Am I being unreasonable to give my baby a bottle?

[parkersnose]

Baby is 8 days old and breastfeeding well. I am in excruciating pain. Both nipples are bleeding in between feeds. Would I be asking for trouble to give him one bottle of formula tonight to give my breasts a break? Has anyone tried this so early on? I plan to speak to midwife tomorrow regarding this but in the meantime I am desperate.

Do what you need to do. Fed is best.

Could you call the NCT Breastfeeding support line to get advice. They give good advice on all elements of feeding

Of course you can give a bottle, however one bottle isn’t really going to help your nipples heal much. Have you tried any of the Multimam compresses? Have you seen a lactation consultant (not midwife) to check your latch and check baby for a tongue tie?

You can give your baby formula without asking for permission but I would 100% call the National Breastfeeding helpline right now and try to find breastfeeding support because you shouldn’t be having that pain OP

We introduced a bottle at 2 weeks to make sure she took one.

Make sure your partner does it, not you. I left the house the first time while she was getting used to the bottle.

My daughter mixed fed then so i breastfed, then my partner bottle fed one or two bottles a day. Eventually i could do bottles as well

You poor thing. You shouldn't be in pain, uncomfortable maybe because it's still very early days, but not in so much pain.

Are you sure he's latching correctly? You need to get a lot more breast tissue into his mouth than you might think so he's not latching onto the nipple & making it sore & bleeding. Try to get him facing sideways on to you & get as much areola into his mouth as possible. It'll be more efficient for him & more comfortable for you.

I agree with the pp who suggested the helpline for some support.

If you want to give a bottle of formula of course you can, but it won't give your nipples time to heal. When my DC1 was newborn I found breastfeeding tough, but I really wanted to do it so took it literally one feed at a time, knowing I could give a bottle if I needed to. DH did give him a bottle one evening at around 8 weeks, just to give me some time to sleep more than anything as I was exhausted. Oh, and that one bottle didn't affect my supply.

I did this, pumped and dumped, I stuck with it though and by 4 weeks all was brilliant, fed until 16 months

I could only continue feeding by using Lansinoh between feeds and using breast shield to feed for a couple of weeks whilst my nipples healed. It will get better but a bottle is absolutely fine.

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Lots of lanisoh cream! It does get much, much better after the first few weeks.

It would take a special kind of prick to tell you you’re being unreasonable right now.

Do what you need to do but make sure during the night that you stimulate your breasts (I’d leave the nipples as they sound agonising) by gentle kneading massage to trick them into thinking there’s a baby wanting milk. Please access any help you can get. Sore cracked bipolar are not something to grit your teeth and get on with despite all the shite info out there. You need a good assessment from a bf peer supporter of if you can afford it lactation consultant. A small one off of formula does not shut the door to breastfeeding.

How nipples got autocorrected to bipolar I’ll never know

I had that. pretty bad. If you want to continue feeding, get lots of lansiloh. it will get better after a few weeks. I tried formula but DD refused so I carried in feeding under great pain but it eventually dissapeared and I fed her until 2.5. but not unreasonable to try the bottle. I feel your pain.

do you have a BF support group/BF midwife? sometimes it's as simple as getting the latch right.

You need time to heal. Cold pressed coconut oil (the kind you buy in the supermarket in a jar), lanisoh or gel compresses will help. You don't need to give formula or a bottle at this stage, although you can if you wish. You can hand express milk into a clean glass bowl or jug (doesn't need to be sterilised but washed very well with hot soapy water and rinsed out) and feed your baby off a teaspoon - baby should be able to lap the milk off. Baby's tummy is still small so doesn't need big quantities at a time. I did this with my newborn for 24 hours which gave me time to have a rest, heal and get support with the latching. Definitely call the helplines for support.

You have my sympathies; I found breastfeeding excruciatingly painful for the first month or so. Will you express if you give a bottle? The main concerns are a drop in supply or mastitis, which I developed after giving my nipples a break. I echo PP comments about getting your latch checked and using lots of Lansinoh cream.

I had this OP. It was excruciating for about 2 weeks and then it started to get better. lansinoh is great. Also second the idea of one bottle a day - given by partner not you. Makes things more flexible later on. I did this anyway with both of mine and BF the rest of the time. Usually dream feed so I could get extra sleep.

Your nipples will toughen up! Trust me on this. Other considerations are - have you checked for tongue tie? My first had this and it was snipped at a week old. Was definitely affecting latch.

Try nipple shields as well as cream! Absolute lifesaver! But if you want to give a bottle there's nothing stopping you, I did and baby fed happily from both breast and bottle from birth. Good luck and don't feel bad about your decision, a healthy baby and a healthy mum is far better than you bleeding between feeds!

Good god you’ve done amazing to last this long especially with your nipples in that state.

I lasted 3 days and was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Swapping to formula was the biggest relief ever.

You would not be being unreasonable to stop BF altogether if you’re in pain and bleeding!

Do it!! Ds2 had one bottle at bedtime every day from around a week old. Otherwise he was bf.

AS above, get latch checked.
TRy different holds.
Get baby checked for tongue tr,
Use cream.
Ask if any peer supporters or lactation advisors. (not the sasme thing.0 In your area.
TRy shields.
Ofcourse ok to give a bottle. (whether that's EBM or formula.)
No need to pump and dump.

Does expressing hurt as well or just when baby feeds from you?
I endured 6 weeks of hell with my first baby, total agony each time she fed. HV was very anti bottle and made me feel shit by insisting I BF exclusively.
In the end I bought a breast pump (which was much gentler than the baby!) This gave my nipples time to heal and she was able to return to BF later on.
Her 2 brothers were completely different, brilliant latches from day one and fed each for 2 years.
Do what is right for you lovely.

Breast or bottle feed is one thing. Nobody being unreasonable with their choice.
Just be careful. You may give yourself mastitis if you miss feeds and get engorged. And that hurts far worse than sore nipples (had both).
Battle thru. Get nipple shields. Get latch checked.

Giving your baby a bottle is absolutely fine - you must be so sore
It isn't good for you and if you so sore your bleeding it will affect baby if you continue try.
I know breast feeding so popular nowadays but do not feel in anyway guilty if it doesn't work out
There is a lot of opinions about this but if both an baby are distressed it isn't good for either of you.
Take care
dx

Sorry hit send early. Make sure your DH is giving you tlc and taking this seriously. If you want to stop then stop but do ring NCT helpline for advice and commiseration they are open 24/7

Commiseration cos it bloody hurts not cos you're stopping I mean.

I used a nipple shield when I absolutely couldn't stand the pain. I don't really agree with the people who say if you're doing it properly it doesn't hurt - it absolutely can, the let down for the first few weeks when I had my first was toe curling, I had to bite my lip to get through it so please don't think you must be doing something wrong, I fed her exclusively until weaning age.

Give her a bottle now and get a nipple shield from boots tomorrow. Try not to use it every time though or baby will get too used to it.