Hi Arly I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would think that introducing formula is either necessary or could be of any benefit here. If the mother feeds only from the unaffected side as often as the baby indicates he or she is hungry, there will be more than enough milk for the baby. I have known many many mothers who exclusively breastfeed from one side. (And I have known many mothers of twins whose infants each get one side at each feed.) One breast is perfectly capable of producing enough milk for this baby. The baby will only go hungry if the mother feeds on a schedule. I would offer mum some anticipatory guidance (like the baby will probably feed more frequently and that's ok) and information (like milk is synthesised even as the baby feeds; breasts are like a bottomless cup of coffee, there is always more ...) "Breastfeeding in the absence of breast lesions in HSV sero-positive or culture-positive women is reasonable ..." p652 Lawrence & Lawrence (2005) The next three sentences are about the safety of various antivirals. Mother's Own Milk poses far less of a risk to this baby than pasteurised, homogenised, modified, fortified, spray dried, reconstituted cows' milk. Nina Berry Australia *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome