Need your best, most oractical advice and guidance please.

[nananaps]

When i had my ds 9 years ago, i EBF till he weened and beyond, a total of 7 months. Then i went back to work, so expressed, then weened completely.

I can honestly say that it nearly killed me. It was pure torture for the first 4 months.

DS was very small birth weight, fed on demand which was every 1-2 hours day and night continuously.

I was desperately exhausted, desperately, i cant explain how utterly bone drenchingly exhausted i was.
Constantly dizzy, felt nauseous, short of breath, aching bones.

I Cannot go through that again, i cant BUT i am absolutely determined to bf again.

I would not consider mixed feeding, but dont know why.
So, what will happen if i mix feed?
Sore agonising boobs? Constipation/upset bowels in my baby?
Can it be done?

I know im a while off yet, but i ned a plan because the thought of going through all that agin, makes me want to weep. How could i do it better next time?

Its important to look after yourself where you eating and drinking enough. Although it doesn't make much difference to your milk it will effect how you feel if you don't.

On the sleep front, firstly every baby is different and this one may sleep a lot Better. But have you considered coping strategies. I didn't Co sleep with my first and she was a rubbish sleeper. Seconded time round I said sod that and we Co sleep from day one. We all got more sleep this way.

Tbh alot of what you've said is just new born babies isn't it? Regardless of how you feed for the first few months feeding every couple of hours night and day is probably quite normal regardless. Personally i'd much rather pop baby on boob and not get out of bed. Couldn't be bothered faffing with bottles etc every 2 hours at night. Would much rather have baby in bed and just attach to boob!

You poor thing - I really sympathise. Bf has made me completely shattered too, completely and utterly knackered. And I'm eating a good diet (and, annoyingly, have put on weight since the birth). Sorry to state the obvious, but my only coping mechanism has been to sleep as much as humanly possible, some days just staying in bed all day with DD and sleeping between feeds. I lost a helluva lot of blood during the birth, which left me very anaemic, so I also take iron supplements, and eat lots of steak etc. FWIW we also mix feed: I BF during the day and through the night, and give DD 2 small bottles of formula between 8pm and midnight. This has meant that I can go to bed v early in the evening, while DP takes over care of the sprog. I do wake myself up when she comes to bed, and express, to make sure my supply isn't affected too much (this also means that DP can give DD a bottle of EBM if I need to sleep during the day). This pattern has really worked for us, and the fatigue is wearing off now, thankfully (DD is 17 weeks old). Hope this helps!