Breastfeeding and Formula

I love this site; you ladies are a wealth of knowledge. I do hope to BF but I know it may not work out. so we will see.
can someone put this as a stickey this is great stuff that I hope we will not have to look for later.

I b/f all my kids so I will with this one also. Thankfully, I don't have any issues with my milk supply. I b/f for varying amounts of time, depending on each child.

dd 1: 13 months, she was allergic to dairy so after I weaned her (dried up after going back to work at 12 mos) she ended up having Nutramigen from 13 mos until she was 2 yo. After that she could tolerate milk.

dd 2: 11 months, dried up from stress at work.

dd 3: 8 months, could have gone longer but she was a stinker. She would bite me and no matter what I said or did she would laugh and then do it again. She still is a stinker!

ds: 17 months, I became at sahm when he was 4 mo that's why I made it so long.

For this baby: my ob and the diabetic NP both think I was probably type 2 before I got pg. I'll find out when I test after baby is born. If I am type 2 then that may determine how long I b/f for. I really don't want to stay on insulin if I can go on a pill. The longer I give myself shots, the more sensitive the areas are getting in terms of it hurting and me bruising. If none of the diabetic pills are safe for b/f, then I may end up doing formula. It sounds selfish, but that's how I feel.

I also plan on breastfeeding this little one. I produced enough milk with DD to feed an army. My LC said she had never had someone produce that much milk ( I could pump 15 ozs. every 3 hours after nursing DD). I did use breast shields when nursing to get my inverted nipples (TMI) to come out. I need to get new sets and start wearing them now to hopefully aid in that.

I don't agree that breastfed babies need vitamins. Breastmilk has everything a baby needs. I never gave my DD vitamins and she was very healthy (still is).

When I went back to work, we supplemented with the Target version of Gentlease. If we need to supplement this time, I will probably do the same.

Also, check with your peds office to see if they have LC's on staff. Mine does and I just paid my co-pay to see her. It was a little awkward because my LC was the parent of one of DH's students.

I don't think that is selfish at all. You have to do what is best for you and what is going to make you the best Momma you can be.

One thing my OB told me along with my Pediatrician is that while BF is "best" its only best if you are eating REALLY REALLY well and have a super balanced diet. If not, the baby would be better off with Formula since its so balanced and gives them all the vitamins they need. My good friend from work eats only McDonalds, Pizza and Chicken Nuggets, she BF until her DD was 6 months old and her Pediatrician told her to stop that she was actually not helping her DD at all, she was approaching failure to thrive and now her DD is 10 months old and super healthy and doing really well on formula.

For the new breastfeeding mommies: I learned the hard way: Never stop breastfeeding cold turkey! My son decided to suddenly stop on me at a year old. I was in so much pain!!!!!! I should have cut down gradually by pumping.