Maybe, but a very hungry baby is harder to work with. A hungry baby is stressed, which tends to make the mother stressed, which reduces breast milk flow. When both mother and baby are relaxed, breast feeding is easier for both. So, formula is used to take the edge off the baby's hunger so she can breast feed easier. After our daughter had her first meal, she was relaxed and happy. That made mom relax. After that, breast feeding went much smoother.