My baby lost weight in the hospital: Should I supplement with formula?
- jaimiezaki
- Jan 6
- 18 min read
Avoid unnecessary formula supplementation and learn how to supplement your baby without ruining breastfeeding.
If you were told in the hospital that your baby lost “too much” weight and now you’re spiraling, you are not alone. This moment is one of the most common places breastfeeding journeys get derailed—and not because your body failed or your baby “can’t” breastfeed.
It’s because newborn weight loss is deeply misunderstood and often used as a fear-based decision point instead of a clinical one pasted.
I want to help you understand what newborn weight loss actually means, when supplementation may be appropriate, and how to protect your breastfeeding goals and milk supply —without ignoring your baby’s safety.
Is Newborn Weight Loss Normal?
Yes. Newborn weight loss is biologically normal. Almost all babies lose weight after birth. This is not a failure of breastfeeding. It is part of normal newborn physiology—especially in the first few days.
Weight loss is even more common and more dramatic when labor involved:
IV fluids
Long labors
Epidurals or medical interventions
When a mother receives IV fluids, that fluid shifts into the baby’s tissues. After birth, the baby urinates that excess fluid out—showing up on the scale as “weight loss,” even though nothing is wrong. This is why early weight checks must be interpreted in context, not treated as emergencies.
Why Hospitals Panic About Weight Loss
In many hospital settings, weight loss is treated as a crisis instead of a single data point.
Here’s what often happens: Baby loses weight > Alarm bells go off > Formula is introduced “just in case”
No thorough breastfeeding assessment is done
No long-term plan is given
Hospitals are risk-averse, liability-driven, understaffed, and short on time. Formula is fast. Formula looks measurable. Formula checks a box.
But weight loss alone does not tell us whether breastfeeding is working.
Your baby lost 10% of their birth weight? What It Actually Means
You may hear:
“Your baby lost 8%—we don’t want it to hit 10%”
“Once they hit 10%, we have to supplement”
The problem? That number is often used without context.
What should be considered instead:
Was birth weight inflated by IV fluids?
What was weight loss at 24 hours vs. birth?
Is weight stabilizing or continuing to drop?
What does feeding behavior look like?
A number should prompt assessment, not panic.
Weight Loss Alone Is Not a Feeding Assessment
If a baby is losing weight, the real question is why—not “how fast can we fix this with formula?”
A full feeding assessment includes:
Is baby latching deeply and comfortably?
Is feeding active and rhythmic or shallow and sleepy?
Has anyone observed a full feed?
Is baby producing adequate wet and dirty diapers?
Is baby alert, responsive, and vigorous?
Is mom in pain?
Is oral function being assessed—or just “eyeballed”?
What does baby's output look like? Do we have plenty of pee and poop?
A baby can gain weight and still have feeding dysfunction. A baby can lose weight and still be breastfeeding effectively. Weight is one piece of the puzzle—not the whole picture.
So… Should You Supplement With Formula?
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no.
Supplementation can be a tool—but it is not a solution on its own.
The right question is:
What problem are we trying to solve?
Are we:
Addressing true dehydration?
Supporting blood sugar?
Managing lethargy or poor feeding?
Or responding to fear, pressure, or discomfort from others?
Just because a baby lost weight does not automatically mean formula is required.
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If Supplementation Is Needed, It Must Come With a Plan
This is where most mothers are failed. When supplementation happens without a plan, we often see:
Less time at the breast
Reduced breast stimulation
Lower milk supply
Increased baby sleepiness
Decreased maternal confidence
Your body responds exactly as designed to reduced stimulation—by making less milk. That doesn’t mean your body failed. It just means it was given different instructions.
If supplementation is used, there should be clarity around:
How much
How often
By what method
For how long
And how to transition back to exclusive breastfeeding, if that’s your goal
It is never all-or-nothing.
You Can Use Formula and Still Protect Breastfeeding
This is important to hear:
Using formula does not mean your breastfeeding journey is over. You are not “too far gone.” You have not ruined anything.
With the right support, many mothers:
Supplement briefly
Address the root cause
Restore milk supply
Return to exclusive breastfeeding
What matters is intentionality, education, and support.
If you’re thinking:
“Why was I never told any of this?”
