Giving up breast feeding feel guilty

[Lemonsandlemonade]

Hi all,

I have a lovely 6 week old baby boy.

I like breastfeed I really do but I just feel like a milk maid. The constant feeding being Velcroed to my son is something I am finding quite hard.

Today is a hard day DH has been on a 12 hour shift and got back about 7:30. He left for work at 6. DS has fed every hour and half since and has slept for about 3 hours in total. He is over tired and grumpy. Ds not DH.

I wonder would a bottle be easier in terms of having a break and leaving ds with someone?

Will it affect our bond?

Will I regret not persevering?

I still find feeding in public hard on times too.

Sorry am at a low tonight

Get DH to do the washing and eat something simple. You have a tiny baby, this time is too important and special to prioritise housework. If something isn't essential to you or your baby, let it slide x

If there are people you could leave baby with could some of these same people come over while your DH is working a long shift for some support? Maybe to bring food or put on a wash?

I didn't get much housework, cooking or laundry done at this point. It just had to wait until DH was available.

My consultant always said, never give up on a bad day. Give it 24 hours then make a decision

Breastfeeding is hard. If I had my time again I wouldn’t do it. Not worth it. All the pressure on you. It made me depressed, anxious and exhausted.
Never feel guilty for prioritising your mental or physical health.
However obviously if you want to persevere then good luck and I hope you get the support you need.

Definitely rest OP. You need this and it will be good for all of you. See how you feel in a few days.

At this age rest when baby sleeps. Your DH can help the most by taking on all the household stuff.

As for expressing, yes it can help, but at the same time it's more work for you than just putting the baby on the breast.

You're half way through the fourth trimester now. In the next few weeks things might start getting more of a rhythm and you'll feel more and more 'normal'.

By 4 months both mine were regularly feeding at 3 hour intervals. It meant I could plan activities around that and leave them for that time.

4 months is the golden time of breastfeeding. You really start to see the benefits of being able to just pick baby up and go. No bottles to worry about or whether you have enough milk with you.

Once weaning starts they start to drop milk feeds. By 8/9 months (whenever they are on 3 full meals a day) you can drop to 2 feeds a day if you want.

It's hard at first, but it doesn't stay like this forever.

You've said you love breastfeeding so don't stop on a bad day as you might regret it

Just to say I had no luck pumping at all but mine had an occasional bottle of formula if I had a night out etc. 6 weeks is the hardest bit so if you do want to carry on it'll get so much easier if you can push through the next couple of weeks. Have you tried lying down to feed in bed? You can nap at the same time as the baby then! If you want to stop do it gradually so you don't get mastitis!