Combination Feeding - The best of both worlds

It’s okay to supplement with formula and here’s why.

I wanted to write this post because when I was in this position it felt like there was hardly any information on this or everything I read was negative and discouraging.

To start our journey, when Cameron was born one of the nurses noticed he was tongue tied. I remember the doctor saying they should clip it so he would be able to breast feed better. So we did. Then breast feeding seemed to be going well, he nursed for a good 40 minutes. A few days later, the nurse came to visit us in our home to check on the baby and to see how breast feeding was going. She helped us get comfortable and a good latch. When she was examining the baby she looked in his mouth and said “he’s still tongue tied!” She gave us a referral to go to the hospital and have it cut again. So we did that, at 3 weeks old. Cameron cried and I cried. Then I nursed him to soothe him and it seemed to be going well. But all the feeds seemed to take anywhere from 40 mins to over an hour. I was exhausted, not just during the night time feeds but during the day too. I started giving him a bottle of pumped milk every so often and he would drink it way faster!

Then I went to see a lactation consultant and she looked in his mouth and said “he’s still tongue-tied.” She informed me of exercises I should have done, rubbed under his tongue so it wouldn’t grow back. I had no idea, no one had told us that. She tried to give us a referral to have it clipped again by a dentist but we refused. I was not cutting his tongue tie for a THIRD time.

We started supplementing with formula, and I continued nursing and pumping. I would nurse him followed by a bottle of pumped milk or formula. I would nurse him when we were at home and it was convenient and when we were out and it wasn't I would give him a bottle.

Everyone I spoke to would say 'yes, but your supply will eventually dry up' Maybe that's true, but we breastfed till he was 8.5 months old and shortly after he started drinking whole milk.

What was frustrating and hard to get past was comments from people "oh so and so must must be better at breast feeding." Actually, so and so and her fucking baby, probably aren't tongue-tied!

As a first time Mom, you want to do what's best for your baby and you don't want to feel like you failed. I think there's so much pressure put on new mom's in every aspect. I think the access to information on the internet can be a blessing and a curse. It seems like formula is portrayed as the evil ex girlfriend, 'don't let that bitch in your home.' Even the mom groups that I followed I would see Mom's writing "whatever keeps them off that dirty formula". Formula is not the devil. It's a tool, a very useful tool.

But why does it have to be a one or the other option? Why can't you breastfeed and supplement?

Since supplementing, Cameron has always been at a healthy weight. I mean who doesn't love those baby rolls?

He wasn't getting enough breast milk from nursing because of his tongue tie, so we started supplementing. He bulked up right away, working on those gains, getting baby rolls and flying through all his new clothes.