You didn’t fail. You were navigating a system that prioritizes efficiency and liability over education and confidence.
You are allowed to:
Ask questions
Ask for more time
Get second or third opinions
Protect your breastfeeding goals
That is not selfish.That is good mothering.
If your baby lost weight in the hospital here's what you need to know:
If your baby lost weight in the hospital:
It does not automatically mean formula is required
It does mean a deeper assessment may be warranted
Fear should never replace information
Support should never be optional
Breastfeeding is not as fragile as you were led to believe—but it can be disrupted when panic replaces planning.
You deserve confident, informed support.
Access the Supplementing for Breastfeeding Moms (includes Avoiding Formula & S.M.A.R.T. Supplementation guides) workshop here or book a 1:1 Virtual Consultation now to create a plan that helps you feel confident!
This episode of the Breastfeeding with Confidence Podcast & Blog is brought to you by Restorative Roots.
Restorative Roots delivers organic, traditional-style freezer meals straight to your door, so you can nourish your body, rest, heal, and truly thrive in the fourth trimester. Whether you’re pregnant and want your freezer stocked for those early weeks, or your baby is already here and you just need something more, visit restorativeroots.com.
Transcript:
If you were told in the hospital that your baby lost too much weight and now you're spiraling out of control, this episode is for you because this is one of the most common places that breastfeeding journeys really just get derailed, and it's not because your body failed. It is not because your baby can't breastfeed, but because weight loss is often misunderstood.
Oversimplified and used as one of those fear tactics to gain control. So we're gonna slow this all the way down and break it all down for you today. I'm Jamie Zaki, I-B-C-L-C nurse, a mom of five, and today we will be answering the question that I hear constantly. My baby lost weight in the hospital.
Should I start formula?
Hey Mama Bear. Welcome to the Breastfeeding With Confidence podcast. Do you dream of bonding with your baby through exclusive breastfeeding, but worry about breastfeeding pain or low milk supply? Maybe you're struggling with breastfeeding and no one seems to have any answers. I'm Jamie Doula, international Board certified lactation consultant, and Mom of five, and I have been where you are after working through painful latches, milk supply worries, and postpartum depression, and.
Supporting countless mothers through their breastfeeding journeys for over eight years. I'm here to tell you breastfeeding doesn't have to be perfect to be positive. Each week I'll share breastfeeding tips to help you prevent and overcome unexpected breastfeeding challenges so you can actually enjoy bonding with your baby.
If you are ready to shut out the toxic whispers of the world, embrace your God-given intuition and release your inner fierce Mama bear. Grab some coffee or your favorite herbal tea and let's dive in.
All right everybody. Before we get started, I first wanna say Happy New Year. 2025 was absolutely a rollercoaster. I feel like I lived about 75 lifetimes in that one year. Um, but you know, one year ago, this podcast was just an idea that I never intended to actually pursue. And now here we are, about 80 episodes in and 12,000 downloads later.
Reaching new mamas like you every single day and be, I'm gonna cry. I didn't think I was gonna cry. Being able to do this is an absolute blessing. I love this podcast being able to reach women all over the world. It is just, it's, it's powerful and it's amazing in a way that. It just feels like something I have been so called to do, and I'm so excited that I get to do this, but I'm gonna be so honest with you.
It has not been easy. Um. Being a stay at home work at home mom, a business owner, a homeschooling mom of five kids is very challenging, especially with my husband being military. We move around a lot so we don't have family nearby, and that's why I started this podcast because I want moms who don't have support near them to have support, people who don't have connection and community that they can turn to.
Can turn to this podcast and that's why it is so important to me. But it is really hard and that's why with the new year. There's many exciting new things coming and I'm really excited to share with you guys that Restorative Roots is now sponsoring the Breastfeeding Confidence Podcast. And when I first learned about them, I was genuinely blown away after my third baby.
My husband deployed when she was three weeks old, and I desperately remember trying to get meal kits. . To be delivered to my door and feeling so frustrated and disappointed that nothing aligned with the traditional postpartum foods that I was looking for, or the clean organic ingredients that I wanted in my home.
I needed something easy. I needed to take care of meat in these three babies, and I could not find what I was looking for. And this was. Seven years ago now. So when I recently discovered restorative roots, I immediately thought like, okay, every mom needs to know about this. Guys Restorative roots is amazing in what they're doing.
