Thinking of giving up breastfeeding.

[Lizbiz89]

I honestly don't know what to do. I've been ebf my ds for over 4 weeks now. Had a wobble at the beginning with weight but now is gaining really well and I finally don't feel any ouch when I latch him on but I am seriously struggling with the night feeds. Last night I woke him up at 2 for a feed because my boobs were full even though he was asleep. Well then he went on to wake at 3,4,5 and 6! Tbh this is worst night we've had so far but I don't think I've had even a full 3 hours straight sleep in a month since having him. I actually feel like I'm going mad with sleep deprivation. I have 2 older dc that need to be tended to as well and I just feel like I can't cope. I really don't want to give up but I also can't continue with this lack of sleep. I've been in tears this morning as my exhaustion is another level now. Has anyone been in a similar position to me?

Yes and I just stopped. Best decision ever. Take care OP x

Stop any time you want OP, you've done brilliant to go this far. How will it help with the night wakeups though? Will your partner be able to do night feeds?

You do what’s best for you… as long as baby is fed and you are both happy x

Friends found when having a bottle of formula they slept longer… maybe try this at night and still do do some breast in the day?

My daughter woke up every 60-90 minutes we coslept
At 10 months she was waking 5 times a night for a feed. We switched to formula she woke 5 times a night.
By 3 she woke 2 to 3 times a night once with oat milk. We stop this and she still woke 2 to 3 times a night.

Food is one component of many that influences sleep

Thanks for the replies. @Superscientist it's not so much hoping for less wakes, it's more the fact my husband can help with feeds. With my 2nd we ended up ff because of latch problems and we took it turns to feed in the night so that helped with sleep.

Baby will be fine whether you carry on or not, however, I found lying down night feeds really easy. You may find that even when on the bottle your husband may not be awake to help with feeds!

Four weeks is the toughest point. I've had three children and I found everything clicks by 6 weeks. Your supply will be more regulated and you won't feel sore.

If you can sleep during the day to catch up, then I'd try to stick it out personally.

Everyone is different but I found breastfeeding much easier and it allowed me more sleep overall.

Have you tried expressing so that your DH can give a bottle?

Of course you must do what's right for you - there is no right or wrong at all but could you combine feed? Really the best of both worlds and can work really well.

@SunRainStorm thanks for the reply. That actually gives me some hope that there is a silver lining 🤣. Did you bf lying down to get more sleep or did you just sleep better because you weren't making bottles? I actually expressed a bottle this morning for dh in the hope that he will relieve me of a feed tonight. I really don't want to stop as I feel I'm finally in a good place with it apart from nights but the nights are sheer torture atm. Even to have 4 hours straight sleep would be a life saver for me.

@MrsPatrickDempsey this is something that has crossed my mind as well. I think I'm going to continue ebf and pumping so that I can have a little break every now and then especially at night. I don't know why but I feel guilty no matter what I do. Bloody hormones 🤣

@Lizbiz89

Both. Also I find it means the baby doesn't fully wake up so it's easier to resettle them and get back to sleep yourself.

Sleep deprivation is torture.

There's no wrong decision. If I were you I'd get DH to do a bottle or two of expressed milk or formula for the next few nights. Just so you get some good chunks of sleep but not so much that you get engorged or mess with your supply. If you've had some sleep it might buy you some time to decide what you want to do about breastfeeding without losing your supply.

As PP said, it's not either/or. You can do a few bottles of formula to keep your sanity annals still breastfeed the rest of the time. I wouldn't stop altogether if it's important to you.

Good luck, and whatever you decide is fine.

That was the other thing we found. If the sun has set the only person my daughter wants is me regardless of how she has been fed. Even when I have been ill we have been unable to persuade her to accept daddy at night time. Some babies/toddlers are just blooming awkward!