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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Come and reassure me that I will be able to bf DD...

5 replies

Sparklyboots · 20/03/2013 23:10

I am 33 weeks pg with DC2. I bfed DS (now 2.2) which was fine, after a shaky start - so fine in fact that we were still bfing when I got pg. Cue the most awful nursing aversion (me) - from about 6wks it was uncomfortable and my supply seemed to disappear. DS was/ is really upset by this and we continued to try, but even as the discomfort faded (it's not a nice feeling physically but it's not terrible) I've become completely filled with panic/ sometimes anger? - I can't even name what it is, but it's a full bodied, emotional revulsion - to the sensation.

We're now in this mad place where he has a bottle interspersed with tiny (two minutes is literally all I can bear but more often that not, I end it sooner) bits of 'bfing' at night. I can't actually believe it - if I'd FF from the start we wouldn't be having sodding bottles now, at 26mo. But he's obviously in it for something else, and where in the past I'd have fed him back to sleep at night he has a bottle. A dummy will not do, he can't be persuaded to suck his thumb (what kind of fuck up have I made here, that I'm trying to persuade him to suck his thumb or a dummy? I feel so, so shit about this whole thing). He clearly misses and wants bfing, he asks frequently and is often upset by my reluctance or when I want him to stop. He often kisses, pats and cuddles my boobs Blush and he and I are operating on the assumption that normal service will resume once the baby arrives (just 7 weeks now).

Now the end of the pg is in sight, I'm starting to really panic that it won't necessarily end my 'nursing aversion'. The thought of bfing my DD is filling me with dread - what if I feel the same, sick, panicked, angry feeling even when the milk is back? I've done my best zen mind tricks of just trying to stay with the feeling, and at least work out what it is, but I'm in such a state when it's happening I can't even bear to hold still and find out what it is. And what if I feel okay with the tiny, gummy baby but am still churning with poor DS, whose grabby hands and toothy gob have become utterly horrifying to me while bfing where I swear I had no problem until I was pregnant, and he has been grabby and toothy for much longer than that! I feel like I'm letting him down horribly, that he's experiencing rejection from me and it might worsen when the baby arrives, and that I might not even be able to feed the baby which seems so fucking crap after feeding him quite happily for so long.

Someone please tell me that the nursing aversion will be a distant memory in a haze of oxytocin or something. Has anyone been through this and resumed a happy feeding relationship?

OP posts:
EauRouge · 21/03/2013 07:53

I think it's different for everyone but I had nursing aversion towards the end of my pregnancy and it disappeared within a couple of days of birth. I hope that you can get back to nursing normally but if you do decide to wean then there are gentle ways to do it.

It was definitely odd to start with feeding a newborn and a toddler but I got used to it fairly quickly and it's a god-send having a nursing toddler when your boobs get really engorged!

JiltedJohnsJulie · 21/03/2013 10:17

Don't think you fucked things up either. As Eau says I think everything will be fine but you might find talking to a BFC helpful, have you got the helpline numbers?

As for the night wakings, do you think it might be helpful to tackle that before Lo arrives? Have you read 12 alternatives for the all night nurser or tried the no cry sleep solution?

As for him missing bfing, some are just like that, my dd stopped with a bit of persuasion 3 years ago and still talks about it fondly.

Sparklyboots · 21/03/2013 21:59

Thank you both. I really want it to just be okay when the baby comes, so no pressure on our unborn child then. [hmmm] He did go to sleep tonight without even attempting to bf (but with a bottle). He was still very boob focused during the bath/ going to sleep routine that we have though - talking about them/ to them, cuddling and kissing them, so maybe he's from your DD's tribe Jilted. I had said they were quite sore when he made initial enquiries, but feel guilty that he's basically signalling interest but getting turned down. I don't want rejection to be part of our relationship when he's so young! Am I being ridiculous?

OP posts:
JiltedJohnsJulie · 22/03/2013 10:49

Not being ridiculous at all, but I don't think it is rejection. If you are sore I think its completely reasonable.

JiltedJohnsJulie · 22/03/2013 10:51

Not being ridiculous at all, but I don't think it is rejection. If you are sore I think its completely reasonable.

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