They genuinely care about the work that they do, and they deliver organic, traditional style freezer meals straight to your door so that you can nourish your body. And rest and heal and truly thrive in that fourth trimester, even if you don't have family that is there to help you in a strong support system.
Whether you are pregnant and you want your freezer stocked for those early weeks, or your baby is already here and you just need something more, I invite you to visit restorative routes.com or click the link in the show notes and pro tip, they do offer gift cards. So if you are friends and family keep asking how they can help or they're not.
Close to you, uh, physically and like geographically close to you, ask them to contribute to your next restorative roots order. They can get you a gift card and contribute to that, and it's one of the most practical gifts that you can receive postpartum. So I'm really excited to dive into today's episode about newborn weight loss.
It is one of the most common challenges that I think lactation consultants face on a daily basis is myth busting. , The information around infant weight loss, and if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, some of this is not going to be new to you, but it's always important to hear it over and over because it is so important to know these things so you can be confident in, um, the decisions that you make when your baby arrives.
So here's the truth. We need to normalize newborn weight loss. I hear so many moms say like, well, I had to start formula. She was losing weight. Every baby loses weight after birth. All of them. Okay. I'm not gonna speak in absolutes. There's probably some outliers there. Okay. But it is biologically normal for babies to lose weight after birth.
It is even more normal for babies to lose weight after birth if you had interventions during Labor IV fluids, um, IV fluids are gonna be the biggest factor in a baby experiencing significant weight loss and it being normal. Okay. And when I say significant, you know, I guess that is kind of a vague term that we need to talk about, but the truth is that extra fluid when you have IVs in labor, like that goes into your baby's tissue and then they end up peeing that out.
Okay, so that first 24 hours, we cannot say like, oh, they lost this much weight in the first 24 hours. It's the end of the world. We really have to take into consideration the whole picture. But frequently in the hospital, weight loss is treated like an emergency instead of a data point,
weight loss alone does not tell us whether breastfeeding is working or not, and it doesn't tell us why. Just because your baby loses weight doesn't mean you need to start formula. So here's the deal. You hear that your baby lost 10% of their weight, or maybe they've lost 8% and we don't want it to get to 10%, or something along those lines. Okay? 10% is kinda that magic number that does cause the alarm bells to go off. But we should be looking at this in context. We really should be comparing to the 24 hour wait if there were IV fluids in labor, not the birth weight, first of all.
Second of all, this should not this kind of weight loss, it should not cue the panic and the runaround and screaming like a chicken with your head cut off. Right. It should prompt a thorough assessment, but what happens is, oh, your baby's losing weight. We need to give formula. You don't want your baby to starve, do you?
Here, just give them this bottle. You can get breastfeeding figured out later, and then your, you know, somebody might say like, your milk hasn't come in yet. Just give them a bottle till your milk comes in so that they're not losing weight. It's okay for them to lose a little bit of weight. A little bit of weight loss is okay.
It needs to be, you know, we don't want it to be exceeding that 10%, but if it is, we need to be asking why. We should not be asking, did your baby lose weight? But is your baby latching? Well, not just does it look like they're latched well? Do they have a deep latch? Are you in pain? Is your baby actively feeding efficiently and effectively?
Are they. Are they producing output enough poops and peas? What does the baby's latch look like? I know I said we don't wanna just look at that, but it's important too. We wanna know, are they, are they slurping your nipple like a straw or are they doing a rhythmic suckling? We, we need to know if anybody has watched a full feed.
Okay. Have we done, I I don't really like to do weighted feeds in those first couple days, so that's not normally something I'm gonna , say in general, but we have so many data points to go off of, and weight loss is just one. We need more context. The truth though, is that. Most nurses and lactation consultants in the hospital setting are not trained for that context.
And if they are, they typically do not have enough time to dedicate to it, or they are kind of, they have their hands tied by hospital policy, and so what they tell you is not necessarily the whole truth. So that's what I want you to remember, that weight is not the whole story. Um, a baby can gain weight really well in those first days and still have feeding dysfunction.
