Feeling like a failure
Show your support
I second what Georgina said entirely! My first baby (now 5 and an amazingly deep and consistent sleeper) woke multiple times a night until she was about 12 months old. I breastfed her for the first 6 months, then I switched to formula due to pressure from my then partner and family (along the lines of the comment you received). It made no difference whatsoever other than it was so much more effort for me in the night when she woke for a bottle, as I had to actually get up and prepare it! I massively regretted stopping feeding her as it didn’t feel like the choice I wanted to make. My baby girl (6 months) wakes a few times a night for a feed. My partner (incredibly supportive) can settle her sometimes without a feed whereas if I’m the one to pick her up she always wants a feed. Like Georgina said, they know we are the ones who primarily care for them and provide them with comfort! You’re doing amazing, ignore the unhelpful comments as hard as it is. ❤️
aww bless you, you are absolutely not a failure, you are super woman, been feeding your baby on demand for 6 months is not easy! My baby's breastfed and they can smell your milk, your milk comes in and you are producing more milk during the night so baby will know and wake up for it, with you not being there baby wouldn't have smelt it. My little girl doenst sleep more than 2 hour stretches either. You are doing amazing, keep doing you! 👏👏👏
I echo Georgina and Alison - I moved to formula and it made my first baby's sleep worse! And as with all these great ladies here, I say you are amazing.
My baby is breastfed and wakes up multiple times at night. One night, the first time she woke up, my husband gave her formula and she slept till her wake up time and I felt like a failure and an idiot to not have done that earlier. So we did the same thing next night and she was back to waking up multiple times 🤣 so it might just be beginners luck or something. We’ve also tried everything, giving formula before bed, formula during the night feed, formula during day and my LG still wakes up a LOT. Last night she woke up 8-9 times, I lost count after a point. Some babies are just not good sleepers.
My baby is formula fed and still wakes multiple times. Also 6 months in a couple days. That comment was rude and insensitive. However, I would flip it on its head. You are the one who has been feeding him and giving him your immune system. You are the one who’s been waking, comforting and feeding him in the night. Little boy may wake up hungry, BUT! It is YOU who is making sure that he gets fed and doesn’t stay hungry. You are meeting his needs. My little girl always goes down better for her dad. But I think it is because we are the ones who they know they can rely on, so they depend on you! Basically, you are not a failure. You are doing everything. You are not doing anything wrong. And formula isn’t always the answer, as I mentioned, my little one is completely formula now but still wakes at least 4 times in the night.