough time. I literally did not sleep more than maybe 2 hrs during my entire hospital stay because DS was just so hungry and I wasn't producing. He lost 1lb in the hospital and the PED was concerned and wanted me to supplement with formula immediately. As soon as I mentioned this to the nurses, they started pressuring me big time to not give any formula. I felt very confused and overwhelmed by being told different things from different medical professionals. I hated the way it was handled and couldn't wait to go home. I ended up sticking with it but I wanted to give up so many times. I don't fault anyone for FF because BF can be very difficult.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I gave birth in Charotte NC. They asked my plans. I said BF. I tried, he wouldn't latch. I cried, he cried. I said give formula just to calm him, that night in the nursery he ate something like 6oz in a feeding. I pumped for 3 weeks and HATED it. They never questioned me. He was happy, I was happy that's all they care about.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I just had a baby 6 weeks ago at Winthrop. I had no issues getting formula.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I can't imagine that experience...

I was going to BF... but my DS just needed more. My pediatrician, who watched me feed DS and watched him after actually recommended giving him a bit of formula (he wanted to be ON boob 24/7). It worked really well.

spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered both times at Englewood Hospital in NJ.

I noticed a difference between the first and second times - they didn't outright push breastfeeding but, they seemed to be promoting bonding more the second time (they left DS 2 with me longer after he was born and then they told me when he got to the room that they were encouraging rooming in when I told them I would call them shortly to take him to the nursery). There was also no formula company parting gift like there was the first time.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I chose to BF. I had my DS at South Nassau. He was a horrible latcher and as much as the nurses and lactation consultant tried to help it still took a while. The nurses there were soooo supportive, but one finally had to convince me to supplement a tiny bit with formula - about 1 oz total. They used a special method so that there would be no nipple confusion and my son was able to sleep soundly for a few hours. I'll be forever grateful for them. There was NO judgment either way - they gave me plenty of samples when I left "just in case" but ALSO sent the lactation consultant in numerous times to help. Best of both worlds, IMO.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I just delivered at Plainview hospital. I was very forceful about my wanting to breastfeed, but the baby was taken almost immediately after birth adn ididnt see him for nearly 3hours. At that point due to low blood sugars, they fed him twice on a bottle. Once he came to me, i was exhausted and had no patience for anything. We tried to get him to latch, but due to my small nipples and large breasts- and no milk, we supplemented. The nurse saw my frustration with breastfeeding. I had a lactation consultant come twice to see me, and neither time was it all that positive. He had major issues latching and continueto at home. The nurse brought me a bag full of formula to take home. My hospital is also a breastfeeding pushing hospital. I think nurses recognize that, and can make the determination who to continue to discuss it with andwho not to. There is no point to making the mom feel frustrated or what not due to inability to lack of wanting to breast feed. The nurses can make all the difference in teh world. Thankfully i had some great nurses come in adn see me.

Message edited 7/31/2012 9:06:06 AM.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I deliverd at Southside and they were amazing.
Right after she was born the nurse asked- are you breastfeeding?
I said no.
She made a mark on the chart and that was the VERY LAST I heard of it ever again.
Not once did anyone say a word to me.
They would bring me the baby each morning with a load of nursettes under her bassinet.
The nurses even gave me a bunch to take home and told me to have DH take a bunch home each night so they'd replensih them.
The words breast and feeding were never uttered once to me after the intial question in the delivery room.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered at NSUH.

I told them that I more than likely wanted to FF.

The first thing I was asked after DS was born was "Are we BFing?" to which I replied "No, I think we're going with FFing"

That was followed by the "You know Breast Milk is THE best thing you can give your baby" line, followed by the "The bonding expereince you will have with your child is like no other" line (I TRULY hate this one - so unless you BF there is no way to have a bond with your child...whatever).

After, having handful more nurses come in and guilt me about my choice to not BF, and which BFing class I wanted to attend, I gave in and said i would try.

They positioned DS on my chest and the entire time I kept thinking "this isn't what I want, why am I letting them tell me what to do with MY child".

The nurse left the room and I turned to DH with tears in my eyes to take him off my chest and get a bottle.

I was offeneded that they went that far after the amount of times I told them no.

I asked that it be written in my chart that I was formula feeding and to not ask me about BFing again.

The question should be asked once and the answer should be noted - no guilt or pushing should be applied regardless of which method the women chooses.