There's just a lot of different things that we need to take into consideration. So this is why I do have a avoiding formula workshop inside of my breastfeeding academy. And if you are not ready to join the full Academy, you can now get that workshop. The avoiding formula and smart supplementing workshop on its own for a reduced price because some moms really just want that quick answer.
They don't want the big overwhelming full course. They want that bite size. How do we avoid unnecessary, unnecessary formula? And if we need formula, how do we use it without ruining breastfeeding? And that's what this class gives you. If you want that, it'll be linked in the show notes. But I, I want to be very clear here.
This is not about blaming nurses or lactation consultants or pediatricians for giving bad advice. , Because these, you know, hospitals, they're, they're governed by liability concerns, okay? They're risk averse, they're metric driven. They're short on time and formula is the easy way to say, we're making sure baby's getting fed.
We did our part. Job done, baby's fine. Mom was educated and move along. And they almost never give you a plan. And then what happens when you don't have a plan? Your baby ends up with decreased time at the breast, reduced breast stimulation, increased sleepiness, , lower maternal confidence, and all of this becomes a story.
This all becomes a story that you're telling yourself that your body's not making enough milk and then your body's working really well, doing exactly what it's supposed to. And you're right, it stops making quote enough milk.
Because it's doing what it's supposed to, because your body is responding to that decreased time at breast and the, the higher stress and the reduced stimulation, and that tells your body to make less milk. So it's really important that when we supplement, we do it with a strong plan. We are confident in that decision, and we know that we're supplementing because it's necessary, not because it's.
Easier for somebody else or make somebody else feel better. Okay. That's what's really important here. Our decisions are not about making other people feel better and other people comfortable. It's about us making confident decisions from that place of intuition information.
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Whether you're still pregnant or already nursing, this guide is your first. Step toward breastfeeding success. Grab it right now@littlebearlactation.com slash mistake. That is little bear lactation.com/m I-S-T-A-K-E-S Mistakes.
So should you give your baby formula if they've lost weight in the hospital?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You need to be intentional about it. You need to have a plan. Okay? Supplementation can be a tool, and inside that workshop, I, I mentioned, you will get, what we call the smart supplementation breakdown, where we talk about all of your options for supplementing. It's not formula or nothing.
It's not breast milk or nothing. It's not all or nothing. It's never all or nothing. There are so many tools and resources available. But supplementation should never be the go-to fix because it's not a fix, it's a tool. It is not a solution in itself and not without a plan and ongoing support. All right, so first we need to be asking ourselves why are we supplementing?
Are we confident in the reason we're supplementing? Just because maybe lost weight is not a good enough reason in and of itself, and I don't want anybody to hear that and decide that they don't need a supplement because I said so. And then their baby loses a lot of weight. I want you to remember that weight is not the only thing we're looking at.
We need a full picture here. Okay? Um, what is the problem we're trying to solve? Are we just trying to make sure that our baby is sleeping longer? Because some people said that they're not sleeping as much because they're probably hungry, and you've got this weight loss thing that happened in the hospital playing in the back of your mind, and you're like, oh, maybe that's right.
Or is your baby like actually showing signs of being unwell? Of being lethargic. Of being dehydrated. There are signs of these things. If your baby's showing those signs. If they are not vigorous, if they're not interested in nursing, it could mean that we need to get their blood sugar up a little bit, that there could be something else going on.
But that doesn't mean you need to use formula. Okay. , Are there ways to support breastfeeding while we address whatever this problem is? Always, yes. The answer is always yes. I will always say that. Every mom I, I know I'm always, I always say, don't talk in absolutes, but every mom can have a positive breastfeeding journey.
It might not be an easy breastfeeding story. It might not be what they want it to look like, but it can be done intentionally and confidently, and that's where positivity comes from. Okay, good does not mean easy. Life is not always easy. The best things in life are not always easy, but it can still be good and you can still feel good about it.
So we wanna make sure we're making those confident decisions, and this is where education is so, so, so important. Do you have a plan to return to exclusive breastfeeding, if that's the goal? Because if you are supplementing with formula, it is entirely possible to start out using a little bit of formula and then return to exclusive breastfeeding.
I know we talk so much about not supplementing unnecessarily and how many risks come with it and how dangerous it is, but on the flip side of that, I also want you to hear that just because you are using formula does not mean you have destroyed your breastfeeding journey. It does not mean you cannot return to exclusive breastfeeding if that's your goal.
