If you started breastfeeding then stopped, what made you give up?

[Lilliput]

I am doing a little research for a breastfeeding support module I am doing and was wondering if you lovely mumsnetters can help.
What made you give up breastfeeding?

Crappy support/advice from my HV.

Ds1 was very slow to gain weight as a newborn - he only lost 2.5oz but still hadn't put it back on by 3 weeks. HV told me I had to feed him every 3 hours and he had to have regained his birthweight in 4 days time or he'd be put down as FTT.

Considering ds1 was feeding every hour and a half, for an hour and a half, I thought I didn't have enough milk and started topping up. Which was the inevitable slippery slope to exclusive ff.

DD had the same pattern with weight gain in the early weeks and my confidence was so shot by what had happened with ds1 that I just started topping up, thinking I just wasn't meant to bf.

When I had ds2 I'd discovered MN and was much better informed about feeding patterns, growth spurts, fore/hindmilk, catchdown growth etc that I knew I could do it. Ds2 is now 1 and still bf.

I'm still very that I 'couldn't' do it with ds1 or dd though.

Gave up at 12 weeks with ds1.

Main reason was lack of sleep. He was literally feeding all night (5pm - 5am), and much of the day too. He screamed uncontrollably if I stopped. I was just so exhausted and miserable. The tipping point came when I collapsed whilst holding him, and started hallucinating from the lack of sleep.

I'm afraid I hated bfing, and didn't bond at all with ds until I stopped.

I can't fault the support and encouragement I received from mws, hv, bf counsellors etc, though. They tried everything they could to help us feed more successfully and efficiently and it just didn't work for us.

DS2 - he wouldn't latch on, when he did my milk just wasn't letting down (I'd BF DS1 so sort of knew what I was doing/to expect) MW very lovely - but admitted she wasn't a BF expert so wasn't sure what else to try, gave me all the numbers to ring but didn't really get much help from them. When he was 5 days old at 2am in the morning he was screaming, I was in floods of tears. DH rushed to Tesco to buy bottles, formula, steriliser etc(breast pump too bless him) DS2 shortly afterwards downed nearly 5oz of milk. Tried expressing and trying to get him to latch on for a few more days and then realised that actually DS2 was very happy on the bottles - felt upset/guilty for a few weeks but then it fitted in so well with our family life that it's never bothered me since.

DS3 - he went on a BF strike at 3 weeks old, just screamed and screamed and screamed, tried expressing, but wasn't getting enough to offer him. Again DH went out and bought bottles etc (once again I was convinced I would successfully BF like i did with DS1 so wasn't prepared). Started off just giving him 1 or 2 bottles a day. After a few weeks I was torn between feeling I "should" be persevering with the BF, and wanting to make the switch over to FF. From about 6 weeks until he was about 4 1/2 months old I gave him one BF - the early morning one (so I could sleep while he fed) then we just seemed to stop in September sometime (not really sure "how" we stopped - just did.

No regrets at all.

DS had a tongue tie which wasn't spotted in hospital but by my MW when we came home.

I also had an emergency c-section so although my MW was good at trying different feeding positions with me it was very difficult for DS to get a successful latch which resulted in each feed taking at least 1-1.5 hours and fed probably every 2 hours which if you do the math meant I wasn't getting much sleep, plus my nipples were completely raw because of the length of feeds. So I started doing a bit of expressing but couldn't express enough so at one bizarre stage set the clock to pump every 3 hours and then was trying to bf in between as well.

I persevered for the first week or so as best I could, but then two more things happened. I had an intense fever, I think I must have been a bit out of it because DH said he was on the point of phoning the doctor as he had never seen me so ill before. The HV reckons it was mastitis. Finally DHs mum had a stroke and was in intensive care, DH didn't go to her because I was in such a state I couldn't have coped on my own, but he wasn't able to offer any support and I didn't have any energy to comfort him.

At this point I reckoned enough was enough and gave up. At the time I hated myself for it but even now I'm not sure what I could or would do differently in the same circumstances.

Ds kept losing weight because he would not feed from me, he was going to be admitted to hospital and I couldn't cope with the stress of that. At that point formula became the best option for me.

I bf ds1 till over a year old and had real problems getting him to drink milk from a cup or bottle and actually ended up spoonfeeding him.

With ds2 I started with mixed feeding, bf for all feeds except late-night feed when he had a bottle and as he got to about 2mths he started refusing the bottle. I couldn't handle the thought of him refusing bottle and cup later on so I switched to formula only. Did feel bad about it but to compensate I only ever gave him fresh home-cooked meals when he started weaning.

i stopped at 7 months because i had enjoyed it very much but wanted my boobies back.

oh sorry, i didn't didn't read the question properly

Still feeding ds here Lilliput, but I just wanted to say hi!

DD always fed much better from the left side so if I wanted to do an "easy" feed (i.e. just before sleeping or during the night or when out in public), I would always feed from the left...

Supply started to suffer, I had very wonky boobs and I didn't seem to have enough milk to cope with the 4 month growth spurt and started to mix feed. Stopped completely at 6 months (which I'd planned anyway)

It wasn't working out. I had desperately wanted to breast feed and it was what I had experience of through all my family. So when I had DD - she was born by c section after failed induction - I just assumed I'd breast feed. But right from the start it just didn't seem right. The midwifes sad she was latched on properly but she just didn't appear to be getting enough. My breats never felt full and no amount of dfeeding seemed to change that. My MW and HVs didn't offer any further advise other than to keep going. At two weeks we finally gave in to a night time bottle of formula, radually mixed fed until she was fully bottle fed at 6 weeks.

When I did gave up, it was several days before my breasts finally felt hard and full.

I do think that with more support and help I could have continued but I had no idea where to turn. I didn't know about MN back than (DD is now 5y9m) and din't know other places to find the help.

I always thought that bf would come naturally - so much so that when my baby started crying during my first night in hospital I leant over, picked her up and tried to latch her on. I had just been though a long op labour ending in an emergency section, was still very woozy from all the drugs and hooked up to loads of drips! I have no memory of anyone telling me that I should buzz for help each time I fed her!
The midwife had me expressing on day 2 - and I still can't work out why!
Dd then lost a lot of weight and they said they might not let us go home so I fed her constantly resulting in very sore bleeding nipples.
Every feed was agony - I cried every time and dreaded my baby waking up because I knew I would have to feed her. Dd would scream and arch her back when I tried to latch her on.
I went to a bf clinic and it was the one time that I had a pain free feed - but when she slipped off the latch even they couldn't get her on again so I had to feed her formula in the clinic!
I think we had a bad start - and that even though I am sure they spent time with me on day one, I was too out of it to remember!

Fed dd for about a month.

1. Cracked nipple before even leaving hospital (told midwives, but did not get the right support).

1. Infection in cracked nipple (given antibiotic cream

1. Mastitis (throwing up etc.)

1. Blisters all over my nipple when I tried to carry on feeding through the mastitis.

1. Insufficient advice from GP, poor support from midwives & HV who kept telling me my latch was fine.

Finally gave up because it was affecting my ability to bond with dd. Like Meep, I dreaded her waking up because I knew I would have to feed her.

Do I regret it. Absolutely, completely and utterly. I always thought I'd breastfeed until dd was ready to stop. I felt devastated, let down and a complete failure. I still feel sad and angry about it now, and dd is 3 yrs old.