from breast to bottle....some advice please?

[mieowcat]

I have made the decison to begin bootle feeding my DS who is 5 1/2 weeks old, as he has had bad reflux, resultinhg in him vomiting up tp 20x day and it being near impossible to get him to take Gaviscon via syringe. I have a 16 mo DD and am struggling, he is also a vv hungry boy, feeding for hours at a time. he is gaining weight really well.
i wonder if anyone can advise how much i can express off to reduce my painful boobs, without filling up too much, and how long till my boobs go back to 'normal'?

Oh poor you mieowcat

It's tough to have a hungry boy when bf and also a toddler....been there and done that many times dd2 is my baby number 6
Have you considered giving ds a bottle of formula .....I am very pro bf and I know this might sound mad when you have so much milk.....but my thinking is this......you should express either after feeding ds or between feeds and this is time consuming especially as you will have a million and one other things to do...so when you are too tired for bf give a bottle of formuls {get dh to do it} and you can express a little to relieve pressure when you want....you can keep this and give it too....keep bf as often as you can and boobs will settle down...your ds is still very little.
Also have you had positioning and latch checked as this can cause or add to reflux...... the first 8 weeks are always the hardest when bf if you can get past this you have cracked it.

it's your decision to do what you think is right for ds but I hope I have been a little helpful xxxx take care and enjoy your baby...he'll be happy if you are