Switching to formula is it difficult?

[Tiddybiddy247]

Hello 👋 I have a 8 week old baby and I've been really struggling with breastfeeding from day 1. He has a slight tongue tie but they won't do anything around it as he is gaining weight. It's kind of a long story as to my struggles. But I'm thinking of switching to formula feeding at the end of three months as a slow transition or possibly sooner.

My issue is that currently when baby is tired he can't sleep without a nipple to suck. Health visitor and GP told me he's using me as a dummy. The last three days I've been feeding/comfort sucking to his needs for 5 or 6 hours a day and I have had enough. He cries and gets into such a state I end up giving in. He won't be appeased by shhhing, rocking, dummy, nothing until he gets that nipple. I don't want to be a human dummy for the next 2 years. Which the DR recommended! Lactation consultant and HV said it's normal and he'll grow out of it...when ? I hear myself saying, when he's 4?!

Anyone else switched to formula? Is it possible?

At 8 weeks it's perfectly normal for them to want to be with you and feeding.

Has anyone suggested trying Breast Compressions? These might help to fill him up if he's having trouble accessing your milk.

Is seeing a Tongue Tie Practitioner an option? The I think the TT should be divided if it's affecting feeding and it definitely sounds as though his is.

And if you want to switch to formula, I'd give one of the BFing Helplines a call. A BFC will help you to come up with a plan that will help LO get used to the increased amount of milk they'll need to drink and reduced your risk of mastitis.

Just be wary though as if you don't address the TT it might also affect bottle feeding

Hi OP, it sounds hard. Are you sure you have enough milk? Have you tried to express?

With my first, I realised that I produced a ridiculous amount of milk. She could only feed on one side and not for long. I expressed milk to see how much I had and it was a LOT (midwife said one of the largest quantities she had seen).

my second was always hungry. He refused to let go of my nipples the first 48 hours until my milk came in - so fast. Later he always fed on both sides, a lot!

I think you will always have enough milk for your baby but you may have to cluster feed and really work on it if you are unlucky.

I would start asap to express milk and give your little one expressed milk. That will also help you to gauge how much milk you have. Once baby takes the bottle with expresses milk (hurry though, because I was told that 8-9 weeks or is difficult), you can change to formula.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree. How much you express is absolutely no indication of how much you are producing. The baby will be far more efficient than any pump.

With my DC1 I took on board people saying things like this and thought I had low supply as I could hardly pump a drop. Turned out my supply was fine and he had Tongue Tie.

Kellymom, which known as the best source of info on BFing has this to say.

I think we all have different experiences.

of course the baby is more efficient. And of course you will usually have enough for your baby, I never disagreed with that.

In my experience, a baby will feed more often when they have a growth spurt. Or generally when they need to get more milk.

I had a very good breast pump. I initially expressed at different times during the day to see how supply changed. I had the least around 6-7pm. I therefore expressed every morning after feeding and gave a top up of expressed milk around 6.30.

I also expressed some extra milk every day and froze it when my babies had growth spurts, my supply was already there.

but again, my boy was by far the hungriest of my babies, Often very little to express after he had fed. With my oldest, there was often quite a lot 🤷‍♀️

Do what’s right for you. Some babies make the switch easier than others, but it can def be done!

Honestly, if you can i would suggest trying to stick with it exclusively until 12 weeks as after that point it tends to settle anyway. I always found faffing with bottles and pumps harder tbh. Obviously if it's horrendous for you then do what's best for you.

As for the using you as a dummy comment, that's so unhelpful. What do people seriously think babies used for millennia before we had dummies? Babies will suckle for comfort and they do grow out of it. I spent a lot of time pinned to the sofa with youngest DD but now she's 10 months she's on me for a very quick feed then can't wait to get off me and go explore.

Whatever you do, don't worry about it, best of luck x

I'm in the same situation, sorry you don't seem to have had any helpful replies. If one more person tells me "it's normal" or "it's natural" I will throw the baby at them. HV in particular when I say breastfeeding is painful, frustrating and ineffective and neither of us are getting ANY sleep (well he is, but only in 30 min bursts on me) just basically repeat all the things I already know (positions, breast compressions, latch, patience, take a break and come back to it blah blah blah). They just say he is only little and it's normal to want comfort from being held and sucking. There seems to be no consideration of the fact that very few people live with extended families for support as is "natural", nor that it is "natural' for a mother to need some fucking rest, or at least 10 minutes not wrestling a baby on and off the boob and causing pain!

I think you just have to give a bottle and see how it goes tbh. We've been doing one formula bottle most days for a while and it's really good to have the option and know he will take a bottle - you may miss the opportunity if you don't start at least the occasional bottle now as they can take against bottles. Once the baby is taking a bottle you can experiment with replacing feeds and seeing if it helps, if there's ever a time he will sleep after it.

I should actually have added - I track feeds in an app and it says at 8 weeks I was feeding 5.5 hours a day. This is now down to 3.5 hours at 14 weeks.

We had to tongue tie cut privately at 9 weeks. It may be that or it may be him just getting older but time just naturally reduced.