Breastfeeding question :S

[LaurenMM]

Hi girls I've put this is in the feeding section also but seems a tad quiet so putting it in here too

Hi girls,

Gave birth to my first baby on the 10th november. Been breastfeeding her since but since my milk has come in I've been in absolute agony and for some reason she will not feed properly from my right breast. I dont know why as she'll latch on for a bit and its impossible to get her back on, whereas my left breast is no problem. Anyway I know this sounds awful but I've come to find breastfeeding just isnt for me and I've decided to stop as of today. I've expressed my milk today and OH has fed her and she seems fine. My question is now do I have to start feeding her with formula or am I ok to just continue expressing my milk without her actually feeding from the breast? I'm sorry if this sounds awful, I feel like a bit of a failure to be honest xx

 

[Binzy]

Don't feel a failure, no one tells you that BF is actually rather complicated and painful to start with too. I've only been doing it for a couple of months so I'll leave the technical answers to the others but really don't feel bad about it, xx

 

[tinks77]

I had pretty much the same problem, I stopped breastfeeding after 15 days. I started off expressing all feeds then started doing half expressed & half formula as she went through a growth spurt & i just couldnt keep up with feeding every 2 hours, expressing & finding the time to sleep lol
We are now totally on formula and it's been so much less stressful because I don't have any pain & tbh I didn't enjoy the whole breastfeeding experience but she's had the best bit so I'm happy with that x

 

[nikki8092]

Sometimes if you get blocked ducts it can stop a baby feeding from a certain side, i would personally continue to express the milk especially from the painful side as if it is blocked and you dont clear it you can get mastitis. Remember your milk is on supply and demand so if you are wanting to cut back do so gradually and you should be fine hun xx

 

[Sarah13]

You can keep expressing and giving it to her in a bottle, then maybe try again in a day or two if you feel a bit better. I think messages get sent from baby suckling at breast to your body to produce the milk baby needs at different times but expressing is still better than switching to formula even if you manage this way for another few days. Hang in there, things do get easier and the soreness goes. I found Kynon prefered one breast to the other to start with but after a few days he was ok with both. Also when I'm really full it's hard to get him latched on so expressing a little can help with this. Do you have her in the right position on the difficult boob? Sometimes that causes problems too. It's so hard the first few weeks and painful, your not a failure at all, nobody suddenly knows how to breastfeed the minute you have a baby, both of you have to learn together x

 

[Miss]

Sometimes if you are really full it is hard for them to latch on, Have you tried expressing some off and then trying her on the breast?

Also, babies can have favorite sides/nipples, it's annoying but they do grow out of it as Sarah said above.

As for deciding to stop - do not feel guilty hun - any breast milk you give to your baby is a giving them a great start to life no matter how it is given.

People think that because it is natural it must be easy - but it's not at first!! Get past the 6 week mark tho and it is so so so easy!

 

[bidsy]

aw dont feel a failure hun your doing well, I had to spend a week in hospital when joseph was 3 weeks and I didnt have him with me and I just expressed throughout the day and sent it home with hubby and he gave him it from the bottle its fine if thats easier for you, I eventually weened onto formula so he was having both at one point x