Need a little help to feel better

[angels3..]

Hi ladies, i'm in need of a little help. I'm really struggling with bf not because of low supply or anything but because my lo constantly wants to be at the breast and with 2 other kids to look after i'm finding it too demanding. I feel extremley selfish on wanting to switch and I was wondering the reasons you girls decided to ff thanks in advance x

 

[OmarsMum]

I had a traumatic emergency CS. Omar latched on only 3 times immediately after he was born. But the next morning he refused to take the breast. MW tried several times & after 18 hrs a BF consultant visited me & also tried for 2 hrs, but with no success. He was given formula after I requested many times as he was jaundiced & it was going so high & he needed to be fed every 2 hrs. I tried to express at the hospital but didnt get any milk. When we went back home after 3 days, I kept trying, & I tried to express but I only got few drops. After 2 wks when he finally latched on, I kept trying but milk was not coming out & I had to give him formula. At wk 4 I gave up as there was no milk to feed him. So he was FF since day 1. He's doing great & thriving & i dont regret giving him formula & I dont feel guilty as I tried but didnt work for me. xx

 

[jambobabe]

hi hunny i was the same as you had plenty to spare and what not but baba was to demanding and i wasnt spending any time with my toddler and my 2 older children which wasnt fair in my book so i switched and i have no guilt about FF neither should you GL to ya its for the best for you and the rest of your family

 

[katy1310]

I really really struggled with the decision to switch to formula but I'm glad we switched.

Sophie was born 13 weeks premature and she had expressed breastmilk until I was able to try breastfeeding her when she was 10 weeks old. I bf during her last couple of weeks in neonatal and the nurses gave her bottle of expressed milk at night when I couldn't be there.

When she came home she started to be harder to satisfy and the neonatal unit had told me not to bf for longer than 30 mins before topping her up as she'd start to get tired and use up calories because of being so premature. Eventually I ran out of expressed milk (I'd built up a huge stock in the freezer!) and for some reason when I expressed after feeding her, i wasn't getting much.

The hv told me just to keep bf whenever she was hungry but with her being such a low weight I was scared to just rely on bf and nothing else (she was 1lb 13 at birth and came home at 5lb6) plus I would rather listen to the neonatal unit than the hv when it comes to premmies and I was scared to let her get to tired.

In the end we were topping up more and more with formula and I was still trying to bf and express but was getting stressed out over it. I thought long and hard about whether to give up but in the end I decided I'd rather spend quality time with Sophie after her being away from me for the first 12 weeks of her life already and I wanted to see her putting on more weight. I decided she'd had a good start with the 12 weeks of breastmilk she had while in hospital and then another few weeks, albeit topped up with formula when she came home.

I think you have to really just weigh up what's going to work best in your individual circumstances. Someone told me "happy mummy = happy baby" and I'm really glad I listened to that. I've been much more relaxed since switching to formula and knowing Sophie is thriving.

Good luck with whatever you decide but try not to feel guilty. I still felt guilty for a while after stopping and still wondered about trying to get it back but then I decided I needed to make the decision and stick with it and I'm glad now that I did.

xxx

 

[angels3..]

Oh thank you girls it's just what I needed to hear I just need to make a decision and stick to it i'm all over the place at the mo bf one min ff the nxt it cant be doing bubs much good

 

[Lara310809]

I wasn't taught how to get LO to latch, so my milk supply was always pretty crap. Then I had a family emergency when LO was 10 days old, that lasted 5 weeks, so every day I had to visit the hospiutal (and I coulnd't take her), so she had to be topped up with formula. We spent days trying to boost my supply, but again there was no help in doing it. LO and I were both getting so stressed out with it, I decided to stop. I was resenting her for not feeding, and she was getting frustrated that there was no milk there.

I would say if it will help boost your relationship with LO then by all means try it. Obviously breast is best, but you can only do what you can do. The decision is yours. I wish I could have breastfed more, but it didn't work.

 

[Eala]

I 100% agree with "happy Mummy= happy baby." You have to do what is best for all of you as a family. I felt so guilty about FF'ing, as I'd been bombarded with "breast is best, breast is best" when I was pregnant. I think it'd be better to say "breastmilk is perfect for baby". Because breast feeding isn't always the best option for Mum, or the rest of the family.

Big hugs

 

[bubbles123]

The fact that you have posted this shows that you are a very caring mum who wants the best for her LO. A selfish person simply wouldn't be bothered! You have to decided for yourself what to do but please don't feel guilty either way. Everyone has to do what's best for their family and their own situation

 

[Odd Socks]

hi angels,
don't feel guilty, please don't. we all know that in theory, breast is best, but it's not best for everyone. i stopped bf because bella would scream for hours, fighting feeds, oh & i were on the verge of splitting up, i was diagnosed with pnd (thankfully taken off anti-depressants after a week because the doctor could see i was clearly exhausted when the original diagnosis was made). we couldn't have carried on any longer. i've felt so guilty for my decision (i expressed breast milk for a couple of weeks & combined with formula), but as each day passes, & i can see my daughter thriving, i know i've done the right thing for all of us.
xx