My baby is 3.5 months, and I’m struggling with the pressure of feeding. (First time mum)
For background, I intended to breastfeed and move to combi feeding when the time was right and we could introduce a bottle. Unfortunately DD wouldn’t latch and so we had to formula feed initially. I then managed to get her to breastfeed using nipple shields. We still struggled and eventually I ended up exclusively pumping and bottle feeding her my expressed milk. I never intended to do this, and it’s bloody hard!
Currently I’m pumping 6 times in 24 hours and working on phasing out 1 pump which I should have done in the next 2 weeks. I feel that my schedule prevents me from going out for long as I know I’ll need to pump.
There are lots of times where I think about giving up, but I want to continue as I know how beneficial breast milk is and also I have so much milk it feels a waste not to! (I am also donating my spare milk to a milk bank).
I think how much easier my day would be without the expressing and this would get me out more but also mean I could do more with my daughter. However, I know that over the next couple of months I’ll be able to phase out 1 more or maybe even 2 more pumping sessions which would take me to 3 or 4 a day, giving me more freedom.
Does anyone have any experiences or suggestions?
Xx