Guilt for not being able to produce milk

You shouldn’t feel guilty! Fed is best. I wasn’t even able to breastfeed at all… only a little bit but my baby boy wasn’t able to properly latch and when he did, he would let go due to not producing enough.. I tried pumping for 3 weeks. I hardly had the time anyways because the only help I have is my husband. No other help. So I was taking care of our son while my husband was working. It got to the point where I was having to choose doing chores, cooking, taking a nap, or pumping. I got very tired and stressed. And honestly, I wanted to go and do hookah lol to go and relax with my sister in law. I just made peace with it that I wasn’t producing enough and I stopped. I gave him colostrum in the beginning and breast milk that I could. I’m exclusively formula feeding and i don’t feel bad about it. My son was in the Nicu when he was born, and I had a c section, so I couldn’t even attempt to BF.

Also, I would check with your pediatrician. Don’t delay starting solid foods.

Formula is totally fine. It may seem like all the other moms are exclusively breastfeeding but many also use formula. I had low supply with my first two and eventually had to transition to formula. They are both thriving. My oldest is 7 and pretty advanced for her age. What I mean is formula didn't hinder her in any way.
I don't think I would delay solids just to try and improve supply. Definitely talk with your pediatrics about that. I also know what you mean about pumping. Both of my kids were early and we had to measure feeds. None of this makes you a lesser mom. As long as your baby is loved and fed, you're doing fine.

Solid foods can replace some of the formula instead of milk. Don't delay introducing solids. Just try to bf at the beginning of meals, then switch over to formula or foods after. Remember, breastfeeding is a temporary stage that is supposed to end, and you're on the downhill slope. 🙂

My baby will be 5 months old tomorrow and he's formula fed because I'm on my meds.

Thank you so much
i guess i just needed to hear this!
More power to all of you

Oh my goodness I have so much to say about that guilt (feeling it too with my almost 8-month-old) and I’d be up for chatting about it more in DMs if you need commiseration and stories.

When it comes to solids - what I learned is they still get most of their nutrition still from their milk when they’re under a year old. I’ve interpreted that to mean that no matter how many solids he gets, our feeding schedule/amount doesn’t really change. We still listen to his signals and if he refuses to finish a bottle than so be it, but we always offer all the usual!

You shouldn’t feel guilty at all. I’ve formula fed from the beginning and feel no guilt whatsoever - formula is packed full of everything they could possibly need. My first was also formula fed and she was very healthy, gained weight correctly and didn’t really get ill and the 1-2 occasions she did it was very minor and she was over it in a day or two with basically just a sniffly nose and looser nappies otherwise we wouldn’t even have known she was poorly, we only really knew because we were ill… people are always told / repeating breast is best and it’s not true, fed and looked after is always best x