Although breastfeeding has been easy for me, I wish I'd never done it.

[SarahScot]

I was incredibly lucky with breastfeeding DD. After strggling to breastfeed DS, DD took to breastfeeding like a duck to water and we had 5 months of no feeding problems.

However, I have been back at work for 3 weeks, DD refuses all bottles so has no milk through the day. Ocassionally, if she's starving she'll take 1 or 2 oz once a day, but not every day. She's been getting up more and more at night and it's now at the stage where I can't cope. Last night she was in her bed for 11 hours and got up to be fed 8 times. I have tried to get her back to sleep without feeding her but always give in after half an hour as I'm so shattered.

It's having a negative effect on my kids, on my relationship with my husband, my relationship with friends and my ability to do my job. I am miserable, I am making my family miserable. I am so tired that I constantly feel dizzy and am terrified of crashing the car.

I have tried 5 types of bottles, I have tried using expressed milk, a mixture of bm and fm, just fm. I have tried different brands of formula. I truly feel at the end of my tether and don't know what to do to make the situation any better.

I don't know what I expect anyone to say, I think I just want to vent.

sometime go back to sleep if she wakes up alone

Sleep deprivation really has melted my brain.

That sounds like a great plan, taking into account the needs of everyone. I hope it works out well :)

Yay, sounds like a plan. Good luck :)

That sounds great! Good luck with it all. :)

Very best of luck! Hope the first night went OK (if you started last night). Fingers crossed for you.

Just found this thread and wanted to let you know that I had exactly the same problem and I sympathise. My DD never took a bottle but managed to get by with sippy cups of ebm and lots of yoghurts. She is now 3 and very bouncy so the difficult month is entirely forgotten.

Hope something works for you.

This might not sound helpful but it takes about 16 days to start a habit and around 40 to break one. Ur baby is probably in confusion as others have posted. I would suggest keeping a very tight new routine for the foreseeable to strongly reinforce the new situation. This doesn't sound like the time to be fluid. It will get better. However it is going to be painful for a little bit. It will feel like you are doing all the giving with not much happening maybe but hang in there for things to reestablish themselves.

That said decide a point with your partner when u will talk and review the situation together this needs to include all suggestions including a complete rethink if necessary. It's got to be a family supported situation or u will feel worse and worse. Good luck!!!!