Supplementing Breastmilk vs. Mother's Intuition... my experience

...It is the best way we can care for our children, it is inherent and it existed before doctors etc refined their practise of medicine...

Great thought and advice.
Peace
EF.x 

Great advice.  Every new mother should remember to trust their instincts.

So right. Nobody knows their baby like their mother does. Thankyou for sharing your story. I think we should trust our instincts and do what we know is best for our baby, for our children.

I can't believe that you were given such poor advice. Ok, I can. My mum was a first time mother when the medical profession believed that colostrum had no nutritional value and took the baby away to give her formula for her first three days, banning my mum from breast-feeding. Nowadays, this had been proven to be complete nonsense and, although I am basically pro the medical profession, I think that there will be other errors along the way. I am a great believer in the fact that a person who spends 100% of their time with a baby is more likely to be alerted to potential problems than a health professional who sees them for maybe ten minutes. Sure, listen and discuss advice. Do not dismiss it out of hand, but do question anything that you are unhappy with. Breast feeding and learning to be a parent is hard enough as it is, without someone else putting a downer on what you think you are doing well. Well done for sticking to your guns.

One small point I do want to add, though, is for mothers not to be scared of supplementing their feeding. As a contrary point, a recent newspaper article I read suggested that there are parents that are not being given enough support when they are breast feeding, and be it through poor technique or other, the baby is becoming dehydrated. The good signs to watch for, as you said, are wet nappies. If it is coming out, it must have got in there somehow! Just be sure that there are sufficient wet nappies/ diapers.

I agree with Izzy.  Babes do lose weight after birth and gain it back later.  More often than not, our bodies adjust to what the baby needs.  I also had an experience where a nurse came to my home advising me something wasn't right.  On a second visit from a different nurse, I was told he must have been confused as to what stage we were at. 

It's a great story to share to remind us all to stay intune with our intuition.

I have never heard of a pediatrician recommending formula supplementation at such a young age.  Babies loose weight after birth and gain it back a week later and then just starts to balloon before slimming again when they become mobile.

Also, breastmilk adapts to baby's needs so it's much healthier. If baby needs a lot more calories, mom makes calorie rich milk. I'm sure there are medical reasons for some babies to have to be supplemented by formula, but a normal healthy baby shouldn't have to.

Good for you and your baby for sticking to it!