To put newborn on formula?

[BumWad]

Just a bit of background. DS who is 6 weeks old arrived at 32 weeks, his due date will be this Sunday.
He was in SCBU for just over 4 weeks, has had no issues apart from working on the feeding. Apart from a bit of formula in the first few days before my milk came in he has has breastmilk and I have now been ebf for nearly 3 weeks.

It's not all rosy at all. He's got reflux so is not keeping a lot down, except as soon as he's sick he wants to feed again. I am utterly, utterly exhausted. He's putting weight on but the feeding every 1.5-2 hours is killing me. The actual 'feed' is ok however I have to burp him then keep him upright for 30 mins afterwards which then makes it time for the next week.

Alongside this he's on Ranitidine 3 times a day, dalivit once a day, iron once a day and folic acid once a week. He's been prescribed gaviscon too but vomits that up too! I administer all these via a syringe and it's really taking away the job from breastfeeding.

I have lots of breastmilk frozen as I was pumping round the clock when he was in SCBU but this will eventually run out. I just feel so guilty about giving him formula so soon. Another thing that is constantly on my mind is that breastfeeding reduces the SIDS risk, I've had a previous stillbirth so I'm on edge with that as it is.

I guess I don't know what I'm asking but I'm getting to the end of my tether here. Any advice/support would be appreciated. DH is going to try and give him breastmilk in a bottle tonight so will see how that goes. I've got a wrap but he's not big enough to go in it yet, I've ordered a swing got a bouncer etc.

Oh dear, these threads always descend into bf vs ff bunfights :(

I wish they wouldn't. I posted something similar 7-8 months ago when I was struggling with bf my TT, colicky, refluxy baby and my thread went the same way.

Can people please put their agendas to one side and just offer constructive practical advice for the OP, who has clearly been through an awful lot and currently struggling through the grinding newborn days with enough anxieties on her plate without people piling more guilt/worry about SIDS being twice as likely or other nonsense!

OP, breastfeeding is tough for the first 6-8 weeks. It realistically involves accepting that you will largely be tied to the sofa whilst your baby feeds frequently (often cluster feeding) for the first few months. You will be knackered. It's shit.

BUT very very soon (a matter of weeks out of your life in the grand scheme of things) it will all start to get easier. It will stop hurting etc and you will suddenly realise that you are just feeding your baby without really thinking about it a whole lot. The reflux will slowly get better until you realise that too is largely a non issue (it might not go away completely, but you sort of get used to managing it). You will be able to leave the house!!!

BUT if you feel it is all too much, then really really don't feel guilty for the odd bottle (as you say us your plan up thread).... You have been through enough for anyone so don't run yourself into the ground just for the sake of breastfeeding.

I strongly recommend that book I posted the link to up thread. It helped me a lot. Good luck with it all. You and your baby will be fine

Exclusive Expressing nightmare! My baby was born at 32 weeks and stayed in SCBU for a few weeks an I expressed breast milk for him which was fed via a tube. Since we've been home I've been expressing milk into bottles and although ive tried getting him to latch on so many times he just won't! It's a lot of pressure having to express especially during the night when I've got to express (to keep up supply/demand) then feed, burp and keep him upright for at least 20 mins. To make matters worse my milk supply seems to be dwindling so sometimes I'm not even getting enough for a full feed which stresses me out. (4 ounces) I only ever have 1 or 2 bottles expressed in advance for the supply issue and over last couple days I had to feed him two bottles of formula as I was so stressed and needed a break from expressing. Now the poor soul hasn't popped in two days!! I've tried everything, massage, warm water, bath etc... I'm assuming it's because his body isn't used to it? My dilemma is... I was starting to think about mixing formula feeds with expressed feeds but will this affect his digestive system and cause him discomfort and constipation? Xxx

Sorry didn't realise I had put my post in the middle of this thread!! My apologies xx