My DS is five weeks old and eats A LOT. He is at the top of 91st centile and weighs over 13lbs already. I struggled to breastfeed him from the very start because I have such unwieldy breasts that we couldn't get a comfortable position and it made us both very frustrated. I also felt I couldn't go out of the house because I needed my dozens of pillows in order to feed him. I have a history of mental health issues and breastfeeding was exacerbating them, so, with the help of a midwife, I decided to start giving him expressed breast milk in bottles throughout the day and breastfeed at night when my DH was around to support me (hmm). I love having the confidence to go out now, knowing I have enough milk in my bag to feed him so I won't have to rush home. But breastfeeding has gone out of the window completely, so I now find myself expressing through the night which is exhausting as I only end up with about 30-45 minutes of sleep every two hours. This is why I'm tempted to switch to formula. No more painful engorged breasts would be a bonus, too. I've already had mastitis once at around 2.5 weeks because the breastfeeding was so difficult.
I know breast is "best" etc, and I think feeding him formula would increase my anxiety over his weight gain (I'm concerned he will be overweight and bullied); but I'm selfishly tempted to switch because I feel so drained.
I know some babies decrease their feeds at around six weeks, but what if he doesn't? He is such a greedy boy that I can see him going for years with two-hourly feeds!
I don't know what I'm asking, really. Just need to write all this down. Blah. I felt massive guilt about giving him a dummy, but I did it, because he just loves to suck, and I was getting suicidal (before we switched to EBM), so maybe I'll get over the guilt of giving him formula? I know I worry too much about what people think of me and my decisions, though I certainly wouldn't judge anyone on how or what they feed their baby. Blah.
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Infant feeding
Struggling and tempted by formula
17 replies
Peaceloveandbiscuits · 22/01/2015 05:02
OP posts:
aprilshowers2016 ·
22/01/2015 07:19
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