If you end up feeding your baby artificially – either by choice or by circumstance – this doesn’t mean that you have lost out on all of the benefits of breastfeeding.  Just as you are trying to replace the nutritional content of nursing, try consciously to replace the cuddling, the skin-to-skin time, and all of the other nurturing aspects of nursing.  Resist the temptation to give your baby a bottle in the stroller once she can hold it herself.  Hold her in your arms and let her gaze up at your face, making eye contact with you as she would if she were breastfeeding.  In this way, you are “nursing.”

If you are not medically able to nurse, but want to continue to nurture your child at the breast, you could consider using a finger-feeder or Supplemental Nursing System, a thin tube that is taped to the breast and nipple which releases milk when the baby nurses (admittedly, a bit involved to set up - if need be, ask a lactation consultant for help).  You could also consider letting your baby nurse for comfort on your breasts, even when no milk is flowing.   One other product to consider is the Adiri Breastbottle Nurser.  Shaped like a breast, this “bottle” attempts to simulate the breast.  From my limited experience with bottles, it’s hard to say whether it is as user-friendly as a typical bottle, but perhaps it’s worth trying.

Equally important, if you cannot provide your own milk, the next best choice for your baby is human milk from a milk bank – not formula!  The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages the use of human donor milk when direct breastfeeding is not an option; human milk is best for human babies because it is species specific, even though some of the immunological benefits are lost during pasteurization. In most states, a prescription is required to obtain expressed human milk.  Milk is shipped to hospitals for the care of premature babies, but can also be shipped to homes.  There is no reason not to asoctor for a prescription, even if your baby has no particular “speciak your dl needs.”  The Human Milk Banking Association of North America has an informative website, as does the US Department of Health and Human Services.  You could print out the information from these websites and take it to your pediatrician, who may need to be educated on the procedure for accessing a milk bank.

Unfortunately, milk banking has not yet gotten the institutional support that it needs to flourish in the United States, and the current supply of donor milk is somewhat limited.  At the same time, the formula industry continues successfully to lobby against US approval for the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.  I find it bizarre that in the USA human donor milk requires a prescription, while potentially allergenic and nutritionally inferior formula does not.  In an effort to promote breastfeeding per the International Code, several other countries have passed laws requiring that formula be dispensed only with a prescription.

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