- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Babies: 0 - 3 Months
Did any of you give up BF earlier than you wanted?
BF is becoming harder every day. I really, really like nursing and I always thought I'd nurse for an entire year, maybe longer if possible. But continuing to nurse DD while working is outrageously hard.
It's hard to get enough milk for her everyday. Today we started supplementing and I still don't know how I feel about it.
Both DH and I are so stressed. We've barely been away from her on the weekends. He and I have almost no downtime with each other. We miss each other so much. I feel like I myself have had absolutely no break in the last 4 months. First she wouldn't take the bottle. Then she finally started taking it at 3 months so I was able to get away here and there. But pumping enough milk for weekdays at DC and for a sitter on the weekend has become impossible.
I never realized this would be so hard. I soo badly want to continue on but it's making life so hard lately. But at the same time, the thought of not being able to connect with DD by nursing and providing milk for her makes me really sad.
What to do?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Did any of you give up BF earlier than you wanted?
Breastfeeding is hard and if it gets to a point where it is making you miserable, then you should stop. Formula is food and good food at that.
I wanted to continue until DD is 6 months however my work schedule isn't allowing for it. I have to travel out of the country for 2 weeks when DD is just 4 months old. My only option is to burn through my freezer stash and supplement with formula while I'm gone and then pump/dump every day that I'm away from her. I just don't see that happening especially when I travel its non-stop meetings and working. It breaks my heart but that's life.
Yes. With DD1, I was so convinced I would BF, I refused to have formula in the house - afterall, that's just "temptation" to give up on BFing. Well, one night, at 10pm, after DD had screamed for 7 solid hours, I met our pedi at the office. She checked her out and then left the room. She came back with a bottle of formula and said, "Hun, she's starving." Wow. Talk about being punched in the face. DD was a projectile puker. But, she was gaining weight, so we figured everything was fine. Turns out that the "swallowing" I swore I heard while she was BFing was her swallowing her own vomit. She wasn't getting enough from me because I wasn't producing enough....and I wasn't producing enough because I stopped a medication I need for colitis and was sick and dehydrated all the time. The medication isn't safe while BFing ever (I consulted with everyone and it's just not safe at all). I stopped it because BFing was THAT important to me. I was sick all the time. DD was sick all the time. Then, I realized she wasn't even getting enough to eat.
I spiraled into horrible PPD over it. I felt like a huge failure.
With DD2, I stopped the medication again to BF. This time, DD2 lost weight. It was either FF with preemie formula or she'd end up in the hospital. It actually didn't bother me so much this time.
DD3 went right to formula. I stayed on my medication and we're all happier for it.
DD1 is 2 now and it doesn't even cross my mind anymore. What she ate (or didn't eat) a year ago doesn't concern me. It's such a small blip on the parenting radar, there is no need to focus on this one thing as the be all and end all of everything. It's not.
Give yourself a break, whatever you decide to do. Either way, your DD will be fine.
Good luck. :-)
Yes. I wanted to BF for 16 weeks and it turned into EP for 8 weeks. Between latching issues, having to measure every cc one of the boys drank when he came home from the NICU I had to switch them to formula earlier than I had planned.
They are doing fantastically well though, so I have no regrets.
These are the thoughts I have. If it weren't for work, I would continue on realistically for more than a year. But, I like nursing not just b/c of the health benefits. I really like have DD close to me and I like that I'm the only one that can do this for her.
Like others said, I had absolutely no intention of using formula at any point. I tried breastfeeding and DD had a very weak latch, combined with my low supply, she was not getting the amount that she needed. My turning point came when we could not wake her up. She was so malnourished that she didn't even have the energy to wake up. That was very scary. We started supplementing and started pumping. I pumped and supplemented until she was 4 weeks old, and now we FF all the time.
I feel like I had to have time to grieve over this loss of not being able to BF. It is slowly getting better, but I still feel like my body has betrayed me. One of the things that I read when we were trying to make the decision to stop BFing was that if there are circumstances in which BFing is not working out, stop beating yourself up and work toward redefining what a successful BFing relationship should be. I've made peace with the fact that my DD got the colostrum and 3 or 4 weeks of BM. That has to be good enough and I'm moving on. It wasn't what I origninally wanted, but it's working out and my baby is happy and healthy.
Good luck to you!