Can I go back to bf?

[Freshnclean]

My dd is 9 weeks today. I switched to ff 2.5 weeks ago and now feel this is a mistake. Have I left it too late to start again? It's breaking my heart..... I feel so guilty

It isn't too late. You will need really good real life support though so strongly suggest seeking out local support groups.

You will need to put baby to the breast as often as you can to feed. offering breast before bottle. You will need to express after feeding baby until he is feeding effectively so that you stimulate milk supply to start building up again and meet his needs. You will need to go this at night too so if baby isn't waking up too much at night you will need to set an alarm and get a couple of pumping sessions in. Your prolactin which regulates your milk supply peaks in the wee small hours so this is important for getting supply back.

It is a tough task but if you really want it you can do it.

But Dev get the real life support add reducing the formula will have to be gradual and you will need to be confident in your own milk supply and happy that baby is feeding effectively before you drop any formula. If you go gently though and demand feed and allow baby to take the lead then he should be able to let you know how much formula he needs.

SHE sorry

Thank you for the info. I just don't know what to do.

I bf dd1 until the day of her 2nd birthday. Never had any problems technically but did feel very 'tied' to her all the time. I could never express it made me feel queasy. She was a dream in hindsight. Never windy or vomited. Slept through about 9 weeks.

My new dd well... From day 1 even on breast milk she's been windy and possets a lot. Well, not a lot just 'normal' I guess. Again we had a perfect latch and I had lots if milk. Selfishly I switched to ff so that I felt more 'human' and not just a walking milk machine.....

Ff has gone ok I guess. She seems to be ok. She cries a lot though, I can't put her down for a second.

Every time I look at her I feel guilty. My boobs feel empty again..... I've massively messed up I feel.

I have to go back to work in about four months.... Well, find a job, I am self employed. So she would have to be weaned.

I feel like my brain is frazzled and I can't make a decision.

Other people seem to give up through problems with bf like cracked nipples or whatever. I gave up because I was selfish to do so. Not being indulgent just telling the truth.....

All you can ever do as a patent is make the best decision you can based on what you know at the time.

That's what you did. You were struggling and you took steps to look age your own mental health. and your mental health is vital to your dd.

Now you regret it. That's fine. We are all allowed to make duff decisions from time to time. You thought it would help but it just brought its own problems.

I'd get to a support group, do you have baby cafe or anything near you? chatting to someone in real life will help you work through your feelings about where you want to go from here.

I'd also suggest getting her checked out for tongue tie in case it had been missed, can often look like baby had good latch but they are not feeding all that well, get windy etc.

You are not a failure, you are just trying to do your best for your dd and regardless of how you feed her you are doing just fine.

One suggestion is a supplemental nursing system. You can buy them on amazon but I got a bottle and cut a hole in the teat and bought an infant feeding tube (size 5). The tube goes in their mouth alongside the nipple - with practise - and by holding the bottle at their head height or lower they suck in the formula from the bottle at the same time as getting breastmilk. Saves time, saves needing to express as much and simulates the breast to increase production. The idea is the amount of formula they take from the bottle slowly decreases as your milk increases.
Tip - I made a little bag to put the bottle in that hangs around my neck. Then I still have a hand free.

Agree with the idea of calling a helpline - this is a common query, honestly. The counsellor will listen and will not judge you in any way, but instead will help you formulate a plan for returning to breastfeeding.

In the meantime, just put your baby to the breast and see what happens :)

You are all really kind for posting all this info. Have had a long think about this today and am going to start again.

Thank you

You can def try, I had a very ropey first few weeks with dd and was in hospital for a few days when she was 2 weeks old so ended up stopping for nearly a week. Was getting really depressed as thought that was it and then a very nice midwife came round and told me to give it another go.

Was very pleased I did as dd eventually bf for 11 months

It took about a month until my supply recovered though and I had to do a lot of mix feeding, I would always offer breast first - both sides and then top up with formula if she seemed hungry still. Gradually reduced the top ups and by the time she was 3 months she was exclusively bf.

Good luck.

Lots of skin to skin will really help. Spend a couple of days at home, no activities, don't worry about house work etc and concentrate on you and baby. Keep offering breast as much as you can and when I contacted the la leche league for something similar they suggested trying to express every 30 mins to stimulate and no more than 6 hrs over night.
Good luck.