Want to give up breastfeeding

norab2684

My LO is 17 days old and yesterday and last night were awful! She wanted/wants to nurse every hour if not less. This means virtually no sleep for me. I am so incredibly exhausted and frustrated. I just want to give up and switch to formula. Any one else in the same boat?

melcass

I did switch to pumping and formula. My little one wanted to nurse every hour and with a 5 year old and 20 month old twins on top of that to take care of I was in tears. Once I switched to a bottle he ate every 3 hours

bpatrick0809

I do it all. Just depends on what is going on at the time. I nurse, pump and put it in a bottle and I give formula bottles and my DS is doing great! You just have to do what's best for you!!

LaNorte

I agree with above comments - I'm on my second day of supplementing and I LOVE it! I didn't want to give up BFing, but it was truly killing me. Same issue as you (nursing constantly, for at least an hour per session). It was making me hate myself, hate the baby, hate DH for being so damn supportive and telling me to stick with it. Turns out DS wasn't even gaining weight, so at our last dr appt they suggested giving him 1-2 oz of pumped milk or formula after BFing, and limiting his feeds to 15-20 minutes per side. We've been doing this for a couple days and it is awesome! He is way happier, I am way happier, he is still getting breast milk and we still get the bonding time, but now he's actually full. It doesn't have to be EBF or nothing (I thought it did). Good luck!

Kriztyn

I just switched over to Formula only. I was supplementing since the beginning because LO wasn't gaining (finally made it back to birth weight after a month). So I am not much help as whether or not to switch. The one thing I do miss is the instant way to soothe her by being able to put her on the boob whenever. But FF makes me feel at ease that she is getting enough and that ANYONE can feed her... and the extra sleep at night doesn't hurt So maybe Supplement her night feeding to formula for awhile? It will keep her fuller longer. 

norab2684

Kriztyn- yeah the whole fuller longer and anyone being able to feed her is incredibly tempting. It would be so great if DH could feed her too.

cpfanner

It won't last that long!! I promise. We were the same way, with my 3 week old cluster feeding from midnight to about 4 for about a week. It was exhausting! We slept in the couch with him for the first few weeks!! It was nice to have him close by. Have your hubs help as much as possible to try to take the load off if he can. Breastmilk is the best thing for baby! If you start supplementing you will eventually dry up. BUT do what keeps your sanity! If that means supplementing go for it.

Dianakdee

keep going dont give up! im pretty sure you'll regret it after. Breastfeeding is very challenging for all of us maybe you can get some help from family,friends?

hordol

I agree about not giving up on a bad day so that you don't end up regretting it, but if these feelings have been going on for awhile then it might be best for you to supplement or switch to full time formula. Just remember that it doesn't have to be all or nothing--you can nurse some and bottle feed some and that will probably help you feel a lot better too. But I can tell you I felt EXACTLY the same for the first 3 weeks or so. It does get a lot better. My baby is 6 weeks and hasn't cluster fed for awhile now. Not that it will never happen again, but it won't be as often and it gets easier to deal with.

norab2684

Yes I am introducing a bottle this weekend and I think that will help a lot because DH will be able to feed her at least once a day. I will pump so it will still be breast milk.
I think the growth spurt is over! She has been nursing every 2-3 hours since last night, so I am feeling much better today. Thanks so much for all of your advice!

Beijingvol

I made it two weeks and I did give up & switch to formula. I felt super guilty but I was having tons of issues & was an absolute mess emotionally. I wish I had tried supplementing formula, but in the end I probably would have had to quit any way. If sleep deprivation is your only issue I recommend supplementing formula & letting dad help at night. If you have other issues on top of this, it's not the end of the world if you have to quit. It feels like it at the time, but once I realized how much happier me and my baby and my hubby were it just made sense.

Tassie06

I've been pumping more and giving formula. Right now it's still mostly BM. She doesn't have the greatest latch and I also have a 3.5yo. I just don't have the time.