Well, after becoming totally frustrated with bf then discovering LO has lost weight, I decided to try giving her some formula at night. Last night she had 6oz then slept wonderfully. I, on the other hand, did not sleep wonderfully as I still woke at all her feeding times and couldn't get back to sleep

Tonight, she totally refused the bottle. I tried for an hour. We were both crying for most of that hour. I then gave her the breast as she was clearly hungry and I couldn't do it any more (try the bottle). She latched on straight away, had a feed then fell asleep on the boob smiling.

I cried the whole time while she was feeding and just felt so trapped. I think the fact that making the decision to give formula was a hard one and also that I had been having problems feeding her before that made me want to stop bf made it so much worse.

I am also beyond tired. I haven't slept more than a couple of hours at a time since she was born. I can't nap when she does because by the time I've eaten and maybe put a wash on or done a quick tidy she is awake and hungry again.

I'm so tired and fed up. I feel that bf is not a choice for me which makes everything worse. She is hungry all the time. I can't put her down for any amount of time. OH hardly has any time with her because she always wants fed. At the moment it is really upsetting me and making me feel very angry and depressed.

oh hunny, i don't really know what to say

Have you considered co-sleeping? Even just doing it for a nap can give you both a decent stretch of sleep, giving you a bit more energy to face the rest of the day.

Was she really hungry by the time you tried to give her a bottle tonight? She might take it if you try before she gets to that stage, so she's not crying and won't get herself more worked up about it x

actually i got 2 agree, co sleeping ended up being our saviour. I found it wasn't so much that she was hungry just that she wanted to be next to me. we also ended up introducing the dummy on advice of 2 different midwifes.

I also want to add that the feeds do get quicker as they get older, so you won't feel like you have no time to do anything else for too much longer - I just assumed from your post that you wanted to stop completely. When Sam was born I spent the first couple of months sitting on the sofa doing nothing but feeding him, but I was still breastfeeding when he was 1, and it did quickly get so much easier than those first few weeks x

Maybe let OH give her the bottle before bed time that way he gets some time with her and you get some time to yourself. She could have been refusing because she could smell your milk xx

Definitely consider co-sleeping -- even bed sharing. It has been a LIFE saver for me. You can either get a safe co-sleeper cot like the Arm's Reach or you can make your bed as safe as possible for bed sharing. I actually do both. LO starts out in his Arm's Reach, but by about the 2nd or 3rd feed through the night he ends up next to me in bed for the rest of the night. It is the only thing that allows me decent sleep. He still feeds every 2-3 hours and is giving no signs of sleeping through the night any time soon. Now, I hardly wake to feed him. He sleeps better, too. It is the only way I can work full time, keep up with housework, and still BF full time. If you need pointers on making your bed safe for bed sharing, just say so!

Hang in there. This is so so hard! But you are at the hardest age right now. I had a hard time right about then, too. LO was eating ALL the time, non stop. I couldn't get away from him. I couldn't sleep well.

You will get through this! Try to find other ways for OH to be with LO when you can -- like giving her baths and doing tummy time with her. Right now cuddling and feeding are what you are there for. It's so hard! But you can do it, hon!

I just wanted to agree with all the other posts. The beginning is a challenge, because it's supposed to be. But co-sleeping helped. It sounds like you're doing a great job!! Hang in there!

I feel like I should apologise for my upset post - I had got myself so worked up.

Last night LO slept better without the bottle of formula than she had the night before with it... which was great. I slept better too.

Maybe LO is having a growth spurt and I hadn't noticed - that might be why she was feeding so often during the day?

I have tried everything to get her to take the bottle (we've been trying every day for over three weeks now - started when she was four weeks old), including getting dad to do it, leaving the house, doing it when she's not too hungry... the only way that has worked so far is for me to give it when she is just beginning to get hungry. Up to yesterday she had taken in five days in a row but was never overly keen.

Trying to persevere with the bottle is upsetting for both of us. On the one hand I want to give up on it altogether because it just causes so much stress. On the other hand, I am worried about her losing weight, the breast is also stressful due to fast flow or let down (she frequently chokes, then cries, then won't finish) and I would love a break at some point

I feel torn between continuing to try the bottle or giving up. I don't know what's best for LO or me and I think not being able to decide is making it worse.

OH now wants to continue with the bottle (one per day). I think he was excited to think he would soon get to feed her. This morning I said we might have a bottle free day (as in, have a day off trying the bottle) and he said he thinks we should try.

Today, I can't be bothered to express or try a bottle. I just want an easy peaceful day for both of us. If I do neither, would I mess things up for us? Like will my supply go down if I don't express? (I have expressed every day for weeks). Will I lower the chances of her taking the bottle if I have a day off from it?

Oh - forgot to add - we have a co-sleeping cot. We bedshared to begin with, when she was very newborn, then we began to annoy each other in the night (she kept grunting and seeming uncomfortable and kicking my c-section scar, which meant I kept having to reposition her) so she moved into the cot but with the side right down. Just a few days ago she became able to shuffle into bed with me - I woke to find her the wrong way round (lying across the bed instead of up and down the ways), halfway down my bed with her head nearly under my duvet - so after that she started sleeping in her cot with the side halfway up. This means I have to lift her out to feed her but the last two nights she has only woken once during the night - so that's been good