Every other mom I know produces TOO much milk – which is a luxury I cannot imagine. These are the same moms who cannot understand the necessity of supplementation, yes, even when a baby’s health is at risk. They cannot know how much it hurts to see your baby crying when he nurses because he is not getting enough to eat from you. Despite the many pros of being a “natural” mama, the cons show up in the form of making everything cut-and-dried issue – when that’s not always the case.

I became quite close with my lactation consultants over the first several months of my son’s life. I was in the office 1-2 per week weighing my son, nursing and pumping. They became like second mothers to me. I agree that you should leave the issue of breastfeeding out of the pediatricians office most of the time (mine suggested I give up altogether because it was too hard on me.) Thanks to my LCs, I am still breastfeeding my son who just turned 1 – a goal I never thought we’d attain.

I’m sorry for the novels! Like I said, just wanted to share my story. I really appreciate hearing about all of yours too. This mom business can be tricky, it’s nice to have support wherever you can get it!

I think the medical community in general are not educated enough about breastfeeding (OK, I am going to get a lot of flack from my Pediatrician friends for saying this) Its best to consult with someone who has the knowledge or first hand experience when it comes to something like breastfeeding. Instead of going by your Pediatricians insistence of supplementing; get a second opinion. If in your heart you know your baby is thriving or healthy despite the what the dreaded chart says, then follow your gut. I, fortunately, have a daughter who is a moose and don’t need a chart to know she’s gaining weight.. but even if she was having minor issues (not like yours Erin, where the health of your baby was at stake) this is the route I would take and hope others mothers will take. and one thing I am learning about motherhood.. ideal or perfection is not your friend. I am glad that there’s many mothers here who are passionate about this issue.

I am a firm believer that women should be given way more credit for being able to birth their children on their own, the same goes for feeding them. I do believe that formula supplementation is overdone and should be avoided when possible. I am here to offer the other side of the story however.

When my son was 2 weeks old, he still had not transitioned to yellow colored stool, was still jaundiced and had lost a significant amount of weight. My midwife was doing everything she could think of to remedy these issues, to no avail. Finally we went into a lactation consultant to get my son weighed and that’s when we realized that he was only getting half of the amount of milk that he needed for his weight. We had to make the choice to supplement with formula so that he would not lose anymore weight and so his system could properly flush out the jaundice.

That was not an easy choice for this homebirthing, pro-breastfeeding mama. In fact, I cried my eyes out as my mom and sister went into the store to buy some formula for my little baby. Do I ever wish that things would have turned out differently? Of course. Do I think I should have just kept on as things were to risk something horrible happening? No. Sometimes, you have to put the safety of your baby over your own ideals.

I just wanted to share another perspective with you, as it is hard to relate to other moms in this area if you haven’t had to go through it yourself. I used to roll my eyes at moms who told me their doctor said they needed to supplement. I still think most of the time it’s ridiculous, but sometimes there are legitimate reasons it needs to be done. Just something to think about…

I’ll have to ask my girls’ doctor here what he uses (Portu