Stopping EBF at 14.5 weeks

[Dalmatian0]

I would be so grated if anyone can help me feel better!

I have EBF my wonderful baby for 14.5 weeks. This hasn’t been easy but we have just about managed it with pumping (many times a day, every day) and a Domperidone prescription. However now that I am weaning off Domperidone my supply seems to have fallen off a cliff. I think I need to buy some formula.

I seem to have low supply, perhaps because I have PCOS. We have seen specialist midwives, the infant feeding team and my GP multiple times but nothing has fixed the problem apart from Domperidone - but I can’t take that indefinitely because of concerns it may impact my heart. Latch and positioning good, I just don’t seem to have enough milk.

I’m so down about this. I so wanted to make it to 6 months at least. I’ve barely done 3 months. But I just don’t seem to have milk and my baby is hungry. Any thoughts / advice, I would be grateful.

Honesty, just give formula. You know you’ve tried your best but it isn’t working. Nothing wrong with formula at all. I EBF my first two for nearly 2 years each - both had problems and it really affected my mental health because I was so determined to carry on. My third I barely made it to two weeks - I knew I didn’t want to go through the stress again. He’s been easily my happiest baby because I was so much more relaxed without the stress of breastfeeding. They’re all very healthy children.

You’ve done really well but there really is no point damaging your own health, your baby will be fine on formula. You can do it gradually one feed at a time, you might find you can combination feed for a while but don’t worry if not

Thanks for these replies, I appreciate it x

The health benefits of breastfeeding are very heavily weighted towards the early weeks/ months. You’ve done by far the most impactful part, and your baby will thrive whatever milk they have now, as long as they are fed. Your mental and emotional wellbeing will have a far bigger effect on your baby than what kind of milk they drink at this stage, and it sounds as if trying to persevere with breastfeeding when it’s just not working out is likely to make you both miserable.
I’m confident from what you’ve written that formula is the right choice for you both, and will give you the opportunity to enjoy your baby and relax into motherhood in a way that it doesn’t sound like you’ve had a chance to do yet. Try to see this as a positive step towards a happier postpartum. It can be difficult to accept when things don’t go as planned with our babies, but part of parenthood is learning to roll with the punches and make the best decision for the baby and situation you’ve actually got, not the hypothetical one that you had imagined before they were here.

You’ve done so well! Even three months has so many benefits for baby, and is something to be proud of

Breastfeeding isn’t easy for a lot of us, you have done amazingly well to get this far! Give yourself a pat on the back!

The situation has changed, so you change with it, make the switch to formula, take the pressure of yourself and don’t look back!

You've done amazingly well to get as far as you have EBF - look at the stats and you'll see the majority of women don't EBF for that long. So well done and absolutely don't beat yourself up about having to change things now. If you've got enough supply to combination feed, do that (I combination fed from 8 weeks until 8.5 months and it worked really well for us), but remember - loads of babies are formula fed, exclusively or combination, and they are healthy and happy. You're doing the right thing for your baby, and for yourself.

You’re doing so well - bottle feel formula now and baby can still have breastfeeds /suck for comfort sometimes, mine did although was always mostly bottle fed