Tired of it all ...
I am getting so tired of breastfeeding and I'm not sure what to do. I've made it to 12 weeks on Monday. I'm tired of ....
-Growth spurts! It seems like he's going through one every other week! I feel like I'm going to have a mental breakdown every time we go through this. Every time he does, I'm lucky if I get a 30-min window to go pee and get something to eat.
-Having ginormous boobs.
-His eating every 2 hours. It seems he's never going to space out his feedings. I'm so tired of having to rush around getting my errands done because I only have an hour window that he's not attached to my boob.
-Having my supply dip every time I try to diet or exercise.
-These extra 10 pounds that won't go away.
-Being looked at like I'm a freak show when I'm feeding him (and I'm not talking about strangers here)
-Having people constantly tell me he's hungry and I just need to give him some formula and rice cereal - my grandma told me this when he was a week old and her and my mom will not get it through their thick heads that I'm not giving my LO rice cereal yet and formula is not the magic answer I need.
-Having no support to breastfeed whatsoever. Everyone around me formula fed and I can tell even my DH is weirded out by it.
I'm just so tired of it all. I go back to work in two weeks and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. It's just all getting to be too much, but I'm trying to do what's best for my LO - just not sure what that is yet. I'm not even sure why I'm posting this - maybe I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening!
Re: Tired of it all ...
I'm sorry you're feeling overwhelmed. It's no fun when your family doesn't support your nursing. I think that you're right on the cusp of everything getting easier tho. Your LO is about 3 mo? Feedings should start to space out to about every 3 hrs. and if you're going back to work, pumping isn't that bad and then your DH and others can feed your LO pumped milk from a bottle so you won't always have him attached to your boob. I also had an over supply when my LO was 4 mo but it did work itself out. You can try feeding on the same side for two feedings, that helped me. and....I lost that 10 extra pounds when LO was about 3-4 mo and now I'm under my pre-preg weight. Give it some time, it's only been 3 months.
anyway just wanted to send you some encouragement....whatever you decide is fine, but if you hang in there with the nursing it will get easier!!!
Thank you ladies so much! I'm actually looking forward to pumping when I go back to work so that I can get a little time without him being attached to me all day long. It seems like every time I'm in a funk already, that's the day he starts going through a growth spurt and I just start to feel like I'm at my wits end. I have decided that no matter what I decide, I will not quit on a bad day. I don't want to just quit one day out of frustration and then regret it in a week or two.
Again, thanks for the encouragement! It really helps!
I always remind myself of that when I'm having a bad day, when she cries and fusses and I'm just tired and overwhelmed. It all will pass.
I HATE it when people tell me she's hungry. Like that is supposed to help me or something. My mom and MIL always make that comment. She cries because she's hungry, maybe your milk is thinning out (wtf!), maybe you ate something bad. Seriously, they have no clue. I just ignore them because I've tried explaining to them how this works. I even gave them a booklet to read AND STILL THEY DON'T GET IT. Arghhh, drives me nuts, but anyway. I stuck to my plan. If you had told me around 10 weeks that one day I would be nursing without discomfort or pain, that my boobs would be smaller than they were pre-pregnancy, I would've told you you were crazy!
Everything is a phase... breathe in and out.
I wish you much luck!
Breast feeding is hard, even though some moms will tell you it was easy for them. I love the sound of being able to give my son a bottle when he needs one. But then I think, man that would be a lot more work. Having to make bottles and heat them to that perfect temp while bouncing a crying baby at 3 in the morning, does not sound fun.
Stick with it and know that there is an end in sight, even though it feel so far away.
I can relate to all of these as well. BFing has definitely gotten easier over time. I guess it's a combination of experience and DS getting more mature. I don't have pain any more, I rarely get engorged, he doesn't have constant growth spurts anymore. I credit losing all my baby weight plus some to BFing because I eat a lot more now than I did when I was pregnant.
I do still get tired of people telling me I need to start him on solids, put cereal in his bottle or give him formula instead of BM before bed. It's annoying but I try to ignore it. I am lucky that DH is fully supportive of my BFing, but I think that's more because a) cost and b) it means he's not responsible for 3 am feedings. I'm also lucky that my coworkers understand my need to pump at work and don't give me any flack for it.
I'm sorry you don't have any support - I think that's the only way I was able to push on through the tough times. If you do end up quitting, 12 weeks is still a good amount of time. Do what you feel is best for you and LO. Good luck.