Message edited 7/31/2012 9:25:03 AM.

spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered at LIJ and had the opposite problem - I said BF only and they pushed formula on me. They "made" me give DD formula, wouldn't send a nurse or LC to help me with BF, and "made" me take a bunch of formula home. I was exhausted from a 48 hour induction and crazy hormonal and scared of starving my baby, so I took it and used it, but with a lot of help we managed to get back to EBF within a few weeks. I felt a lot of pressure from the nurses to FF. Next time around I obviously would never let them push me either way.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

that is so outrageous that you can be denied formula at a hospital.

i didn't ask for formula, they just gave it to him in the nursery while i slept. i wasn't asked if they could do that, they just did it.

i was asked if i was going to BF, and i said yes, i'd like to try. was so out of it from the CS, i didn't quite grasp what was happening. he wasn't underweight or anything, perfectly healthy.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I had Ethan at Good Sam.
I breastfed- nobody questioned me or tried to push formula.
Every nurse during their shift brought in Formula for me....i told them I was BF'ing and they said take it home incase BF'ing doesnt work.
I hd no joke like 4 months of formula when I left there!

spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered at Winthrop. I planned to exclusively bf, but DS wouldn't latch so he had formula in the hospital while I continued to try to bf and pump to get supply up. I had no problem getting formula in the hospital, but they wouldn't give me any extra to take home when I asked since he still wasn't latching and I didn't have any formula at home since I planned to exclusively bf.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

With ds1 I intended on bfing and ended up not doing it b/c I had a crazy traumatic delivery and was so emotionally and physically weak that formula just seemed like the right thing to do. I did try a little in the hospital but my heart just wasn't in it. The nurses actually suggested to ME that we should give the baby some formula. On the day we left the hospital there was a bit of a snowstorm and we had ZERO formula at home. I asked for a few nursettes to take home b/c we didn't want to stop with the baby and figured dh or my mom would go to the store in a few hours or whatever (at home I actually had one sample can that I forgot about- and a zillion bfing supplies). The nurse gave us TWO nursettes, lol. That's fine- I didn't care about the freebie aspect- I was just surprised bc I read on here about all these sample packs etc and "bring an extra bag for freebies" etc. I swear I thought it was due to the nurses wanting to cut down on giving things away- but I thought it was crappy given the snow circumstance- whatever.

With ds2 getting formula just to feed him in the hospital was like pulling teeth. My ped came and went to the supply closet himself to take bottles for me- again just to feed him in the hospital- not for a freebie. I also told the story on the other thread how one nurse made me take my shirt off and feed the baby with the formula bottle jutting from my boob to simulate bfing "or we wouldn't bond". My ob happened to walk in for a visit as that nurse walked out and said, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" lol and called her a moron. The funny thing is that I ended up bfing ds2 for a few months- maybe like half bf half ff.

I guess for me it was just different circumstances that led me to do what was right FOR ME. With ds1 I had every intention and then just felt like I couldn't do it. With ds2 I thought I wouldn't bother since I hadn't done it for ds1 but then ended up doing it.

To get back to the op- I felt it sort of varied by nurse. Some of the nurses were almost anti-bfing and some anti ff. Those of course were the extremes- there were some in between that didn't care much either way- but overall I did feel like formula wasn't half as accessible as all the percocet they kept trying to shove down my throat.

I also feel like I wasted a lot of bottles as a brand new mom thinking ds was hungry when he wasn't and maybe they thought I was really putting them in my bag? Idk.

ETA both deliveries were at nsuh manhasset

Message edited 7/31/2012 10:15:12 AM.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

Southside was amazing. DS didn't latch right away and I really wanted to breastfeed. One of the nurses stayed with me an hour and a half in the middle of the night. She helped me pump, and finally the next morning another nurse worked with me and DS latched like a champ. The formula was under his bassinet but we didn't use it. We brought him to the nursery and they brought him back to me twice a night to nurse.

I am so sorry to all the moms that had difficult experiences.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered at Katz (LIJ) and told them I was BF.

The first night he got a tiny bit of formula because I was nervous that he wasnt getting enough milk from me. The nurses didnt give me a hard time one way or the other.

The next day a LC came in to help and one of the nurses who was amazingly supportive and sat with me to help him latch. She was really wonderful.

We did supplement some more in the hospital because my milk really hadnt come in. The nurses did tell me that I had everything that the baby needed and he would be OK if I didnt supplement but I didnt feel secure in that. When I asked for formula it was given to me.

We were also given some to take with us. Not an excessive amount by any means. We also had to ask for it.

In the weeks following our arrival at home I started supplementing more and more due to my very tough recovery. I know some women are able to do it despite tough recoveries but I just didnt feel up to the task of EBF. It was too stressful for me.

My entire maternity leave was spent nursing him as much as I possibly could until towards the end his main source of food became formula.

In any case as it ends up now he still gets both FF and BF. However, I only nurse him twice a day and it is really more as a comforting snack than his source of main nourishment.

I do it because I would like to keep the door to BF open for us until at least 6 months. We will see how it goes. I also pump at work but because of the decrease of nursing at home, the supply I get from pumping is miniscule. I keep doing it however in a n effort to keep my body making some milk...

I feel good about the fact that he still nurses at some point every day. However, I did what I felt was best for both my baby and my own sanity and supplemented.

Now I would say he is a FF baby who gets BF as a snack everyday (I dont think what is coming out is enough to warrant a feeding). Our routine works for us.

Re: spinoff- If you asked for formula in hospital

I delivered at Good Sam and did not feel pressured at all to BF. I was interested in it and I did try it with the lactation nurse, when I gave it up in the hospital, she did talk to me about it, but I did not feel like she was lecturing me or pressuring me.

None of the nurses ever pressured me.

I know someone who also delivered at Good Sam a month after I did and said she felt very pressured to BF