3 months in and ready to quit, it seems to be getting harder

[snowchick1977]

dd is 3 months on Saturday. She was ebf until 9 weeks when we introduced a bottle of formula as the last feed, as i need her to be ok with a bottle when i return to work.

She feeds well but the breastfeeding just seems to be getting harder instead of easier. She wakes at 12, 3 and 6 to feed and feeds every hour from 6pm. Its like im not satisfying her.

She will go 2-4 hours without a feed if she is in a deep sleep which is hardly ever, if she is not sleeping or feeding or on the move (over bumps) she is crying.

I see so many chunky babies in shopping centres who are not screaming and are quiet and happy to sit in a pushchair but my daughter just cries.

Everyone has said its because im breastfeeding and she is never full and to just give up and knock her out with formula.

Arrrgh

Oh, sorry rant over.....does anyone ave any tips or advice?

Hi snowchick,
I fully sympathise; my DD2 is 15 weeks now and has gone from being a brilliant sleeper to a baby who wakes up every couple of hours at night for feeds. She's ebf.
There is a growth spurt at around 3 months and I wonder if your DD is going through that at the moment?
All I'm trying to focus on at the moment is just getting through the next wee while, taking it one feed at a time some days. The benefits of bf are there as encouragement, as is the thought of preparing bottles at night - at least with bf it's ready prepared!
OTOH, you've done brilliantly well getting to 3 months and whatever choice you make will be for the best for your baby but also for you.

she is probably going through the infamous growth spurt!

she needs to feed frequently to stimulate your breasts to produce more milk.

it's normal, and it will pass!

Some babies just won't sit quietly in a pushchair, regardless of how they're fed. It's more about personality than milk, especially as they get older.

Just another thought - anecdotally, I've heard that formula doesn't necessarily fill all babies up any more than breast milk would; some will need feeding just as often...

Actually you'd be surprised how many hates the pushchair. Mine hated it amd talking to other mums it's not uncommon. Many of us got slings and it seems the LO all loves it. Mine grew out of the cry in pushchair phase at 5mp, but another in my group still wont stay in one at 6mo.

And like Rita says, it's not related to feeding method.

I could have written this myself! My DD is 10 weeks old and if shes not on the boob shes not happy!! I cant put her down for longer than 5 minutes at a time. She hates her pushchair so Ive given up and carry her in a sling, she hates going in the car and wont settle down for naps during the day. She finally gives up at about midnight when she will sleep (thankgod!). I feel trapped as taking her anywhere is such hard work. She feeds every hour and takes 45 minutes to feed. She wont take a dummy!!

Im just praying it gets easier soon!

make sure you are eating & drinking plenty and try to get some rest during the day to boost your milk supply for the evening.

yep some babies are just like that regardless of how they are fed

I think it could well be a growth spurt- DS was exactly like this at 3 months... he's now 4.5 months and starting to get a bit easier again.

My mum also told me that she stopped breastfeeding me at three months, for the same reason. When it came to my sisters, she was prepared for it, and so managed to keep feeding them for a year each.