100% breastfeeders - please come and say hello - feeling a little isolated here!

[Miaou]

I'm the only bfeeder in RL in my group of friends, and it seems that much of my postnatal group on here is mixed feeding. I've now reached the point where the tiredness is getting to me and I have reached a low ebb. Many people (out of kindness) have suggested I should begin weaning or introduce a bottle, which I am really not ready to do. Fortunately dh backs me all the way but I would like to chat to other 100% breastfeeders (past or present), just to reassure me that I'm not my own!

Just come and say hello and maybe we can offer each other a boost if/when we are feeling down!

Hey miaou!
How old is the babe??

How old is your baby?

I 100% bfed my ds until 6m, and it was a whole lot easier than weaning by the time he was that age - no risk of forgetting to take my norks with me when we go out etc.

I think the tiredness is just the product of looking after a baby 24/7, I don't think bf itself causes it and it will improve as your baby gets older anyway. Can you have a nap in the afternoon with your baby, or an early night for a few nights?

He is ... er.... ...a spit short of 16 weeks moondog.

Hi Miaou.

I breastfed all 3 of mine 100% until 6 months plus and carried on breastfeeding until at least a year with all of them.

Just too lazy to do the bottles.

I agree, the tiredness is not linked to the breastfeeding, however it is the tiredness that is causing me to feel more anxious/down about things and getting them out of proportion etc, so the effect is indirectly on my attitude towards breastfeeding (ie I am not brushing off the unwanted advice with confidence, just worrying that maybe they are right!) Hope that makes sense.

Oh well done you! Hardest part practically over-wiat and see how easy it is all now,much easier than faffing with bottles and/or formula.
This is a great time to take a holiday or have aw/end awy too you know!

You could always express if you want a break.Have you tried?

it does, Miaou. But you know it wouldn't help you if you introduced a bottle, and I bet you'd feel more miserable if you did.

It does just keep getting easier and easier to bf as they get older (except for the wriggling, maybe). That's when all your hard work in the early days pays off.

Hang on in there girl, you know you can

Miaou,they are well meanikng but misguided.
Remember that.
You are doing a fabulous job!

I firmly believe you have to do what feels right for you. I b/fed my first DS till he was 5 months but he was such a greedy wee beast that he would drink from nork or bottle. Got him onto bottles alone by 8 months as I needed my body back.

However, DS the second has been very resistant to the whole bottle thing and would not take one if I was around. He's been b/fed up until a couple of weeks ago but I want to stop. Fortunately it's been quite a quick and fairly happy switch to a bottle with cow's milk.

At the end of the day do what feels right for you. My mother was on at me to stop feeding DS2 myself when he reached 6 months but we weren't ready to stop.

As for the tiredness, be kind to yourself, if the washing up has to wait, so be it. Adjusting to being a mum is scary, wonderful and tiring. Finally, if a piece of advice makes you think yes that's good for me go with it and ignore the rest.

Sorry for such a long post

Miaou, keep hanging on in there!

I have just stopped BF DS, he is 20 months, he was exclusively BF all the way.

It was a sad day for us, but we both seem to have adapted OK to life without boob.

But I feel so proud of myself for sticking with it through those early days. And yes most of the time I felt dead on my feet, but I think that is fairly common regardless of feeding methods!

And weaning now isn't going to make a difference btw.

You can do it!

Hello sweets - just on my way out, but will come and chat about the marvels of 100% breastfeeding later on Hang in there - you're doing fab, Miaou!

Thank you for the support guys. Moondog, I haven't gone down the expressing route because a) can't really afford the kit (though I'm sure we would find the money if it was vital) and b)I am somewhat norkularly challenged - tried to use one before but I don't really have anything to stick in the booby bit!!

Just tried to take your advice about the nap Carolina, but my mum rang - am going to go back to bed and try again!

Hi Miaou. I feel exactly the same sometimes. With dd1 all my friends were b/fing, but the people I have met this time with dd2 aren't. (They are all weaning already too which is another thread).
My dd is 21 weeks now. My dh has been away with work and is now on nights and so has not been around and I am exhausted. DD2 is up alot in the night still and has three teeth already and bites me sometimes too (esp at the moment as she is teething again)....I could go on. It does get me down, but I know that switching to bottles would definately be the wrong idea for me. More work apart from everything else. I fed dd1 till 12 months and am determined to do the same again with dd2.
So in essence: We are doing a great job, and you are not alone. I am with you! A moral supporting boost is just what we need. Moondog says it so well .

Hi Miaou

DD is exclusively breastfeed and she's 5 months old next Tuesday. I'm really enjoying it now, and dd has just started sleeping through (10pm to 6am) of her own accord. I was thinking about introducing formula for daytime feeds as she is going to nursery from January, but Mears and Hunkermunker gave some good advice re: getting her to take water/juice or ebm, so I am just trying to get her used to a beaker with a little bit of water in it.

