Breastfeeding struggles

Following as I have the same issue 😩

I recommend getting in touch with your local infant feeding team or find a local breastfeeding group and seek support through them x

yes I’m under the infant feeding team, will be seeing them on Tuesday.

I can relate as it gets me down if my baby refuses the boob ever and she’s always been a good latcher. It sounds like a latch issue with you, has that been checked out? Maybe a tongue tie?

I have lost this battle with breastfeeding and he is only on formula since 5 weeks old. I think it was loads of factors which led to this or it was just excuses but I saw unhappy baby at the end of all this

Same thing happened to me. My baby would scream and cry at the sight of my boob. Long story short she is mainly formula fed now. She will take boob at night but her latch is terrible now as she is too used to bottles x

I am on a breastfeeding fb group and asked about it on there and showed them a video of my baby screaming and crying and they told me that it was a normal behaviour of a breast fed baby at this stage and that she would eventually stop. However, I couldn’t stand seeing her in that state and would end up making her a bottle and now that has just taken over x

We had the same problem. LO lost weight so our health worker was coming more frequently to check on us.
Turned out he had a tongue-tie and our health worker taught us how to latch better.
I top up with expressed breastmilk which I pump at all meal times.

If you want to continue breastfeeding or feeding you LO with breastmilk then you need to make sure that you have a sufficient milk supply (it works on a demand supply basis). Every time you feed formula your body thinks less milk is required and will produce less.

Speak to your health worker...they are all trained in lactation questions.

Thank you, I’ve managed to get her to latch once or twice just on my left but it’s been tough, just so desperate to continue BF it’s so hard but this community really helps so you know your not alone, thank you. I’m hoping with lots of skin to skin tomorrow we might slowly get there 🤞 just going to have to pump in the meantime 😢 x

Lots of skin to skin, patience and deep breaths ❤️
When mine gets upset on the boob, I use a dummy for a quick time out. Once he’s calmed down again, I re latch. It takes longer, but it’s worth it for us in case that helps?

I don’t know your circumstances, but for me, I went through this exact thing at the start. I was so focused on increasing my supply by pumping, that I was taking all the easy milk out and my LO was having a hard time getting any other milk so was kicking, punching screaming etc. I was so close to giving up. But I stripped it right back, we stayed in the house for a week straight reestablishing it, I wasn’t offering anything else, I wasn’t pumping and we got there by day 2. I’m so glad I didnt stop as it’s such a nice way to bond with baby. X

Breastfeeding is not easy and you have to do what feels right for both of you. I really wanted to BF but we struggled from the beginning, in particular due to me having inverted nipples. We tried shields and other techniques with the infant feeding team, but baby was getting so frustrated and unhappy that it put us down...I decided that the most important was for her to be fed and happy so now I express my milk and top up with formula when I can't follow the demand. In the end, she breastfed at 90% and it has allowed her father to take a very active part in feeding and bonding, which has been great. We all have different journeys so my advice is try and get rid of external pressure and think about you and your baby.

she was feeding fine with the shields for the last 6/7 weeks, it’s just all of sudden that she is now refusing me, she is also dribbling lots and her cry is quite raspy so not sure if she has a sore throat and that is why she refuses me?? My 6 yr old also has a cold, but I’m just worried if it continues she will end up just wanting the bottle 🤦‍♀️

il just so desperate to BF as it was going well with the shields, I fed my 6yr old until he was around 8 months so I know I can do it, it’s just been sooo much harder this time as he latched without the shields. X

I had the same worry so I know how upsetting it can be.
Have you tried skin to skin at the same time? How is the sitting situation, is she comfortable ? I was really struggling since I have big boobs so I felt like I was rushing it so he felt rushed. I’ve got a feeding pillow now which he lies on and we’re both so much more comfy. I switch off and scroll my phone and he enjoys his feed. Your little girl is maybe picking up on your anxiety around it.
If she’s feeling poorly that could be the underlying issue too.
You’ve got this mama! 🤍

Oh it’s awful, have just kept crying about it today 😢 I’ve tried skin skin, rocking, had a bath together and she has improved slightly but now she goes on and comes straight off even though the milk is there, we have a nursing pillow which we were using so she was comfy, I think it could be that’s is unwell it’s just so hard to tell at this age 🤦‍♀️

Thank you!!!

it’s going to sound crazy, but when I was having the issues, he would latch to me unless I was bouncing on my pregnancy ball 😂. Must be something soothing about it. Eventually we didn’t need the ball anymore as he got the hang of it . Do you have a ball you could try? X

oh I do have one in storage, I’ll have to get my husband to go and get it and give it a try! X

How did you get on ? I’m having the same issues and feeling so down about it. My baby has stopped latching, initially was still at night but now not at all

I’m afraid I had to give up as she just wouldn’t latch and it was really stressing me out and making feel completely shit. I just express now so she has around 2 bottles of my milk a day and the rest formula, I was gutted and it is almost as though you are mourning the fact that you are having to stop BF without feeling like you want to. I did try the SNS but because she refused to latch that didn’t work either, keep trying you might be able to get back there, but if it is constantly making you feel down, I feel much better now and have got a good system with bottles and expressing. Good luck!! Xx

please don’t think that you ‘gave up’
You tried everything you could. A fed baby is a happy baby 💓

thank you!! We are much happier now, just sad we couldn’t make it work, but at least we tried our best 🥰 xx