You deserve support in that. What does that support look like? It looks like figuring out if your baby is latching well, and not just does their latch look good? Is it working well? Do they have good oral function? Are they sucking properly? Are, are we feeding frequently enough? Are we being proactive about supporting milk supply?
Do we understand how to support milk supply? Are we managing our stress levels? Are we like, there are so many factors here. And let's not get fixated on the numbers either. Sometimes moms will get so fixated on the weight loss and fixated on the numbers, and I get it. I'm a numbers person too.
But when we do that. We can see problems that don't exist. We can start looking for problems and seeing them when they're not there. And then we start a whole cycle of problems that never had to happen because our anxiety got the best of us. And trust me, if you're in that first week postpartum, but even if you've never been anxious before in your life, you're gonna be anxious now even a little bit.
Even a little bit. If you have been anxious before, you're probably gonna have it even more. So don't get fixated on those numbers, okay? If supplementation is best, you need to know exactly , how much, what your method is, what your timeframe is, and a plan to transition off of it.
And that's exactly what we talk about inside that supplementing for breastfeeding moms workshop, where you will have access to avoiding unnecessary formula and smart supplementation. Okay, and if you feel like you need a little bit of handholding and one-to-one support, remember that I am here for you.
I do provide. Virtual lactation consults, and I will link that in the show notes as well so that you can access the course or book a call if you need a little bit of help in figuring out what your next steps are. Just a word of encouragement to the mother who maybe felt blindsided by hearing that she needed formula in the hospital and finding out that her baby's not latching and breastfeeding is not coming as easily as possible.
And you're listening and thinking, why was I never told any of this? I want you to hear me. You have not failed. You've been navigating a system that prioritizes efficiency and legality over education and empowerment and confidence. You've had the instincts to question, but then you were told to be quiet and to be good, and to just listen to the doctors, and that went against everything inside of you.
And those instincts are right, okay? Those instincts are right. It's okay to ask those questions and it's okay for everything not to be perfect. You're never too far gone. You are never too far gone. So what I want you to remember is if your baby loses weight in the hospital, it does not automatically mean formula is required.
It does probably mean a deeper assessment is warranted. If your intuition tells you that whoever gave you advice is not to be trusted or is not right, it's okay to get a second opinion. It's okay to get a third or fourth opinion. You're allowed to ask questions. You're allowed to ask for more time.
You're allowed to protect and prioritize your breastfeeding goals. That is not being selfish and it is not putting you first. It is putting your baby first and you know that. You know that. You're not going to starve your baby because you are a good mom. You're going to make a plan. You're going to make a plan that will benefit your baby the absolute best way In the long term, I promise you, breastfeeding is not as fragile as everybody makes it out to be.
But we do need to be intentional and it can easily be disrupted when fear replaces information and support. So if you are pregnant right now, this is exactly why preparing ahead of time matters. And if your baby's already in your arms and this is what you're navigating and this is what's keeping you up at night, you're not alone, you are not broken.
You just need a strong plan and good support. You can go ahead and grab that workshop in the show notes or you can book a call
you've got this mama bear. You and your baby deserve all the support in the world, and you are doing the best with what you have and proud of you, and I'll see you in the next episode.
Alright, mama bear. That is a wrap for today. If this episode helps you feel a little more confident or a little more prepared for breastfeeding, can I ask you a quick favor? Go ahead and leave me a review. It helps other moms find this podcast and join us in this amazing community of fierce and confident Mama bears.
And hey, if you know a friend who could use some encouragement or real talk about pregnancy, breastfeeding, and all things motherhood, share this episode with her. You've got this Mama Bear Trust your instincts, stay fierce, and I'll catch you in the next episode.
Jaimie Zaki is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) and mom of 5! Jaimie has volunteered as a La Leche League Leader, worked as a nurse, doula, and birth photographer, and is the host of the Breastfeeding With Confidence Podcast and founder of the Confident MamaBear Society. Jaimie provides holistic breastfeeding advice for pregnant & new moms, helping them overcome unexpected latching trouble and milk supply issues. She empowers mothers to make informed decisions from a place of confidence and intuition.
