Is she doomed?

[Heavenly]

My SIL just had a little boy today, 9lbs 9oz. She has seen me breastfeeding for years and I have tried to give her tons of tips about it. Tonight I went to see her in the hospital and she said the hospital is going to give have to give him bottles of formula because they told her he is too big to just breastfeed alone. I told her that wasn't true and she didn't need to give bottles and that it would compromise her milk supply and possibly cause nipple confusion. Her husband was standing right there and he said they would listen to what the doctor said and she agreed with him. So now this little baby is going to be getting bottles of formula on his first day of life. Is it possible she will still be able to breastfeed or is this going to cause breastfeeding to fail? I know I shouldn't stick my nose in but it is really upsetting me because it is just so unnecessary!

[CookAMH]

I understand how you feel. It's hard when it's someone else's decision. Unfortunately for their baby, it IS their decision and their child.

But no, it's not too late to start nursing should she change her mind. someone else will know better specifics, but I'd think that once her milk came in and she didn't nurse, her milk will dry up.

I've been breastfeeding my 9lb 2oz boy pretty well

[twins+1]

Wow that is ridiculous advice. Where is the LC???

[34me]

I was told the same thing with my 10 pounder. He was an emergency c-section (and even looking back it was an emergency) and I had had general anesthesia so he was given formula that night and the next morning because I just could.not. keep. my. eyes. open. He was by far my best nurser.

[jecombs]

She's not doomed, but she did just potentially make things a lot harder for herself. OP, just make sure she knows to pump every two hours when the baby has had formula. This will help her supply come-in, hopefully abundantly enough to satisfy the baby. But, as I'm sure you know, if the breasts don't get stimulated her milk will take longer to come-in and she may have supply problems.

Unfortunately some people opt to just blindly trust medical professionals, instead of researching things themselves. It's tough, because that is the way our society has conditioned us. Just be there, non-judgementally, and give advice when asked. It can also be helpful to send new Moms links to articles on the web. You might want to point her toward www.kellymom.com.

[PatioGardener]

She could supplement at the breast if she really felt the need to supplement - at least that way they would avoid bottle preference.

Anyway you can give them an LC's visit as a gift?