Giving up breast feeding

[tiredmumsclub88]

I've fed my preemie LO for 4 months-it's been a massive struggle- shields, hypoglycaemia , a stint in SCUBU, reflux, falling asleep & mastitis. I think it's time to give myself s break & go to bottle feeding. I've considered pumping, but the rigid schedule would really put hold to our lives. It's taken a good month to come to terms with Mum guilt of not bf. Can anyone advise on the best way to stop? Many thanks ☺️ xx

I can't advise you on how to stop, but I really want to give you a squeeze and say what an amazing job you have done. Please don't feel guilty.

It's probably best to switch one feed over every couple of days to allow your body to regulate and not end up with mastitis.

@AdultHumanFemale That was really lovely!!

The advice I've read is to drop one feed a week.

@AdultHumanFemale Thankyou so so much xx (not crying/ honest 😏)

Do not feel guilty you amazing lady! Your baby has had 4 months of breast milk, that's incredible.
My son wouldn't take to BF and I had to stop at just 2 weeks as we had latching issues, weight loss, no milk production, stress.
It was a huge weight off my shoulders when I stopped. I felt guilty (still do a bit and he's nearly 5MO), but a happy mum is a happy baby! Good luck

From 4months I gave mine a bottle at lunch time - because I was going back to work we only had a short maternity leave then .so I fed them in the morning in the evening and before bedtime but they had a bottle in the day. That worked fine with all mine xx

The most important thing is for you & your baby to connect & enjoy each other (as much as is possible with sleep deprivation & general massive life change!) so please be gentle to yourself & choose whichever way of feeding will give you most peace & headspace to connect with your baby

I agree with others that phasing out bf slowly is probably best for your body . Stopping suddenly can cause a big hormone change which can add to low mood - not helpful

Take care of yourself you're doing great