Feel like throwing in the towel :( HELP

[Miss Magic]

My daughter is about to be 3 months old in a few days ...
I have been breast feeding and pumping ... I never imadgened it could be so much work ... After I had her my nips were so sore from breast feeding that I had to start pumping. She was doing really well with bottles and breastfeeding but now she's gotten fussy!
In the day she will only take a bottle and if I try to BF her she gets frustrated and keeps pulling off and crying ! At night she's really good at it (I think it's because she's half asleep and not in a rush) anyways I feel like I'm always pumping or feeding her.
I BF her all night and after I feed her I pump so that I have a bottle or 2 ready for the day time... I feel exhausted and trying to pump and keep baby happy is really hard ... My husband is against using formula and I would honestly rather BF baby but I'm getting sooo tired of it all ! Tonight I was almost in tears ... I was wondering about BF & using formula .... But I just don't know! I just want to do what's best for her ... Any advice?

 

[DJMooMoo79]

Well my little one is only 2 weeks old so I doubt I would be much help but we are breastfeeding and formula. At first we were doing half the time BF then half the time Forumla but then little one started to get tummy issues and were down to 2ounces a day an 2 ounces a night of formula, all exclusive BFing.

I say give it a shot with the forumla and BFing. It doesnt hurt to try it out. If it doesnt work, then hey it doesnt work. But at least you gave it a shot. And its not like you wont be BFing, but it will give you a nice break. A family friend told me that it wasnt so much as using Formula itself that was causing tummy issues but the brand. He had the same issue with his daughter, changed to a different forumla and it cleared right up. So hubby and I are going to give that a shot and see if it helps any, exclusively breast feeding is exhausting. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Maxy1]

You have done an amazing job. I seriously have so much respect for women that pump. I hate it and its exhausting. Far more exhausting than just Bfing. So I guess your choice is to reduce how many bottles your giving her and keep her on the breast as much as possible, keep doing what you are doing or change to combi feeding.

There is nothing wrong with combi feeding. If it will work for your family then do it!!! It sounds like it might let you catch up on some well needed and deserved rest while someone else feeds the babe.

If your LO is worried about the speed of getting food maybe offer half a feed from the bottle and then the breast so she is over the worst part of her hunger.

 

[FAB mama]

I tried using breast, bottle and occasionally formula. My LO then began (around 3 months) to refuse all bottles so I had to give up and just breastfeed but it was easier in a way to stop bothering with the pump and washing bottles and confusing LO.

At this point now he is almost 2 years old and breastfeeding is the best thing in the world to him so I haven't tried stopping yet. I believe it has kept him healthy too.

One thing that really got to me was when he was refusing formula and the pediatrician said "well yeah it tastes disgusting"... I couldn't push it on LO after that. But some kids seem to love it... And some develop allergies from it. I'd just keep all that in mind.

 

[patch2006uk]

Bottle preference can occur anytime, and it sounds like that's what's happened to you and your LO. I'd personally stop everything except BFing and get skin to skin and just have a couple of days of nursing and relaxing. Keep an eye on nappies. There's also some pretty big growth spurts and wonder weeks at the 3 month mark, so babies are generally fussier at that age.