I'd love to reintroduce BF? Is it for the best?

[misskipper]

Please help if you can - ftm. My DD is 14 weeks, healthy, happy. Plenty of dirty and wet nappies and weight gain seems normal.

She was ebf (apart from the odd bottle) until she was 10 weeks. The two reasons why I introduced more ff are that bf was still agonising due to bad latch and then all of a sudden I didn't have enough to satisfy her. She would drain both sides and still be screaming for more. She was a smallish baby and not gaining much.

I continued to bf overnight but she was ff during the day. All problems solved!

BF no longer hurts and I think my supply is enough. But how do I know? I feel like I've lost a chunk of natural bf progress. At 10 weeks she was taking 30 mins to feed...now I don't know what 'normal' is. In the night she feeds quietly, but in the day she fusses. Sometimes I stop and give a bottle, which she finishes. I feel like I'm getting into a bit of a confusing mess. Should I just stick to the ff, or is it worth it to continue trying to reintroduce more bf.

Any advice would really be appreciated. Sorry for the long post and thank you for reading :)

You have nothing to lose by giving it a go :)

You need to feed frequently and use switch nursing and Breast compression for best results (Google the terms if you need to). Call a helpline and talk through how all this will fit. Work on gradually reducing your use of formula. Google relactation for more tips.

Go for it!

Am not an expert myself but try these links:
abm.me.uk/restarting-breastfeeding-after-a-gap/
kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/relactation/

I'm really glad to hear your latch has stopped hurting! In that case, I would say, yes, defo try offering bf in the day as well. Be aware that your supply will have dropped over the last few weeks to match what your baby has been taking, and it will take extra feeding by your baby to make it come back again.

Thanks for your support. I'd really hoped to feed her myself until she was at least 6 months old. Am feeling like a failure that ff has happened much sooner. I also have a milk blister on my left side which won't go away.

However, I'm persevering. Others have coped with much more and are still able to do it...why can't I?

Thanks for your support. I'd really hoped to feed her myself until she was at least 6 months old. Am feeling like a failure that ff has happened much sooner. I also have a milk blister on my left side which won't go away.

However, I'm persevering. Others have coped with much more and are still able to do it...why can't I?

I think bf is really worth it if you can make it work out, but please don't beat yourself up about it if it doesn't! Also even doing partial bf like you currently are apparently brings lots of benefits.

I found bfing really hard to start with, and I'm not sure I would have made it through if it hadn't been for my fabulous local breastfeeding support group. Is there such a group near you that you can go to? In particular I would get RL advice on your milk blister if you haven't already -- try your HV if no one else.

"In the night she feeds quietly, but in the day she fusses." My ebf baby did this at that age too, and I've heard of quite a few others. But they got over it when they got older.

Thanks for your support and kind words TipTap. I am going to a BF group on Tues with a friend whose baby is 6 weeks. Hopefully we can support each other and I can ask someone about the blister.

Feel better today....yesterday I had a "feeling guilty" day.

You're def not a failure :) Does it help to think of formula as a supplemental food that she needed at this time?

P.s. I read the abm link (I read both links)...the abm one was really encouraging. I'm going to go for it. Like you say...every bit of bf milk she gets is great :)

Best of luck!!!