Breast and formula
My baby is 9 weeks old and we are now forumula feeding however, we started off combi feeding. When she was born, I was on blood pressure medication which delayed my milk coming through so I was topping her up with a bottle. She was then then jaudice and had phtotherapy. She could only be off the lights for half an hour at a time, so bottle was more efficient for her. This was a really stressful time and I spoke to the midwives about just formula feeding as my milk hadn't come and I wasn't in the headspace at the time. They encouraged me to express so then my milk came. I started to express and BF however, the expressing at home was awful and wasn't helping my mental health. I was BF but she would want more after and became really fussy at the breast, she would tug and shake it but nothing would come. I would then top her up. She eventually weaned herself off the breast and took a bottle much better. I now find myself getting really sad when I see other people successfully BF their baby. I know everyone's journey is different and formula feeding has allowed my husband ti share the load a bit and for me to get out the house, but I can't help feeling down about it all.
Such a bad sleeper! I Can’t take it anymore
My daughter has never been a great sleeper, but recently it feels especially unpredictable and exhausting. For example, yesterday she woke up at 5:30am but only had a 30minute nap at 10am and then stayed awake until 7:45pm.
I tried offering another chance for a short nap later in the day, but she wasn’t interested. We had a busy family day and she was really happy, so I expected her to be exhausted by bedtime and have a good nights sleep. However she was still up multiple times and was very difficult to settle and took over an hour to go back to sleep. This morning she woke at 4:45am, clearly still tired and irritable, but unable to go back to sleep.
It feels like no matter how active or calm her day is, or how tired she appears, her sleep doesn’t follow a consistent pattern. On the other hand, there are days when she has a two-hour lunchtime nap and a very relaxed schedule, but the outcome is the same. She still wakes multiple times overnight and often takes a long time to resettle.
I’ve tried tracking her sleep to identify patterns, but nothing seems to make sense. I’ve also tried a more flexible “go with the flow” approach, letting her sleep whenever and wherever she needs it, but that hasn’t helped either.
My husband is keen to try for another baby, but I’m hesitant because I can’t imagine managing pregnancy alongside such broken sleep. We do support each other through the nights and take turns where we can, but it still feels very draining.
He’ll things feel worse more than ever
