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I am done BFing.

susan1017susan1017 member
in Breastfeeding

Over the last week or so DS had become increasingly fussy at the breast and it seems like my supply is not keeping up with his demand. He is constantly rooting and crying and the only time I get him to settle is when I offer a supplement after hours of try to get him to nurse. We have fallen into a downward spiral of feeding for about 10 minutes followed by fussing and pulling off the breast and then him screaming for an hour before I stop trying to soothe him and try nursing again. He feels like a colicy baby but I think it is just hunger! He is not napping during the day and it is affecting his sleep at night. He is starting to wake more at night instead of less. That is NOT ok with me. I also have to say my favorite 10-15 minutes of the day are when he has that bottle in his mouth. I know relief for both of us is coming.

I was happy to try breastfeeding but always said that the minute it stopped working for both of us I was done. I have another child who needs my time and attention and I am sick of telling her 'you have to wait until mommy gets the baby fed enough to put him down". It seems that that time never comes and it isnt fair to her.  BFing is just not working into our lives for the long term. Just admitting that we are going to wean I feel the weight of the world off my shoulders.


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Re: I am done BFing.

  • NovemberNZNovemberNZ

    Great job trying! Not everyone makes it as far as you did. Do what is best for you, your baby and your family!

     

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  • angelaa73angelaa73 member
    I always say even 1 DAY of bf'ing is better than none at all. No worries
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  • susan1017susan1017 member
    imageAmyG*:

    I'm so sorry that it's been such a struggle for you to breastfeed.  Baby did get a good start on life and health due to your efforts and that is a good thing. sounds like a visit with a good lactation consultant was in order weeks ago to get to the bottom of the situation, plus baby was in one long growth spurt--they tend to last 3-4 days at 1 week, 3-4 weeks, 5-6 weeks and then at 3 months and 6 months and during those times, nursing virtually non-stop can be really tough.

     

    I often suggest to any moms talking of weaning to pick the time of day that is the most annoying/anxiety producing/horrible and drop that feeding and just give formula at that time and not pump.  If that helps, then stay there.  If that doesn't help, then pick another time of day that is really bad and do the same.

     

    Be very careful stopping cold turkey without any kind of gradual weaning like I mention above, because even though supply has seeming to be an issue, you may still end up engorged, uncomfortable and at risk for mastitis.  It's best to go slowly, even if you don't want to.

     

    Thanks, this is really good advise. After I wrote this post the next two feeding were bottle feedings. I tried putting him on the breast after that and he was a lot more settled and took a good feeding. We also did really well overnight. He slept in 4 hour jags so after some sleep and a break from the marathon feedings I am a little less hard core about completely stopping. I guess I could try a mix of BF and FF and see if that works for us before completely stopping.

    Thanks to all the posters for your encouragement and advise! I was preparing myself to be flamed into next Tuesday. haha.

    Susan

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