help breast feeding

[kandiizsweet]

My daughter is 9 weeks old, i was exclusively breast feeding her, then slowly went onto the bottle because i had to give her medicine for reflux which i had to mix in with milk 3 times a day, which slowly led to more bottles a day because she seems to not want the breast anymore! Where as i don't want to stop breast feeding her! Iv not properly fed her on the breast for about 2 weeks now she just crys whenever i put her on, I DO NOT WANT TO FEED HER JUST FORMULA! i miss breast feeding her an its so much healthier for her too. So i was thinking of just stopping the bottle all together at once, an basically just only give her the breast, there is some milk in my breasts left but hardly any so i really need her to be sucking. Will she starve if i just refuse to feed her a bottle? Because i tried doing this about an hour ago i refused to feed her an put her on the breast she was sucking for about ten mins then started crying it was awful to see her cry so i gave her the bottle an now shes fine, shall i just refuse an let her cry? I really really want TO exclusively breast feed her again. Thank you x

It is what is best for HER, not you. YOU don't want to stop, but she clearly does.

You need to rebuild your milk supply so try pumping every 2 hours over a 24 hour period. She is also likely to prefer the bottle rather than the breast as they are much easier, try nipple shields as they feel more like a bottle / teat . They aren't perfect and can reduce your milk supply, so at some point you will need to consider weaning from these, but for the moment they can help get your daughter back feeding at the breast. Try putting your daughter to the breast using a shield, if she becomes fractious give her 2 or 3 sucks from a bottle to calm her before trying the breast again. You will need bucket loads of patience and I would recommend getting some support locally from a breastfeeding group. Good luck

I think it's easier for them to feed from a bottle, and it's hard to re-establish breast feeding. But it can be done. Your HV should be able to advise on your local breast feeding group.

Hey - there's a breast and bottle feeding board - I would repost on there as there are loads of v v v lovely and expert people who will help you. It will get there - don't give up honey. Pls repost xxx

Speak to one of the breastfeeding helplines about how best to re-establish feeding. 0300 100 0212. It's perfectly doable with a bit of effort

She's only tiny so doesn't know what's best for her and relies on you to make that decision obviously. Your her mum, if you feel BFing is best then give it a go.

KissMeHardy don't give terrible advice. BFing is the best option for a baby.

It is perfectly possible to start BFing again and you can go back to to EBFing if you want too. I have a friend who FF for 6 weeks then took two weeks to go from exclusively FF to EBF. What support is there in your area? Try ringing the breastfeeding helpline they are very good and supportive.

Hullo - we're just going to move this to breast and bottle feeding.

Kellymom has advice on how to remove supplements.
Worth a read

kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/basics/decrease-formula/

Good luck :-)

kandi, yes, you can go back to bf, but you will need A PLAN :) Just refusing to give bottles and insisting on breast leads to misery on both sides....so you need to build back up, without allowing her to cry in distress.

Any of the bf helplines will support you to work out a way of getting back to full bf:)

KissMeHardy - stick to stuff you know about before giving terrible bossy orders like that