Breastfeeding guilt

I had a very difficult pregnancy and a very traumatic birth. Due to the blood loss, baby’s tongue tie and extended stay in hospital, my milk supply has been low and also it’s been difficult to breastfeed. I mentally decided for myself that I won’t breastfeed for my own mental health reasons and I’m combination with the fact that it’s been hard full stop. But I can’t stop feeling guilty. Also, I feel like since the baby has come, me and my husband aren’t on the same page. I feel snappy towards him, I feel he lacks emotional intelligence and I just feel distant towards him. Is this normal?

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I had the same experience breastfeeding - we had to stop due to complications from the c section and my LO was unwell also so had to go onto formula due to a really low milk supply. I struggled mentally with it and for me I’ve found that pumping is much more comfortable to do and easier mentally and it has helped bring up my milk supply to almost feed my LO with 100% pumped breast milk. If you feel up to it I highly recommend giving it a go as it’s less painful than breastfeeding and really mentally rewarding and you can choose to do it whenever you want to rather than on demand of the baby. Combination feeding or formula feeding is great. Regardless of the guilt remember that your baby is fed and that’s all that matters so long as they’re happy and healthy💗 Also you’ve both had massive changes to life recently and that’s hard to adapt to! Hopefully with time you will sync back up again💗 it’s totally normal to be snappy right now as our bodies are literally going crazy haywire atm💗

Fed is best, I combination feed for my mental health. My baby wouldn't latch due to being a sleepy baby. I was given nipple shields to help as my anatomy isn't helping but then my nipples bled and the reality of baby being on every hour made me very unhappy. I nearly exclusively pump with some direct boob and formula at night. Your hormones are changing and this can make you snappy. You've recently had a baby so please remember to give yourself a break, it's okay. I've wanted to scream at my husband a few times when he hasn't even done anything.

I felt the same with my first. We were in hospital for 10 days due to a variety of issues for both of us. I tried combi-feeding even though I hated breastfeeding and eventually gave up after 2 months. She’s 2 and a half now and I don’t regret the choice I made to switch to formula. What’s best for you is best for baby. Trying the same this time round but I’m not putting any pressure on myself. It’s easier to put things into perspective when you have two little ones to think about.

Thank you all for your kind words! It’s made me feel a lot better 💕

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