Breastfeeding
basschick89
member
Don't Want to Stop But...
basschick89
member
Hello, everyone. I am desperate for a little advice. My 4 month old has been BF and FF since we got home from the hospital. He lost more weight than the pediatrician was comfortable with while EBF so supplementing was encouraged. I was crushed since I was unable to BF my first child due to low supply/weight loss as well. Okay, so for the past 3 1/2 months we have had a pretty good feeding relationship. Baby will nurse and then I will follow up with formula. He has always needed more formula than breastmilk so it has seemed like I was supplementing with breastmilk, but I still felt it was important to continue nursing. I pump as well, but I never get more than two ounces per day (pumping after every feeding and once in the middle of the night). Now, he is rejecting the breast almost every feeding and only wanting formula. He has done this a couple of times and he always goes back to the "normal" nursing/formula routine. My question is...should I just stick with formula and stop BFing? I don't want to put my selfish reasons above his wellbeing and I don't want him to experience any angst with eating. It makes me so unbelievably sad when I think about "giving up," almost like I'm mourning something. Is that weird? He is just our last baby and I so wanted that bond and relationship, but I just don't know if I should just give in to the formula? I'm sorry this is so long. Thank you so so much in advance to anyone who reads this and can offer some help.
Re: Don't Want to Stop But...
Sometimes babies get finicky with nursing. At one point, my daughter would only take a bottle of my milk, wouldn't nurse. I felt like a dairy cow since I was always pumping. I didn't like it but I kept trying to latch her. Her lil strike didn't last too long. Then when she turned about 18 months, I wasn't making enough so we would give her a bottle of coconut milk (dairy allergy) and I would 'top her off' with nursing to get her to sleep. I nursed her for another 6 months, until she turned two and she self weaned since I was 6 months pregnant. One thing that I found that prolonged nursing was that I always kept her at a slow flow nipple to keep it as close to nursing as possible, even at 2 yrs old.
What I guess I'm saying is, if its something that you feel dedicated about, try different options and stay patient. There's nothing wrong with 'topping him off' to keep the breastfeeding relationship going. Your not selfish. Your baby is eating enough and he's not starving. Stay strong, nursing isn't easy but you've gotten this far mama!