Well i've finally made the decision to go onto fully formula! I've breastfed for 10 days and have decided to change as i feel that i am constantly feeding and am stuck to my couch and as o/h goes back to work on mon i really don't wanna be stuck at home all day because of b/f!

I have been giving baby a formula before bed at night and it's the longest she sleeps, she just seems full and content after a bottle of formula!

But i am feeling soooooooo guilty! My o/h is very supportive and any decision i make he is happy with, but i still feel like i have let little one down in some way??!!

I'm due to get baby weighed on Thursday and i know the midwife is going to be questioning why i have changed!!

I suppose i just need a few words from you lovely ladies reasuring me that i am doing the right thing!!

Thank you!!!

xxxxx

One thing I tried my hardest to listen to was "happy mummy, happy baby". I too felt terrible when I made the decision to switch to formula and it lasted a good few weeks with lots of tears! I had been unable to BF so had expressed for 6 weeks but it was too much for me. Imi is thriving now and I don't look back and regret my decision. I have more help, I sleep more, she sleeps more and we even got to go to a friends wedding in Wolverhampton

That has made me feel so much better! Even brought a tear to my eye!! Thankyou for your kind words!!

xxxxx

I coludn't breastfeed exclusively due to a very low supply - we introduced formula after a week or so and gradually had to increase it until he was only breastfeeding once a day and having one bottle of expressed milk each day by about 6 weeks. I then managed to hang in there with one small breastfeed per day until 3 months when he completely lost interest. This actually worked out quite well for us - we got out and about and I felt less guilty about it as he was still getting a little bit of breastmilk. If you feel guilty about your decision (not that there is any reason to!) why don't you try something like this rather than making a complete change? Perhaps the tiny bit of breastmilk each day made no difference to him, healthwise, but it made quite a big difference to how I felt about the situation!

I cried so much when i gave up at 4 weeks, i felt so guilty and thought my OH was disappointed in me (he really wasnt). Its mad how people are made to feel guilty, formula is not poison! Izzie has really thrived on it, and is so much more content, probably because i am happier.

I could have written this word for word, it's our situation exactly. He's just 3 months now and at the point where he wants to feed when we cuddle but when I offer the boob he sucks three times and pulls off, I think he's frustrated that it doesn't come out as fast as the bottle. I express and he gets some bm ever day but it's dwindling fast.

I understand your feelings, it is hard to switch when you've had it rubbed in so much how breastmilk is infinitely superior, but like Vici said, happy mum, happy baby, and if it's not working for you, for whatever reason, it is your choice to make the switch and it's such a shame we're made to feel guilt over it, after all, we all have different circumstances, we're all different, and what is the right decision for one family may not be for another.

I would have liked to have fully breastfed but it was never going to happen so I have embraced formula - I had to, in order to maintain my peace of mind. Giving him what I can, while it may not make much difference to him, certainly makes me feel a bit better, and I haven't had any grief from the mw or HV - while they are extremely pro-bf, and have encouraged me in carrying on as far as I can, they support my choices. My son is thriving. Formula is NOT poison, for some babies it is a lifesaver.

Whatever decision you make, what's most important is that you are fully at peace with it.

I feel i need to change as i have had a few nights constantly feeding crying my eyes out! I def think me being happy will be better for baby in the long run!
As we speak i have just given baby a bottle and she is fast asleep snoring away!!
Thanks ladies you have made me feel better!

xxxxx

hun , i know there is so much pressure out there to BF, but dont feel bad for doing what is right for you and your lo.

and as someone else said formula is not poison, it may not be as natural as BFing but it still has everything your baby needs in it. my lo was ff from birth and he is a happy healthy 20 month old now, it has certainly done him no harm
and to quote someone else above , "happy mummy = happy baby"

Ok,i've been thinking long and hard and i'm going to try expressing a couple of times a day for as long as my milk stays in so baby can still have a bottle of my milk a day, even if it's for the next couple of weeks i think it will make the decision a bit easier for me!

Thanks everyone for your kind words and advice, they really do help!!

xxxxx

I was in exactly the same position. When LO was about 5 days old she would b/f for about 4 hours at a time and then one night she fed on and off for 12 hours! She lost almost a pound in the first week and was screaming for food! At 5am one morning OH went out for formula and since then life has been so much better! I expressed two bottles worth a day for about 10 days but she was never satisfied on them and found she would need 1 or 2 oz of formula to settle. She now at almost a month is on formula all the time.

I felt relieved to start with when i gave up b/f but now feel slightly guilty that perhaps i gave up too soon but in reality bottle is easier! It has meant that my mum can stay one night a week to give me and the OH some time off!