Too late ?

[JakesMum05]

My DS is 15 weeks and for various reasons I gave up breastfeeding. I know this subject invokes alot of passion so i'll explain. He was 5lbs 10 when born and i was very passionate about breast feeding, so much so i never read the bottle feeding chapters in any books. He was born by c-section and i stupidly thought breastfeeding would be a doddle. I know for a fact i wouldn't be at the point i'm at if he'd been bigger but after an horrendous time in hosp trying desperately to bf i ended up giving a couple of bottles as the pediatrition inferred i would not be able to leave until he'd fed properly and he wouldn't have with just a breast feed.

When i left hosp i thought we were doing great he seemed to latch on and although he screamed alot i assumed he was just a cryer. However when he went down to 5lbs and the HV told me he wasn't feeding properly i felt useless and got very upset. I was startving my baby. He wasn't sucking properly and I never produced alot of milk (not of the squirting variety i hear so much about) I thought it might be due to my PCOS.

Eventually the bf became less and less and he put on weight fantastically and became a happy healthly baby. Which he still is now. But i lie awake at night punishing myself for giving up, i haven't lost the bond, he is perfectly healthy and bright but i feel so guilty. and envious of mother's doing it in our baby massage class

I didn't have engorgement or mastitis when i gave up, an indication perhaps that i wasn't producing enough. but now he;s bigger and sucks better i wonder if there's any way i can start up again. I still have some in there but wud i be wasting my time. Should i just deal with my own guilt and sadness about it and move on.

It's been about 4 or 5 weeks since i stopped.

Sorry to dump all this on people i don't know but i feel very torn.

Thanks

C

Of course you can try feeding. It might take a while to go to exclusive breastfeeding.

I don't know about PCOS and bf. I can tell you that with DS2 (exclusively bf to nearly 6 months) I barely ever leaked. And I never sprayed really, with either child.

If you want to give him a chance to latch on again, just try it. You might want to express a bit first, to get things flowing easily. You also might want to see a BFC and check his latch is good.

Poor you! I think I've read threads on relactating here before but don't know enough to advise you. Know how you feel as gave up myself & really wish it'd worked out - never imagined I wouldn't successfully BF and feel a bit of a failure. Someone said to me that there is so much more to being a good mum than just breast feeding which I kept telling myself.

At the last LLL meeting I attended they mentioned that women can start relactating up to 16 weeks later (or was it 6 months?). It needs pumping every 2 hours (or feeding, obviously) over a few days and they said there's an increase of 2 oz a day. I thought this last claim was a bit optimistic but, hey, who am I to argue with LLL and their evidence. In short, I think it would be tough but get in touch with a LLL counsellor and see what she says. You can CAT me if you'd like the tel no. of the local ones (who had this article). FWIW I swapped my DD from bottles to breast milk and fully BF her since she was about 4-5 weeks old (with support from local LLL counsellor). Best of luck however you decide.

www.kellymom.com/bf/adopt/index.html

kellymom.com has loads of advice on bfeeding and a section on relactation. Good luck

In lieu of further advice on here, ring the NCT on 0870 4448707 and get put through to a breastfeeding counsellor. x

sounds to me like you should try to accept that the bfing period is over and enjoy your baby, also try to enjoy your own role and stop being so hard on yourself.Bottle feeding is fine and it has obviosuly agreed with your ds.I oersonally think trying to relactate after 5 weeks will introduce a while new set of problems - and what if that doesn't work as well as you'd like? give yourself a break....IMO.

um, I had PCOS before conceiving ds and it didn't seem to affect my ability to produce enough milk for him (though like NQC, I've never leaked - saves me a fortune in breast pads ).

Maybe it was more to do with your ds not being latched on quite right and therefore not stimulating production of enough milk?

agree that speaking to a bf counsellor would be a good idea.

good luck

I had very similar probs with my first baby, and i gave up when he was about 6 weeks old and i beat myself up over it for absolutley AGES!! i read very little about breastfeeding before he was born and so the reality of how much time and effort you have to put into it surprised me! when my ds got to about 6 months old i was discussing my sadness at stopping the breastfeeding and she said that you can re-introduce breastfeeding no longer than 6-8 weeks after stopping but no longer and you have to prepare yourself for some real hard work to build up a good supply!! I knew then that if i could have gone back i would have given it my all! i know how much the dissapointment in stopping bfeeding before your ready too can eat you up, so if you really want to and you dont mind the initial hard work than i would say go for it! - you dont have anything to loose by trying and i think it will obviously make you feel better to try again! Go for it hun - im sure you will be succesful and bfeeding with your ds like a pro real soon!!

Try searching the archives for the word relactation

It brings up some threads that might be of help

You do need to let go of your guilt though as you were doing what was best for your baby. It's Ok to feel a little sad about the missed opportunity but don't feel guilty.

Thank you all so much it's lovely to have advice from both sides. I've tried latching my DS on the last two days and he didn't seem that interested. I will try pumping and check out archives and websites etc.

I'll also try to deal with my own feelings and see where it all takes us. I cwill ontinue to enjoy my baby and being his mum, every moment is precious to me and DH. It is the best thing i ever i did despite the problems.

Thanks again ladies.

C X