stopping breastfeeding

[saskipoo]

Constructive replies only please. I have been exclusively breastfeeding my daughter who is now 5 months old. I have had 3 bouts of mastitis necessitating 4 rounds of antibiotics PLUS i had pneumonia when i was 7 months pregnant so i have had 5 rounds of antibiotics in the last 7 months. The doctor has told me to stop breastfeeding now as another round of antibiotics would not be good for me or my baby. BUT my darling girl is now so established on the boob that she won't take a bottle. I have tried 7 types of bottle but no dice. I have a freezer full of frozen breastmilk (probably 2 months worth) and i need to stop feeding her. I just dont know how to do it. Obviously my ideal would have been to cut down very gradually but given her opposition to the bottle i dont know that this an option. At my last doctors visit (2 weeks ago) the doctor told me to stop immediately and go cold turkey but this seems a last resort for me and i wonder if anyone has any good ideas for me.

if it wasn't for the mastitis would you like to continue?
if so then it might be worth seeing if you have a local breastfeeding group, LLL or something similar? there may be a reason why you're getting mastitis and perhaps they could help sort that out?

personally I would rather breastfeed and take antibiotics than not breastfeed at all... remember that GP's get very little training with regard to breastfeeding and may not give the most sensible advice about it, which is why I think it might be worth speaking to someone qualified?

Obviously if you are feeling ready to stop then everyrthing I've said thus far can be ignored
tbh I think going cold turkey is probably the worst thing for both of you (as I say, bad advice from GP there!)... if you are prone to mastitis anyway then suddenly stopping feeding is not a great idea as you are likely to end up with it again!

have you tried other people offering her a bottle? have you tried latex teats rather than silicone?
i know people who've had success with the latex nuk teats, or the breastflow bottles which are supposed to feel more like a breast?

you could try giving the bottle before she is hungry, so she isn't getting desperate for the breast? or giving a bit of breast then swapping to bottle?

Cold turkey will hurt a lot. Is there reason to believe you'll need more antibiotics soon. Otherwise i'd aim to drop a feed a week. Knowing the pain i was in when i couldn't feed/pump for 24 hours you'd need to at think about pain killers. (not constructive, sorry)
And i would have thought doing it like this may in fact bring on mastitis - and would you have to pump to shift it?
In fact, if i needed to stop immediately for medical reasons, i'd continue to pump several times a day to ease the pressure.
Perhaps your doc has spoken to you about this sort of thing already?

To the actual question:
Have you tried someone else giving her the bottle? After trying everything we could think of, my LO finally took a bottle from my friend who mainly bottle fed her 2 (ie had lots of experience - even then my LO put up a good resistance effort), then she started to be ok with DH feeding her and now i can switch between bottle and breast.

They say that babies are more likely to refuse the bottle from the person they are used to breast feeding from. They don't want second best when the preferable stuff is so close.
I don't think my LO is really that bothered now, though.

i had hoped to do 6 months but my husband and family are very worried about how ill i have been and it is unfair on my older child so i do think i need to stop. I have an immune disorder as well which is adding to the complications and means that i really need to try and build my immunity up again as pregnancy takes a big toll on me. I have seen a lactation consultant who said that the latch etc is fine but apparently some people are more prone and especially once you have had it. i have tried silicone and latex teats - have ordered the breastflow bottle so maybe that will be the trick. i agree that stopping cold turkey is not a great plan for me!

oh - and i have tried other people giving the bottle but she gets very nervous without me....

At 5 months old you could try a sippy cup or doidy cup.
My DS has never accepted a bottle but at 5 months would take both of these.

Which antibiotics have you been on?
I'm a pharmacist so can advise you...
I imagine they were tailored to your breastfeeding needs??
If so than very little (if any) will be in your milk.

i have a penicillin allergy so i took erythromycin and cefalex (spelling all wrong i am sure!) i have tried a sippy cup and she wont take it yet. I have tried tipping the milk into the lid of the bottle and she will sip from that (lapping with her tongue) so i guess the doidy cup may work - thanks for the idea!!

It sounds like your ready to stop so I shan't push.
But for your info Erythromycin hardly passes into you milk,Cefalexin does but in small amounts and is acceptable to use if necessary.

Do try the doidy and I'd suggest persisting with a sippy cup. We used a Tommee Tippee cup,to begin with it would be us pouring more than him sucking but he soon got used to it.
I'm not surprised your LO liked the doidy,I've read somewhere that bf babies find it easier to 'lap' due to the action of the tongue whilst bf'ing