Stopping breastfeeding at drs request

[Wonderland18]

My doctor has just told me that I’ll need to stop breastfeeding, I’ve been taking bad fainting spells if I don’t eat every 1 and a half to 2 hours and the LO eats 2 hourly. My blood work and everything has came back fine so she’s thinking the breastfeeding is taking it’s toll on my body. I tried to explain my 6 month olds only ever taken one bottle at 6 weeks and nothing since and her response was she will eat when she’s starving..

I can’t just leave my LO to cry in hunger constantly to take the bottle surely that’s cruel?
I’ve no idea what to do I’ve been trying to introduce bottles for 3 weeks now and she’s zero interest she just gets cranky and will cry persistently or play with the bottle and not bother with the milk inside.

Please help

I’m surprised that your baby is feeding every 2 hours at 6 months, there should be a longer gap-are you sure she is getting enough/she is putting on weight?

If you want to continue breast feeding her then you have to up your intake.

I also have a 6 month old bottle refuser (won't even have breast milk out of a bottle) who feeds 2 hourly night and day, and sometimes more often. I had to up my food intake A LOT. Every time he eats, I eat. A meal, lots of snacks. Just food. Make sure your fridge has lots of cold drinks and your cupboards are full of snacks. He's just had a feed and I'm munching crisps and cupcakes because it doesn't all have to be healthy and I need a lot of food. So just eat and eat.

Also, I know exactly how hard these feeds are so a massive well done! Enjoy all the cake and ice cream you can eat.

It depends what he is suggesting, if he wants you to take a medication or thinks it's indicative of something serious, because otherwise just east more often

She’s in the 75th centile. Was born 6.4 lbs and was just weighed at 17.6 lbs, she just really likes her grub and has chubbied up delightfully so!

@GroEgg2000 oh the feeds are hard and took so long to get into the swing of things but so happy to hear I’m not alone in this boat! Snacks sound pretty good about now 😂

If you like bread, get a bread machine, you control the ingredients that way. You need to eat properly, 3 proper meals plus a couple of snacks - that's why you are fainting. Avoiding soy and dairy isn't that hard unless you vegetarian, even then I can give you lots of vegan soy free recipes that take under 10 mins to prep.

Batch bake flapjacks made with peanut butter instead of butter so dairy free. Add mixed seeds and nuts for healthy fats. Eat a large flapjack at every feed and drink a large glass of water!

You sound a bit martyrish tbh, just get food into you!

You can make great smoothies with almond milk, peanut butter, frozen fruit (Tesco do a great strawberry / banana smoothie mix) and a squeeze of honey if you want the sweetness. You could also add a scoop of vegan protein powder. Hard boiled eggs and cooked meats are a good high protein snack. Nuts if you like them. I don’t think gp’s are the most clued up about breastfeeding (I stopped after being told a medication was unsuitable, turned out he was wrong, which still stings a little). Also second the advice about contacting one of the bf support lines / groups.

I don’t have any issues with eating more, I’m just fussy and was diabetic during pregnancy so cheese was one of my main go too’s so I’m finding it hard to find snacks I like to have inbetween meals but 100% willing to eat more often.

My issue isn’t really the eating it was just the getting the LO into the bottle, wasn’t wanting to do the full let her starve till she takes it thing so I was looking for advice there

I think your plan to eat more and then see if your DD can take a little breast milk from a cup for your brother, bit otherwise keeping her on solids and water till you can feed her. You could still feed once in the morning, maybe twice in the evening, depending on when you get home.

I wouldn't starve her till she takes the bottle, no. But are you alright still feeding? What do you actually want to do?

I have a lovely friend who is bfing her baby with a LOT of serious intolerances. Soy and dairy are just the tip of the iceberg. It can be done, but if it's affecting you badly, then it's also fine to say you've had enough.

The other theory might be the GP is trying to prompt you to make eating a priority. You know, if you don't eat you will have to stop bfing sort of thing.

I think your plan to eat more and then see if your DD can take a little breast milk from a cup for your brother, bit otherwise keeping her on solids and water till you can feed her. You could still feed once in the morning, maybe twice in the evening, depending on when you get home

When you go back to work I mean.

I am eating regularly and the gp didn’t actually mention my eating just straight to the get off breastfeeding.

It’s just if I wait over 2 hours without some grub I’m getting fainting spells was the trigger for that and it’s super easy to forget to eat when your not hungry 😂

I definitely persevere with the solids and sippy cups cause of course it aww goes in that direction anyway

I would seek a second opinion tbh and I'm usually on the side of HCPs on these sorts of threads.

Going straight to "stop bfing" without even delving into what else could be causing your fainting spells sounds frankly bonkers, if not negligent, to me!

I also think your plan to speak to breastfeeding support, like LLL or BFN, is a good one. They have phone lines you can call for free advice. Maybe try that? I've found them amazing in the past .

I was seeing a different gp 2 weeks prior and they thought it could be a digestive issue but she’s now retired so I’ll maybe see about switching to the last gp in the practice (who is a breastfeeding mother so might have a little better advice)

In the meantime your so right I’ll need to give the support line a call, I’ve got a personal number for a worker in my area so I’ll give her a text to call me when she’s got some free time

Soya is a pain - it's in so much. Co-op fresh bread if theres a bakery doesn't contain soya - my DS is ok with "May contain". Pork pies and scotch eggs are easy high calorie things to grab too. I'm always grazing to try to keep my supply up!

Avocado is another good one - and nuts/nut bars too.

The part bake breads at Aldi are ok too as are the olive breads at both Tesco and Sainsbury's.

Also try a Jumperoo. I have a clingy 8 month old (colic/reflux too) and he loves the Jumperoo.

I’m sure I saw a brand of bottles advertised recently called Minbie(?) that were meant to be good for bf babies / bottle refusers. Might be worth looking at?

Yeah, I'd definitely go back to the GP op. Even forgetting about bfing, it could be something you need to have checked out. Crap of the GP to just immediately blame bfing . I mean, arguably, he knows something we don't, but he could at least have explained to you why. Very weird.

All the best with it .