Mastitis/might switch to formula..

hnull

Sorry this may be long!:(

Sunday night I had a 103 degree temp, by Monday afternoon I could feel the lump  and see the red streaks, I figured it was mastitis and went to the doctor to confirm and get antibiotics. I'm sure I got the clogged duct from my daughter never emptying my breast. She only eats an average of 7 min on one breast every 2 hours.  (today I pumped 4 oz off one breast, there was no more milk coming out 25 min into pumping so I stopped. I then hand  expressed  and literally got a other oz.)

I don't want to exclusively pump because we live 1.5 hours away from the nearest big grocery chains so anytime we go out its a 3 hour drive round trip plus 2-4 hours of shopping etc. 

has anyone stopped breast feeding and switched to formula feeding? I obviously have a big over supply and will talk to my doctor this Friday, just was wondering if anyone has any advice. I know the process is not fun- however I feel as though I'll just keep getting clogged ducts/mastitis because she doesn't ever empty, and pumping just leads to more supply. I do hand express after she eats. 

I feel quilty to stop BF but this mastitis has been awful, my husband is a farmer and works 11-12 hours a day and my mom and sister work full time so it's me taking care of the baby all day. 

lilqt3929

Don't feel guilty no matter what you choose to do, a fed baby is a happy baby. I'm wondering if you always hand express after your LO eats? If you do, you are telling your body your LO needs that extra milk when in reality she isn't needing it. My LO eats for about the same time yours does on only one side per feeding and that is normal (some babies are just super efficient nursers and some take a bit longer-both are normal). If you choose to continue BFing I would recommend to slowly tapper off the hand expressing  (once your mastitis is gone) to see if your supply adjusts to what your LO is taking in. Just an idea. 

willkc

I switched about 2 weeks ago to formula feeding. My LO was the opposite of yours and was taking too long to eat, and I was just not happy, he was not happy, it was just not a pleasant experience.  Quitting hurt because I was producing a lot of milk especially on my right side. I would get up to 7 oz pumping after even just 2.5 hours.  I decided to quit by pumping and I just would pump every 3 hours for a couple days, then 4 hours, then 5 hours and eventually I just had to pump once a day to make sure I was comfortable. Finally I woke up one day and didn't feel any discomfort at all, and haven't pumped since. It was tough stopping and I felt bad about it for a while, but baby has been on formula for a bit now, we are much happier as a whole. We had to do what was best for our family

hnull

@lilqt3929 thanks so much for the reply, I only just started hand expressing yesterday.

hnull

@willkc thanks for the reply! So when you were pumping to stop your supply would you give the baby that milk or formula? And would you pump in the middle of night too? Your comment is so helpful! I'm sure my doctor won't be happy when I talk to her and I know how beneficial BF is but I cannot deal with this again! Did your baby handle the formula well? I'm worried it'll upset my daughters tummy going from bm to formula. Thanks again!!(:

haylyr

lilqt3929 said:

Don't feel guilty no matter what you choose to do, a fed baby is a happy baby. 

Amen! It took me a while to accept that. I BF my LO, and also supplement with formula (he's 10 weeks). He was fussy about formula for about 48 hours, but has settled right in. He doesn't seem to care if he's getting breast milk or formula, boob or bottle. Good luck!

willkc

hnull said:

@willkc thanks for the reply! So when you were pumping to stop your supply would you give the baby that milk or formula? And would you pump in the middle of night too? Your comment is so helpful! I'm sure my doctor won't be happy when I talk to her and I know how beneficial BF is but I cannot deal with this again! Did your baby handle the formula well? I'm worried it'll upset my daughters tummy going from bm to formula. Thanks again!!(:

Luckily my son took formula pretty well and didn't have any constipation issues or anything. He does spit up a lot more on formula, but I kinda expected that. I was pumping in the middle of the night at first because I would get super uncomfortable. It worked out that he was waking in the middle of the night during that time as well, so I'd just pump when my husband gave him a bottle. I did a lot of reading online when I was trying to stop, and the best advice I read was to do it gradually. It took me about 3 weeks to stop completely. Once I started cutting back, I'd just pump when I felt super uncomfortable, and I'd only pump enough to make myself comfortable. It did hurt for a while, but I'd say after about a week, my boobs finally realized I wasn't needing as much and started feeling less full every day.  During the time I was pumping, I was doing bottles of half breast milk half formula which I think helped my baby get used to formula too. And then once I ran out of the pumped milk and anything I had in the freezer, I just started straight formula.

hnull

@haylyr thanks!  That makes me feel much better!

