Should I give up BF?

StephB25

Do you think bottle fed babies are on more of a schedule and sleep through the night better? 

Also, I am worried about starting meds again while BF, even though they say it is ok.  

Finally, I think I "self-medicated"- ie, drank more than I should have- last week, and still nursed cause a) I thought I was more ok than I was, and b) wasn't planning to drink so was not prepared with bottles.  (please don't flame, I hope this board understands...plus I called the LC and we discussed it, so no lectures please.)

Point is, do you think giving up BF will help with the PPD...more sleep(?), more freedom, less stress about what I ingest?  Or does bottle feeding have it's own positives and negatives I haven't thought of?

livalil319

Can't help you much... I BF'd until this week.  It is difficult when you are the sole provider of nourishment in the beginning.  you can always pump and have more freedom that way.  You should decide how important it is to you to BF bc quitting if you don't really want to will probably eat at you. 

RavenWolf

I gave it up a bit because I was concerned about the medications I was on but also because it added more stress to my life and I felt the need to minimize stress more than BF. I decided that it was better for my son to be bottle fed and have a healthy Mommy than to be BF and have an insane, unstable Mom.

madhatter2003

I think it brings it's own set of worries to be honest.

I dont' think they are on a better schedule, I think that depends on your kid. My nephew was formula fed and still woke up more than my DD did.

For me, the financial cost of formula would be a HUGE source of added stress/concern.  

It's a tough choice, but I know I feel more freedom while bfing....for example when we travel this week I don't have to worry about keeping formula cold on the plane, or carrying water, or running out, etc.

TommysGirl56

Bottle feeding won't guarentee a baby will sleep more at night.  And there are definitely stresses associated with bottle feeding, as others mentioned.  It is costly, and it takes time to make up bottles.  Then you have more things to wash, too.  I like that with BFing, I can be ready to go at a moments' notice.  Of course, it does come with the stress of you being the only one that can feed LO.  I would suggest you weigh your personal pros and cons before deciding.

Talk to your doctor about starting on medications that are safe for BFing.  I am on Zoloft, myself, and I am continuing to BF with no problems,  I am definitely feeling a difference in my ability to cope with life, now, and I am enjoying the fact that I can still BF.

Good luck to you!

farrellashleigh

Well in my case the BFing was a nightmare and added SO much more stress to our lives that it was a godsend to stop and just do formula. But quitting brought it's own set of emotions, I felt like more of a failure as a mom because I couldn't breastfeed my baby and that contributed to my PPD quite a bit...

Fast forward a few weeks and I'm FINE with it! FFing is so much better. I get help from my DH for feedings and from family if they're here and that takes a load off of me especially for nighttime feedings. Yes you do have to worry about making bottles, buying formula, and traveling with formula is a little more work but to me it's no biggie and I'm used to it now so it's like second nature. Deciding to FF has taken so much stress off and has eased the PPD considerably. I know exactly how much he's getting, I'm not worried about what I'm eating making him fussy or gassy, I can drink a beer whenever I want to... it's been great.

I don't think that you'd be more on a schedule with it though... I mean we use a feeding schedule but we did that while BFing too...

Everyone's situation is different but in my case switching to formula was the absolute best decision and helped my stress and anxiety a LOT.

cooperme2871

I was just pumping because LO wouldnt latch on and I gave it up because of the meds they put me on for PPD. It also took away so much stress. I wasnt able to pump enough to keep up with her and switching to FFing took a lot of the stress away. You need to do what is right for you and your LO. I like FFing better because DH can feed her and I dont have to worry about pumping enough. It was very time consuming.

chelsearenee

I pump anf LO gets both formula and bm.  I dont think she sleeps any better with formula. I am in the process of quitting pumping now.  I hate having to plan everything around it.  I like that LO gets my antibodies so will miss that but she has also been getting a little wine in there more often than she should.  Things I dont like about formula is the cost, washing bottles, and it cant sit out more than an hour or so.  Both have pros and cons. 

meshl

madhatter2003:

I think it brings it's own set of worries to be honest.

I dont' think they are on a better schedule, I think that depends on your kid. My nephew was formula fed and still woke up more than my DD did.

For me, the financial cost of formula would be a HUGE source of added stress/concern.  

It's a tough choice, but I know I feel more freedom while bfing....for example when we travel this week I don't have to worry about keeping formula cold on the plane, or carrying water, or running out, etc.

I agree with this.  FF is a totally different thing that you have to get used to and it's not easy at first (can't just feed them every time they cry like you can just put them on the boob), the cost did cause me stress (my LO has to be on the most expensive kind but I really didn't have a choice), there's guilt from the stigma of not breastfeeding your baby, but yes, the freedom is wonderful!  It's a really, really hard choice to make, at least it was for me.  Good luck!

meshl

BTW, I'm very happy to be FF now.... but it took a while.