**unless anyone can reassure me in the next 5 mins im stopping this bf'ing crap and cracking the formula out.**

[1Baby1Bump]

ds is 12 days old, yes only 12 and im thinking of giving up already.
he latches beautifully etc etc, its not painful, but i appear to have no milk left for him, hence he is just screaming and i feel cruel and totally useless i cant feed my son.
this is the 3rd day that it has 'run out' and i dont know what to do?
i keep putting him on to try and stimulate supply but it just makes him angry.
as its the natural way to feed i thought it might be reasonably straightforward but its not.
[bawling my eyes out emoticon]

All, even 'comfort sucking' stimulates supply and should not be restricted (if at all poss) in the stage of establishing bf. It took ds the best part of 3 months (sorry) to move through this stage - but we did have a nightmare establishing bf and he was reluctantly mixed fed for his first 4 weeks (excl bf after that), so it should be quicker for you.

This is all such brilliant advice, wish i had this 12 years ago! My two DDs now aged 12 and 9, were bottle fed, despite desperate attempts to breastfeed. Just didn't get the support and help to get my act together. Had a huge gap and then had DS, now 22 weeks. He took to breastfeeding like a duck to water, but i had a wobble at 3 weeks nearly packed it in, DH said to me "don't give up at the first hurdle"! If i had a knife near by i would have killed him, what he explained to me afterwards was that he knew i was weepy and hormonal and didn't want me to make a snap decision and regret it, after not being able to bf my DDs. So i continued, he's now 23 weeks, still breastfed, never been to the doctors, not even had a cold, amazing stuff this breast milk! You have had some brilliant advice and seem to be making wonderful progress.. good luck.

ZacharyZoo I think you are right with about the first hurdle. I have a number of friends who gave up bf at the first hurdle because it all seemed to hard. They always told me I was "lucky" to be able to bf. I wasn't lucky, I just kept going through those first few weeks then it got easier. Besides, I am too lazy and too cheap to do bottles.

OOh,great story Zachary!

I'd agree with not making snap decisions when you're tired and hormonal. My DH would say to me "just do one more feed" or "just keep going until tomorrow and we'll go out to Tesco and see about formula then". And by that time the moment of giving up would have passed. It does get much easier and I found that it got VERY enjoyable. So worth it.

I suppose having had both experiences (bottles with the girls and then bf with ds), i appreciate so much what a brilliant experience breastfeeding is, but certainly not easy at first! I am still really enjoying it, but those first few weeks can be hard....ooh my other life saver was Lansinoh (think thats how you spell it!), miracle cure when you have sore nipples. I'm sure if that had been around 12 years ago i may have stuck with it for longer! About £10 a tube, but the best money i ever spent.

I bloody love Mumsnet I do. Also having ups and downs with bf so am lapping up this support vicariously.

there is a brilliant book called "what to expect if you're breastfeeding and what if you can't" it saved me totally, absolutely fantastic. it even sometimes recommends stopping if certain things are/aren't happening (how rare is that?)
you can get it from www.mamatoto.co.uk
and if you enter KF1ZZ140 at the checkout you can get it with free p&p.

good luck 2b0b! i nearly stopped at 10 days but got through it and was so so so pleased i managed it.

suzi2- i think i read somewhere that the milk comes constantly and doesnt have to be waiting in there for baby but i thought it must come out so slowly if its being made as hes asking for it?
wonderful boobs....
hes still asleep atm and my boobs are leaking and hard and hurting!!

Hi 2b0b
Well done for persevering! Just a quick note to say that it might be worth expressing a tiny bit (if you have got the hang of that) before you try and feed if your boobs are quite engorged, as it can make it hard to get the latch right. Also, if it is a bit painful, that should relieve it before your ds is feeding.
Well done again - I found it really hard going at first, but still going now at 15 months!

I haven't read the whole thread, sorry, but can also recommend a great book which helped me and lots of my friends. It's called "Best feeding - how to BF your baby" by Arms, Fischer and Renfrew and has lots of pics and a trouble shooting section which answered all my Qs. Good luck and hope it is going a bit better now

i bought an expensive electric breast pump to give me another reason not to give up!! It cost me nearly a ton!
I expressed 2 ounces this morning easily and was still flowing but got distracted by ds1. 2 ounces is really good for me- it will buy me a bath on my own anyway!!
boo is ok with a bottle too and swaps between me and the bottle easily. he prefers his mummy!
hv is coming tomorrow to weigh boo so we will find out just how good you guys are....!

i'm less hung up about now anyway so that is helping a lot. cheers all. x

good to hear. It is still early days and you are going brilliantly.