Just had a baby. The nurses gave my son a bottle and a pacifier while he was in the nursery. I'm so pissed.

bug_mama_G · 6 months

I can certainly understand why you are upset. But I have succesfully breast fed three kids and they all had pacifiers in the hospital and one had bottles due to medical needs. So, write a big note to put on his bassinet stating your desires but don't think that any long term damage has been done. You guys will be fine.

vitaminmary · 6 months

That happened to me as well. I think you acted appropriately. I consider that to be as bad as giving the wrong medication. They need to follow orders!

annjellicle · 6 months

They did the same thing with my (now 11 month old) daughter. I was so pissed. I yelled at 2-3 nursery nurses. (yes, they asked me beforehand, and I said no pacifiers, then she came back with one, I yelled, and she came back with one AGAIN!)

But, she refuses a pacifier now (since about 2 months old) and we've successfully breastfed for 11 months (with plans to continue as long as she wants)(within reason). :-)

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

ADVentive · 6 months

You are right to be upset. I would encourage you to write a letter to the hospital administration detailing what happened and how you feel about it and why you feel it is wrong. That is your best chance of anything being done about it.

Regarding the bottle of formula, I would be especially concerned because by introducing a substance to baby's tummy other than breast milk you are changing the gut flora, potentially long-term, and at least for a few weeks it seems. I would also be concerned about increased risk of dairy allergy due to the open gut, particularly if baby was given formula before he was breastfed. If baby had had a breast milk feeding before the formula, then the sIgA in the milk can coat the open gut and prevent the larger molecules in the formula from getting into the blood stream, and this risk is decreased.

If you are nursing now, then it seems that you may not have lingering effects of poor latch due to introduction of the artificial nipple, so that is a positive for you.

Good luck, and do complain to the administration so that others can hopefully avoid this situation in the future.

ETA: link

MoSparkles · 6 months

Wow. Not cool. You have every right to be pissed about that. I agree, probably no long term damage has been done, but you should definitely talk to your nurses to make your wishes clear. In fact, (as a former nurse myself) I would probably request to speak with the charge nurse and/or the nurse manager (they're in office during the day) to log a formal complaint. These practices won't change unless people raise hell to the right people. The sign on the bassinet is a good idea, as well. You can also request (demand) that you or your husband accompany the baby wherever he goes. No hospital "policy" can keep you from your son. Now, just keep that pacifier away and nurse, nurse, nurse. He'll become a pro in no time. Congrats, btw!

versusboredom · 6 months

At the very least they should have asked you. When I was in the hospital with my daughter she wouldn't latch, but because I had had gestational diabetes, she had to pass blood sugar tests. Her third came back too low, so they asked if I would consent to give her formula just to raise her sugar back to an acceptable level. They didn't offer any soothers, but I gave one to her well before the recommended 4-6 weeks of successful breastfeeding and she hasn't had any issues with nipple confusion.

saltyveruca · 6 months

Our son was in the NICU for a week and a half. We told them no pacifiers, and often hid them (haha)...they just got replaced. We went home with like five. We couldn't fight the bottles, as they had very strict rules about his intake.

Overall we were pretty much ignored in favor of standard protocols, I did a lot of yelling and crying (to no avail) and we will never be going back to that hospital again.

Anyway, it was a struggle for sure, and I know it gave us difficulty when we were actually able to breastfeed. We had to fight with him and use a syringe before we could get him to latch. But, happy story, he is almost 14 months old now and we are STILL breastfeeding successfully. A paci and bottle is not the end of the world. You can make it work.

kinderdoc · 6 months

you are not crazy.. Give them hell or it will happen to other moms. To all those other parents replying that it's not a big deal, for most babies a pacifer isn't a problem, at least once, but if it's all day, every day for the 2-4 days baby is in the hospital, it becomes more and more likely to interfere with successful breastfeeding.

kittenbus · 6 months

I am in ontario, we don't even have nursery care in the hospitals i have delivered in. Once your baby is born you look after it, whether you have a section, multiples, etc. They see a lot of babies, don't get many breaks and deal with women who have no experience with babies, women who know it all, and everyone in between. It can be a thankless job, she probably just wanted the baby to sleep so you could too. I wouldn't let the baby out of your sight until your discharged!