VitaLuna

Don't feel guilty no matter what you choose to do, a fed baby is a happy baby. I'm wondering if you always hand express after your LO eats? If you do, you are telling your body your LO needs that extra milk when in reality she isn't needing it. My LO eats for about the same time yours does on only one side per feeding and that is normal (some babies are just super efficient nursers and some take a bit longer-both are normal). If you choose to continue BFing I would recommend to slowly tapper off the hand expressing  (once your mastitis is gone) to see if your supply adjusts to what your LO is taking in. Just an idea. 

Agree with this 100%. Ultimately, do what makes you happiest, but if you want to continue BFing, I'd stop pumping and hand expressing after feeds (after the mastitis clears). Your body thinks you need that extra milk, so it will keep making it. Also, pumping for 25 min is a really long time in general, especially if you typically have a fast eater. When I pumped at work, it was for around 15 min, 20 max (because I had a low supply with DD1). Oversupply can be annoying to correct, but it's worth the effort if you want to continue BFing. 

Also, plugged ducts and mastitis can happen to anyone, not just those with a bigger supply. My supply was not great with DD1 and I still got a couple plugged ducts. If you get recurrent mastitis or plugged ducts, there's an herbal supplement that is supposed to help (can't think of the name off the top of my head). 

hnull

@VitaLuna thank you! I only hand express because of the mastitis I never did before this. And I only pumped for so long because I wanted to make sure it was completely empty. I'll have to look for that herbal supplement, thanks!

VitaLuna

Here it is. I think it's just for recurrent cases, not just random/infrequent plugged ducts, but not sure.
https://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/lecithin/

Topits

Agree with everything here!!! A fed baby is a happy baby. I struggled with the switch too. I was really hard on myself for a couple weeks. But at the end of the day, you are doing what's best for your baby and yourself- whichever decision you make. I had to switch to formula due to a dairy soy allergy. Long story short, my baby is smiling and laughing again and not in pain and I'm a happy mom.

There are blogs all about the benefits of breastfeeding. Then, there's news articles shaming breastfeeding in public. But there's rarely any supportive stories about the struggle in between. The grey area for women who want to breastfeed but can't, for a multitude of reasons.

No one prepares you for the fact it might not be your choice on how you feed your baby. After lots of thought these past few weeks, I've realized you just have to roll with it. And repeat to yourself that you are not a failure. A happy and healthy fed baby is the best baby, whichever way that is achieved. Don't feel bad.

Its been about 2 weeks since I made the switch. I tried to go cold turkey, but couldn't stand the pain. I decided since I have the extra time off work still, I'd slowly wean. So I go as long as I can with the pain, then pump. I started pumping like 10 minutes each side (LO would eat about 15-20, and so that was already a big cut). Then the next day I did 7 minutes, then 5.... Now I'm down to 2-3 minutes. I know it's probably not the ideal way since it makes you produce milk every time you pump, but I could stand the pain. It would hurt to hold/burp the LO and I couldn't sleep. This way it at least takes the edge off. Also keeping a bra on 24/7 helps too. Now I'm down to pumping just 1 time a day for just a couple minutes.

FutureMrsCaesar

I totally understand wanting to quit breastfeeding after dealing with mastitis. I had it 3 times in the first 8 weeks with ds3 and I was soooo ready to throw in the towel. I never did partly because I was afraid weaning would cause more plugged ducts/mastitis.  I did start taking the lecithin supplements around 8 weeks and never had another plug or problem of any kind.  Just offering my sympathy and experience of what worked for me in case you are interested in toughing it out a little longer.  But mastitis is awful and I'm sorry you are suffering with it right now. I think most people who haven't had it (ahem DH) have a hard time understanding how terrible it makes you feel. When I found out I was pregnant with #4 my first thought was omg no I can't handle mastitis again. Luckily this time I've had a few plugged duct but no mastitis. Good luck with whatever you decide!

hnull

@FutureMrsCaesar omg 3 times I don't know how you did it, so happy you didn't get it with your 4th! I will have to get some lecithin! I agree my husband would leave in the morning for work and say "text me if you need anything" I wanted to say I just need you to stay and help lol. But luckily, today I've been feeling back to normal. Thanks again, girl!!

lilqt3929

@hnull so glad to hear you're doing better today!!

rebell1

Do what is best for you and your baby! Your baby has already gotten a good dose of antibiotics from your breast milk and the first three months is the most important. Im still BF, but it is very time consuming and can be very stressful. I supplement with formula and she takes it just as well as breast milk. I would suggest giving your baby some formula a couple times a day until they are used to it if you decide to make the switch. I use an organic formula which makes me feel better about giving it to her. Good luck

hnull

@rebell1 that's what my Docotor said too, about the first 3 months being most important! I want to keep BF but her last two feeding this morning were only been 5 min and i was still pretty full, she hadn't come close to emptying them. I think I'll see what she does this week and then go from there. If I do chose formula I'll mix it half and half so her tummy has time to get used to it. I also have quite a bit froze still so she'll get bm for awhile still! Thank you!