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AIBU?

To switch to formula

21 replies

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 10:54

DS is ten weeks. In this time hes been suspected of having a dairy allergy so ive had to cut all dairy. Fine. He's had a tongue tie which he had snipped and has reattached not once but THREE times. He has it snipped for the third time Tuesday and a couple of feeds after were comfortable. Did the exercises and am continuing. However the last few feeds were painful and he keeps slipping on and off. The lady who divided his tongue tie said after so many snips there is too much scar tissue to be able to do it again. It def feels like its reattached. Dont think there is anything else I can do- AIBU to just go onto formula?

OP posts:

Report

BatMobile · 12/02/2016 10:57

Breastfeeding is bloody hard. You're doing well. Have you seen a lactation consultant? They can help with latch.

I formula fed DS1 and am breastfeeding DS2. You need to do whatever works for you.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 10:57

Yes thats who ive been seeing for his snips

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SalemSaberhagen · 12/02/2016 10:58

Of course YANBU. Do it, and don't think twice about it. You poor thing, sounds like you and DS have really been through it

Gileswithachainsaw · 12/02/2016 10:59

do you have a prescription?

ywnbu to say "enough is enough" at all. if thats what you really want to do. it's great stuff dd had the aptamil.pepti for cmpi. amazing stuff.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 11:00

No but the doc said it wouldnt be a problem to get special formula if I wanted to switch

OP posts:

SalemSaberhagen · 12/02/2016 11:02

Although I seem to remember you as a poster who is very vocal about breastfeeding not being the be all and end all OP

Gileswithachainsaw · 12/02/2016 11:03

That's great. call up, get one and go fill it when you have decided :)

nothing wrong with it at all. do not feel you have to give up. however for the love of god don't feel you shouldn't use it bases on other people's judgments and opinions.

your baby needs to eat. you need to be able to not be in pain all the time.

Oysterbabe · 12/02/2016 11:03

You could express? My DD has never latched and I exclusively express. It's hard work though.
Switch to formula if you like. Yanbu.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 11:05

Salem- I dont post about bf much? I tend to avoid the bf/ff threads like the plague as they go round in circles and go nowhere. Although no it isnt the be all and end all I dont think but just wondered if there were any other solutions anyone could think of

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Skiptonlass · 12/02/2016 11:13

It's up to you.
Bf ing is fine
Ff ing is fine
Bit of both is fine,

You don't need anyone's permission to do what is right for you and your baby.

If you want to keep on bf-ing, there should be support you can access. Ds had a tongue tie I think, but Inthis country they just won't do anything about it. We struggled horribly despite multiple experts shove their oar in. I gave the odd bottle really just to keep him going and give me a break from the pain.
At about ten weeks it just got better overnight. I do t know why. His latch was still crap but for some reason things started to work and we managed to get back to mainly bf. If it hadn't have improved, I'd have switched to formula .

The only question you need to ask is what is right for you. Don't be put off bf if you want to do it but also don't feel any guilt if you want to mix or formula feed.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 11:16

Would be nice if it just 'clicked' and started working!

OP posts:

QueenArseClangers · 12/02/2016 11:57

Have you been checked for other issues like thrush and gone back to basics with positioning and attachment?
Would expressing be an option? Or a second opinion?

SweetAdeline · 12/02/2016 11:59

I haven't used them, but might nipple shields help?

SweetAdeline · 12/02/2016 12:00

It might get better as his mouth gets bigger too but waiting it out might be unbearable.

HazzaB89 · 12/02/2016 12:09

Do you know if he also has a lip tie? Tongue & lip tie normally go hand in hand. My DD had both but at 4 months, the NHS wouldn't touch her. I got given the info for Dr Levinkind. He works in London and is a tie specialist. It costs about £400 but he will properly diagnose the ties (and grade them) and then with your consent, will laser the ties. No blood, no pain, no fuss. He is also then there for you to contact whenever you need him if you have concerns or questions. I believe he is now the only person in the UK to use the laser method. I was able to BF until 12 months when we swapped to cows milk. If you've had enough of BF though there's absolutely no reason not to turn to FF.

ShootTheMoon · 12/02/2016 12:11

There's no issue with you choosing to switch to formula if it is best for both of you. However, if you want to exhaust all options for breastfeeding, have you checked for lip tie? My kids have both had grade IV lip tie (in addition to TT) and shallow latch as a result. You can have both ties resolved with laser treatment which cauterises the wound leading to less scar tissue and reattachment.

Dairy intolerance can in some instances be a misdiagnosis for reflux which is instigated by tongue and lip ties. Read the mommypotamus website on tongue tie for information if you are interested.

I'm sorry you are both suffering so much .

DangerMouth · 12/02/2016 12:19

I think dd1 had tt and it improved at 12 weeks miraculously as l was this close > < to giving up.

Dd2 had diagnosed tt, had it snipped and she wouldn't consistently bf after that. Gave up trying to bf at 8 weeks and continued expressing until 12 weeks when l moved her to formula.

I did the best l could for both dd's and that's all you can do.

If you're ready to try something else why not try mix feeding for a while?

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 12:24

Who diagnoses lip tie? I thought DS had one but the GP dismissed it. The lactation consultants/specialist infant feeding advisors dont even look for lip ties.

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sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 12/02/2016 12:25

Shoot- where is laser treatment available please?

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GardeningWithDynamite · 12/02/2016 12:31

You've done extremely well in getting to 10 weeks with all the problems you've had. No judgement here if you want to switch to formula. Bear in mind that it usually gets easier to bf as they get bigger/older and IME easier to get out the house.

My DD was allergic to CMP. I did bf her but when we saw a consultant they gave us some of the formula to try. We gave her a tiny bit to check that she wasn't also allergic to the formula (she wasn't but she didn't like it). We tried the formula ourselves and it didn't taste very nice. At 10 weeks you might have to switch over gradually anyway to get your DS to take it.

ShootTheMoon · 12/02/2016 12:39

We used Dr Malcolm Levinkind, who is based in London (quite a journey for us). There used to be someone near Huddersfield but I am not sure he is still active.

The NHS rightly practices evidence based medicine. There are few studies on tongue tie and fewer on lip tie. The NHS doesn't acknowledge lip tie but the procedure was actually quite life changing for us.

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