Feelings of guilt

[Yaty]

I'm ftm to a 6 week old and I've been thinking about weaning from breast to formula and I feel so guilty about it. I've not really had issues with breast feeding, baby took to it really well and has been gaining weight. She can be a bit fussy on the breast overnight which has been impacting on both our sleep and I'm not getting much more than an hour and half between feeds. Other than that no real issues and I know I've been lucky but the thing is i just do not enjoy it at all.

I feel so selfish thinking this way. The other issue is I just can't picture myself ever feeling comfortable in feeding in public. I'm naturally reserved/shy person and the thought of wipping a boob out fills me with dread. Its actually putting me off going out places with her.

I known I need to keep trying and I've set myself to get to 8 weeks then see how I feel. I just wish I could get rid of the guilty feelings!

Could you express so you can take a bottle out with you?

Yeah I have been expressing the odd bottle but between feeding the baby and doing everything else adding expressing as well just seems unrealistic.

Don’t feel guilty. If you want to stop then stop. You don’t need permission, although I know it can feel like you do. Make the choice that works for you and your baby.

I second what PP said, if it's making you unhappy then stop. I found the agonising over making the decision made me feel more guilty than when I actually did stop (I was exclusively expressing for my baby so slightly different) so it may be that once you do it you feel better. I also found that not setting a date to stop but kind of naturally phasing it out helped, so I let go of a bit more of the guilt every day that I reduced expressed milk. You've done several weeks and that's still an achievement, I would focus on that if you can.

I've been combination feeding & it's worked quite well for us. At night I'd bf & then offer a bottle afterwards as the formula seems to help him sleep for longer. Even if it's only an ounce or two at the end of a feed it seemed to make him sleepy. Then in the day I normally bf him only.

My baby's now 3 months and has 1 bottle of formula before bed & then he'll sleep a longer stretch, which means I feel able to bf him exclusively the rest of the time. I don't like breastfeeding in public but found investing in a few nursing vests made me feel more confident about being able to feed him without feeling exposed. That said, if you feel you want to switch to formula exclusively then please don't feel guilty about it. I just wanted to keep up some breastfeeding as I find it helps me sleep at night as it makes me feel drowsy & also my baby is a bit of a crier so wanted to keep that instant way of soothing him when we're out & about!

I know lots of people who formula feed when they go out and it’s worked out for them . Your milk supply will go down depending on how often you go out but even if you continue to nurse for evenings, nights and mornings that’s great !!! 🤗