RandomRedditSister · 6 months

I feel stupid because I didn't even know they took babies into the nursery anymore. The one at my hospital was completely empty. They kept my son with me every second besides for five minutes to get something done but they had my husband follow with them.

But to make you feel better, my son took a pacifier perfectly fine and breastfed great. Also did great with the bottle, but I didn't give him one until he was 5 weeks. He still barely gets bottles. He prefers it straight from the tap.

siouxsie_sioux · 6 months

Did you say beforehand that you didn't want bottles/pacifiers?

edit: downvotes for a legitimate question? stay classy reddit.

hlsp_cats · 6 months

Ok, I just read this and freaked out. I'm due in 6 weeks and plan to exclusively breast feed. I'm definitely going to make my wishes known before he goes to the nursery!

BadVogonPoet · 6 months

This happened to me when I had my son as well. I was riding the high tide of hormones and went off on the nurses. Fortunately, they were used to irrational women and didn't hold any of the horrible things I said against them.

They did profusely apologize and it was a non-issue after that. Long story short, my son breast fed and absolutely refused a pacifier.

Congrats on the baby!

warrena1 · 6 months

I planned to breastfeed by daughter before she was born. However, after her birth, she was immediately taken to the NICU. When I saw her for the first time the next morning, she had a pacifier in. And, to top it off, the pacifier had been dipped in sugar water to keep her sucking on it.

For the next ten days, she sucked on the pacifier continuously, and drank 75% of her feedings from bottles, nursing occasionally with a nipple shield. I was convinced that she would never successfully breastfeed.

However, from the day she got out of the NICU, she has been a champion nurser. She is now 10 weeks old, and thriving and putting on weight. Those first ten days of bottles and pacifiers didn't interfere with her ability to breastfeed at all. I totally understand your frustration, but I'm sure your child will go on to happily nurse. Good luck!

theblackness · 6 months

I had them take my daughter to the nursery for the first night after I had her, as I was in labor for 38 hours and needed the break! I am an RN, and was VERY specific about wanting to breastfeed and NOT have any pacifiers/bottles/etc., but after a several hour crying spell the following evening we introduced the pacifier. She still does great for me breastfeeding-wise, I have honestly never had a problem with latching on. I know it's frustrating when someone introduces these things without your permission (and I would pass that information along when you fill out the survey for your hospital stay), and I can honestly say that I would have been upset had someone done that to my daughter. Every babe is different, but know that just because they have something that is not the breast within the first month doesn't mean that you are doomed breastfeeding-wise. Good luck, and congrats on your new little one!!

frinh · 6 months

I refused to have my babies leave my side for that very reason. I didn't trust anyone else with them. I agree, the lest she could have done is asked.

interplanetjanet · 6 months

[deleted]

andersonimes · 6 months

Definitely not cool. Happened with our twins. If you worry about nipple confusion, it didn't seem to be a problem, so no worries there.

Nutritionally that formula is definitely not as good as the real thing. I would definitely put on your best "crazy new mom" face and let them know they'd better not put that stuff in your kid again.

siouxsie_sioux · 6 months

[deleted]

jillrabbit · 6 months

Same thing happened to me, I totally didn't have the experience that I wanted. I wanted to breastfeed her right away, but they took her and gave her a bottle. We did end up breastfeeding for almost 18 months though! Good luck, mama and just enjoy your precious baby!

Scubaboy26 · 6 months

I know this will get downvoted like crazy, but its a bottle and a pacifier...

It might be different for me because my son was in the NICU for 3 weeks and my wife and I didn't care if he had a pacifier or a bottle. In fact he first time we saw him after he was born he had a preemie pacifier in his mouth.

My wife did try to breastfeed but he wouldn't latch.

AuroraMaryAlice · 6 months

Really the only way to avoid this at the hospital is to have you or husband with the baby at all times. The nurses change out ever so many hours. Your requests will not carry on to the next shift.

anonoman925 · 6 months

I've seen whiteboards up on the wall in rooms that inform the nurses as to the do's and don'ts

gsxr · 6 months

We planned to breast feed my son. Turns out he didn't take to it very well and mom didn't produce much milk for the first few days.

We ended up giving him a few bottles. When mom started producing milk he hopped right on the boob. Don't listen to the "experts" about nipple confusion, it's all bullshit(according to the WONDERFUL lactation lady at the hospital(seriously lady was awesome))

you'll need to login or register to do that

create a new account

login