Feel like giving up

My daughter is almost 3 months and eats anywhere between 5-7 oz. I have tried breastfeeding and pumping, but because of the struggle I had in the beginning and stress after stress in situations, I barely pump 2 oz at a time, sometimes I only pump .5 oz. I know it’s partially my fault because I’m soooo bad at pumping every 2-3 hours especially MOTN pump since she sleeps through the night. I just hate sitting there for 15-20 minutes and only getting a few drops. It then stresses me out more and I’m just not sure what to do anymore. I feel like I should just give up, she’s already been on formula since she wasn’t gaining weight on just breast milk so it’s not like I’d have to worry about transitioning.

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do what is best for you and your family!!! I say don’t give up, keep trying to pump every 2-3 hours!! Breastfeeding is so rewarding and so good for your baby, but she’s already doing fine on formula so don’t stress mama💕

You are doing the best you can mama! If what works best for everyone is formula please don’t feel guilty since you gave it a good try, but please know that I also struggled around that time. Personally I feel feeding often at the breast is best way to increase supply and meet the baby’s demand, but if you really want to pump make sure the flange is the correct size! If not it can be tough to get enough I found this out only recently at 5 months pp. made a huge difference for me getting the right size.

I feel this. It was the same for me. I would get such little milk pumping, despite doing it around the clock for nearly a month. My son was a biter. He wouldn't latch right. My supply would not increase, and my pump was hospital grade. I cried so much and felt so guilty. The guilt and lack of sleep made my postpartum depression worse. It was a spiral. But he was fine. And you and your baby will be fine. It's okay to stop. Focus on redeeming that time and bonding with your baby. If you can, buy baby probiotics and liquid multivitamin. Maybe see if there's some donor milk you can get, if you're really wanting milk for your baby for a while. Take care of yourself for both you and your little one!

Meditation while pumping

Honestly it’s so great that you’ve made it this far. It’s definitely a struggle to balance especially while dealing with the situational dynamic changes. Do what’s best for you! A fed baby is a happy baby. If you really want to try to keep feeding I can suggest doing something distracting (movie/music/puzzles/read etc), while you’re pumping put socks over the collector bottles and just focus on being distracted. Have some of your fav snacks/drinks and take some breathes.
If you choose not to continue pumping then so be it! I chose to stop BF my first when he was 6m for a number of reasons. He too took to formula easily and now is a healthy happy 16mo that you wouldn’t be able to tell if he was formula fed or breast fed. I read a comment on here the other day and I have to try repeat it but: it’s not like our kids are going to be discussing how they were fed as babies when they attend college/university.

There’s such a huge emphasis on it that we create such unnecessary stress on ourselves at an already vulnerable and stressful time. Love your baby, love yourself. But do what’s right for you and your mental health. You and your family will be better for it ❤️

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