Ho hum - Ive decided to stop BF and i feel rubbish!!!!!!!!!!

[OLittleYurtofBethlehem]

dd is 6 months and ive decided im going to bottle feed from now on. I know ive done well to get this far but i still feel like pants - any reassuring thoughts welcome

OLYB - I was thinking of you this morning when I was up with DD vomiting at 1.30am {smile]

Having reread thread I realise you have been trying to get your DD to sleep though for 2 months. Could this in itself be part of the problem? Do you find yourself getting obsessed bi it? My sister has 4 girls who didn't sleep though till at least a year and her philosophy was to do whatever would get herself back into bed and sleep the quickest. She realised with her second baby that she spent too much time being annoyed about being up which was making her even more tired. She remembered the hassle with the first so she decided just to feed at night and sort out the sleeping when they were older. When they were over a year she sorted it out with controlled crying (didn't take long)

I took that attitude myself. When babies woke I took them into bed and fed them. That meant I could sleep at the same time. They were all breastfed. First 2 babies slept through the night by 4 months. Number 3 did not sleep through till 8 months and he was the fattest baby out the lot. With 2 other toddlers to look after there was no way I was going to lose out on sleep at night by avoiding just feeding. Number 4 was B/F exclusively till 6 months and she had periods of being up during the night then sleeping through again about the 6-7 month mark.

I have never had a problem with children sleeping in my bed. Once they started to sleep through that was it. Do you think you could be pressurising yourself too much by avoiding feeding when you could be in your own bed and back to sleep so much more quickly? Another thread I think.

Mears, I would agree with you re LittleYurt (!) but I know from experience that feeding doesn't always make babies sleep, neither does taking them into your bed, nor does feeding AND taking them into your bed. My ds was the terrible proof of that. If only it was that simple..... oh, no, I've started thinking about sleepless nights again! Panic!

Ooooooh so many things to discuss!!!!!!!
Firstly yes i have been thinking about little bf drinks between meals but know that will probably mean she cuts down on formula (sleep inducing potion) or food

Today was day two of formula at 11am and bingo she slept 2hours plus in the cot- fuss only lasted a few mins - with bf she takes for ever to sleep and then sleeps so little time - soooooooo fed up of the hours of screaming!!!!!!!!!

back in a mo dd is wailing!

Oh yes Mears i am somewhat obsessed by sleep because i get almost none!
With bf she doesnt nap long during the day - plus ds is charging about - not restful!

At night she wakes at 9ish 2ish 5ish then 7am. Ds wakes too - though he never used to. So i am up and down all night - dh not really able to help cos he is unwell.
Taking her into the bed is not a good idea - she wakes every time i get out of bed/ move. WHich i have to do for ds etc - just wouldnt work

Whats really frustrating is that she went all night without milk happily at 8 weeks so i know she can do it!!!!!!!! But no longer.....only lasted a few weeks cos i got back into the habit of feeding her again.

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Aloha is right too - havent fed dd to sleep since she was 3months old - getting her to sleep in bed is tricky - last time i tried i gave up and she was sooooooo pleased!

Im rarely up in the night for a long time with her - its the interruption of my sleep i cant stand - esp when i know she is only having a couple of ounces

Really sorry Bf didnt work for you Juliettesmum - maybe you could have a try with Baby no2!! I know dd wont hate me for not bf anymore but im still gonna miss it!

For me its a real choice between sleep, peace, quiet verses something i like doing BF

Given a choice between sleep and bf - after 6 months of being awake 18 hours a day - rarely a rest all day long - sleep wins!!!!!!!!

Hi yorkie -well done for continuing with bf your dd esp as you are at work too!!!!!!!! Very well done - ds slept through as soon as he switched to formula so i have every confidence dd will - she will she will she will.........

I too have stopped bf and gone to bottle feeding now - although it wasn't my decision it was made for me by a nasty case of food poisoning. I tried to keep the milk coming by pumping and dumping every 2-4 hours but it wasn't as effective as actual breast feeding and inevitably my milk has slowed right off and gone very weak and thin. Baby was suckling for 2-3 hours at a time through the night and not getting full, and in the end it stressed us both out to the point where I was in tears and felt very guilty that I couldn't fill her up. SHe's only 7 weeks old and as soon as I gave her a 6oz formula bottle, she wolfed it down, brought her wind up and then slept for 6 hours. She is now on bottles through the day, and on the occasion when she wakes up before 6am, I'll try and bf just to save me getting out of bed!!

I understand how pants it makes you feel, and given the chance I would rewind and not go out for the meal that gave me food poisoning - although I am being very selfish here and would like to continue to bf for the reason that I adored the closeness I felt in the middle of the night when it was just the 2 of us, and not so much for the fact that breast is best etc. In the end though, my daughter is happy, I am relatively happy with bottle feeding and we are both smiling! I guess it will also make it easier for me to return to work when the time comes!

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