The bit I find hard is the total reliance on me as the only source of nourishment. I find it a lot of pressure when I am feeling tired or ill to know that no one else can feed her (she wouldn't take a bottle). But those snuggly night time feeds really make it worth while. I'm not going to start weaning until 24 weeks. I would have waited until 6 months exactly, but I wanted to have started more than a week or two before she starts nursery.

Give me a shout anytime.

Hiya hunkersee you later

And Carolina you're dead right about introducing a bottle would make me feel miserable. I did this with dd2 and my milk supply dropped off and I ended up bottle feeding from 8 weeks. Until I got pg with ds I didn't realise how much this had upset me tbh!

And - I hope I can say this here without being villified - but the thought of putting something so unnatural as formula into ds sends me into a flat spin. Stupid really, I don't have a problem with bottle feeding, both dds were bottlefed at some point, but I can't bear the thought of doing it with ds.

Thanks mandymac and skyler. Yes weaning is another issue raising its head. I'm in no hurry at all, I don't believe ds is at all ready for it (despite the night feeding), but yet again I'm the only RL mum in my group who is not either weaning already or gearing up to wean at 16 weeks. I think they all think I'm a bit weird

Hah, when I first tried to express I got so frustrated that I threw the damn thing against the wall. Fortunately Avent make durable pumps. Never liked the motorised one, altogether too close to a milking parlour for my liking...

I found as long as the rubber cushion was damp then it made a good seal against my boob and after that it worked like a dream. Size doesn't matter - I'm in the wouldn't drown category but my sister isn't and we both managed fine (she's had four wee beasties...)

oh, miaou,
i haven't read all of the thread, just your post.
i am doing 100% bf with my little one
it is really hard and is especially difficult with other children to deal with too. I rememebr being bored with feeding ds1 all the time, now i'd love to have the time to feel bored.
you know it is the best thing to do, who cares what the others are doing. i had a few mixed feeders and a feww 100% bf in my circle this time and last time and can understand the feeling about mixed feeding making it a bit easuer.
you have done a great job to get this far, and remember that it does get better in the long view.. i know some days are worse than others (and nights!) but generally it will get easier.
i am getting a bit sick of every 2 hrs in the night at the moment, but actaully when i think hard, it has only been 3 nights this week that this has happened, it is just that you remmber these nights more than the easier ones
anyway, just to say HI and consider yourself supported by another bf mner

stumpweasel, I barely make an A cup - think grapes not melons.......didn't think it would be possible tbh!

(am dreading mammograms when I get old... )

Hiya noops, thanks for your support. I am very lucky really, my dds are 8 and 7 and my dh is around a lot and does loads to help out, so in some ways it's like only having one again (from a practical pov anyway, the girls need a lot of emotional support). However I am a ridiculously positive person so feeling down/isolated like I do just now has kind of taken me by surprise.

It does help to keep reminding myself that it's not forever! Am hoping to have a fourth too so I also keep reminding myself that it's probably easier at the moment than it will be when I have a toddler to keep amused all day as well as a baby!

Great idea Miaou
I am BF my ds at 7mths, intend to carry on as long as we both want (which probably will mean when ds isn't interested any more).
I would say too don't bother with weaning until 6mths and I don't think formula necessarily helps either. I say this b/c I tried giving the odd formula bottle at bedtime as ds has always been a bad sleeper, and just thought it might help. Had it worked I'd have been all for it, but needless to say it didn't. I started weaning at 21wks, advice given to me was that you need to start before 26wks, I thought that it just might make him more settled at night, and nice comments like, "you're cruel for not feeding him' got to me. But with hindsight I'm sure I could have waited. Didn't make him sleep any better. It's so hard when you desperately want to do the right thing for your baby, and you get so much conflicting advice from people who are supposed to know what they're talking about that you forget sometimes to listen to what your baby is telling you.

Hi Miaou

You know you're right and they're all wrong.

Get them to explain to you in words of one syllable exactly how:

making a bottle
warming the bottle
washing the bottle
sterilising the bottle

is easier than lifting up your shirt and plugging the baby on!? Don't get it, myself.

Message withdrawn

Hi Miaou - I'm BF my 5 month old and he's going through a really bad sleeping phase. I must admit that there have been nights when I have thought "if I'd been giving him formula, he'd be sleeping through by now". And today I found myself thinking "if he's still hungry then maybe I should try solids", so I really understand how the things that people say can niggle their way into your head. But when I'm feeling rational, I know that formula doesn't guarantee a good night's sleep, and nor does a spoonful of baby rice, so I'm just sticking with the original plan. My sister thinks I'm mad... I'm the only one in the postnatal group who isn't getting DS ready for solids... but I'm convinced I'm not weird and nor are you!!!! Just do what you know is best for you and your baby and sucks to the rest of them! (lack of sleep making me militant now!)

Hello

We get to 6 month mark tomorrow - breastfed all the way, not even tried EBM yet (too lazy). Like you, no-one in rl circle of recent baby friends is breastfeeding (some have done be not for long)