Stopping breastfeeding and CMPA

[Tired887]

I have been exclusively breastfeeding my 3 month old. I need to stop as it's ruining my mental health. How do I stop? I'm too sleep deprived to figure this out, I hadn't anticipated wanting to stop but it means I get no breaks and I'm suicidal at this point. I need a break.

Baby also has suspected CMPA. His symptoms (vomiting, stomach pains, reflux) massively improved when I cut out dairy and soy completely (after speaking to the GP). GP said it's hard to have CMPA confirmed so I can't be 100% sure. Can I give baby normal formula first or should I go back to GP to get prescription formula? I don't want to make baby sick.

To add, we've never tried formula on him before. I tried pumping so Dh can give an occasional bottle but 1) it takes a ton of time and made things worse for me and 2) i can only really get enough in the mornings and I read that milk is more watery in the morning so it's not suitable for evenings/ night feeds?

If you’re absolutely sure you want to stop I’d go get some prescription formula and slowly move to bottles one feed at a time. To just stop and replace with formula you’re setting yourself up for mastitis and baby up for an unsettled tum. Also you might find combination feeding works.

He will need prescription formula. Join the facebook page cmpa as all formulas are not the same and it may take a while to find the right one.

You need an urgent GP appointment for yourself to be refered to the maternal mental health service. Please be aware that stopping breast feeding can cause a further mood drop. I’m not saying don’t move to formula just be awareZ

Speak to the GP about formula. There are two types available extensively hydrolysed and amino acids. The extensively hydrolysed are dairy based but broken down which means that some babies can't recognise the proteins as dairy. The GP will probably try on this first but if they are reacting through breastmilk its likely they will sit react to an extensively hydrolysed formula. Amino acids formulas are completely dairy free but have all of the individual components of dairy. The common ones are alfamino and neocate.
These formulas are quite thin and can trigger reflux in babies so if they already have a bit of reflux they might need a thickener in the milk.

Please get in touch with your GP/health visitor/midwife for some mental health support. Feeling suicidal is an urgent need and there is support there for you. And be aware that stopping breastfeeding might affect your moods too (I felt low and weepy for about 2 weeks). Again your health visitor should be able to give you advice on gradually stopping and on formulas.
Do you have anyone close you feel you can talk to about how you are feeling? If you really are feeling desperate you can also call the Samaritans.

Congratulations on your baby and well done for breastfeeding for the last three months that's not easy especially if they are unsettled with CMPA.

I agree with others that you should contact your GP and HV if they are the helpful nice kind for support on moving to a formula of you have decided that's what you want to do.

It will likely make sense to do it slightly gradually so that you don't develop mastitis or an infection. Mental health difficulties in pregnancy/postpartum and with young babies are very common but you don't need to suffer you should be able to access support to feel better.

Hi just wanted to check how are you feeling. I have a baby three months old now with the same issues and very much understand how you must of felt. Did you end up stopping breastfeeding and what formula are you using. I really hope you got some support for your self too even though I completely understand how hard it is postpartum and it’s also hard to explain how you feel to anyone who is not in your shoes.

Hope you’ve had some support for how you’re feeling @Tired887

@Mybaby2024 @BunnyRuddington thank you for checking in. I looked into the allergy formulas, spoke to a few parents who had to introduce it and it looked like an absolute nightmare. So many side effects (reflux) and lots of effort to introduce it as it tastes bad. I didn't want to give my 3 month old gaviscon and nesquik so I decided to be grateful I have enough milk and baby is feeding fine so persevered with breastfeeding.

It did get much, much easier around 5 months (baby is now 7 months) and part of me is happy I persevered because in many ways breastfeeding is so much easier. It has been hard and no one really appreciates what mental effort it takes to be your baby's only source of food but whatever, it's done now. I don't have family around who could take baby for significant periods of time so I'd still be the one making bottles 24/7.

There is a part of me that thinks maybe I was a martyr and I should have given him formula so I could leave him with dad a bit as looking back that 3-4 month period was genuinely traumatic (for me and my marriage). But there's no way of knowing it would have been easier and by 5 months it all changed for the better anyway.

Trying to wean him off night feeds now, if we can crack that, my life would be amazing. I would love a 7 - 8 hour stretch of sleep, even just once.

We did confirm CMPA when weaning. He cannot take dairy (or egg) directly but he thankfully can take it from my breastmilk now (we tried at 4 months and failed but tried again at 6 months) so at least my diet isn't restricted anymore. And weaning is going very well so fingers crossed milk intake can drop soon.

Thanks again for checking in. I found breastfeeding such a task and it's only online that people express how hard it is. Makes me feel a lot better!!

Hi, I am glad you are doing ok now.
I completely understand what it must of felt since living trough it now. My little one is three months old and suspect cmpa I have cut out diary from my diet too. She still has reflux and is on medication but still gets daily flare ups.
Gp’s are not much of help advise wise at least not in my case. I had a visit and explained everything they’ve sent us for some blood work now but not sure how much will it show now that I’ve been restricting my own diet for weeks.
im glad it got a bit easier now for you. It’s hard to enjoy this journey and as you said no one talks about how hard it is to be the only source of food for little one it scares me that her existence day to day still depends on me only especially in cases when they can’t tolerate other milks I feel very low lots of time. It gives me hope that things hopefully will improve. Same as you I don’t have any family around for help so I know how it feels day to day. What symptoms did your little one had when you introduced dairy. Do you have any guidance how to. I’ve heard you should be referred to dietitian for introduction.

I was feeling very low after 3 months of EBF. I introduced bottles and gave myself permission to stop. As soon as I’d given myself that permission though, I just took it feed by feed. Sometimes he had bottle, sometimes he had boob. Then the weirdest thing happened and I realised it was all okay whichever he had. It was the pressure to EBF and the difficulties of initial BF that had me feeling low. At 3 months your boobs settle into it so I just kept going, taking each day as it came. Ended up breastfeeding for years. Just do what’s right for you, you might find when the pressure is lifted and you have an alternative then you choose to continue anyway. Best of luck x

@Mybaby2024 my baby's symptoms only improved significantly when I also cut out soy (which is a really tough one, as it's in everything, every sauce, spread, takeaway, you essentially have to cook everything from scratch). We don't live in the UK, and we have a paedetrician (but who used to be in the NHS for 20 years).

She advised that once I am dairy and soy free, and if baby is then symptom free, remain that way and to try and introduce dairy in my diet close to 6 months and keep having it for 6 weeks (if it's going well and it doesn't make baby sick). After 6 weeks of dairy in my diet, give baby some dairy directly. He didn't tolerate that well, we paused, and introduced it in baked muffins/pancakes which he is fine with. We will try yogurt directly again at 9 months.

His symptoms were projectile sick, off the scale, on the walls, everywhere. Very, very upset tummy, you could tell his stomach was hurting. Crying during and right after feeding (which was incredibly upsetting for me!). Blood in his stool a few times. Once I stopped dairy and soy (and I was very strict, no slip ups, basically didn't trust anyone to cook for me), he was a different baby within a week. Such a happy, happy baby (except he wouldn't sleep unless attached to me).

@Mybaby2024 also, paedetrician said blood work/allergy tests will not show anything with this kind of allergy, they have to go by symptoms reported by me.