Jamie's 3 months and has been exclusively breastfed since birth. I really want to keep this up until he gets to 6 months as I have allergies and stomach problems and know this is the best way to prevent it in him. I'm finding it so hard today though as I feel I'm permanently attached to a baby. He rarely goes more than 2 hours night or day as he eats little and often so I get very little sleep. He seems to be going through a growth spurt as his been eating every hour today. Sorry this is a pointless post. I'm stubborn so determined to keep going. I just had to get it out of my system so I can keep on going

ava went through the same at that age, she had a massive growth spurt and fed all the time, i was the same really stubborn but i'm glad i stuck with it, just remember what a great job you're doing and it won't last forever. x

Hi Hun i was the same i breastfeed completely for 5months then slowly weaned him off and combined fed for 1 month so i could just stop at 6 months.

It is hard Noah was always on my breasts feeding, try giving him some cooled boiled water inbetween, it might help stretch the feeding times.
Try expressing too, maybe 3oz and give it to him, i found noah ended up sort of snack feeding and prob was only taking 1oz.

It will get better and the times will become longer, keep going u should be really proud of urself.

Chat

hey it sounds like you are doing an amazing job - bf is one of the hardest things i have done, and i didn't expect it to be so demanding. i think as pinky says, this is probably a growth spurt, but i remember it seemed to feel like it was going on forever. it won't though, i remember after 3 or 4 months things got much better, now i only bf maybe 5 times per 24 hours - and that is probably a lot for 10 months. it will get better, and time will start to fly.

i remember getting to 6 months (after really struggling) and thinking noooo i dont want to give up now i have gotten so far! i hope it eases for you x

Hiya, it sounds like a growth spurt to me.

You're doing really well to have fed Jamie all by yourself, for all this time, and with so little sleep too!

I felt like Imogen was just permanently attached to the boob at times, and rather than finding it all indulgent and cuddly, I just felt really rubbish about it.
I made the mistake of comparing myself to my best mate who has 2 kids and bottle fed them, and got into an excellent routine really quickly and managed to fit in keeping a horse and all manner of energetic things.

BF is hard work and takes commitment - and girl you got it!

Trying to be helpful though - is Jamie falling asleep on the boob a lot? I wonder if he's using you as a soother rather than a meal if it's that constant? I wished someone had told me about the sneaky boob-to-dummy mid-sleep-switch sooner. Obviously you might not agree with dummies but for me it was a life-saver.

Also, have you lost your baby weight quickly? My HV suggested I have some nice fattening dairy products in my diet to help "thicken" my milk up and make it more filling.

My last hint that you may have already worked out for yourself is what we did to get a slightly longer sleep at night: feed-burp-feed-burp-feed-burp-feed-sleep - get all the air out to get as much milk in as possible, even if he's falling asleep, keep waking him to feed till you're happy he's as full as can possibly be!


Keep going honey, you're doing so well. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

Here if you need us
xxxxxx Em xxxxxx

I've lost all my baby weight but have excessive milk as it skirts everywhere. He does fall asleep feeding which is part of the reason it takes so long. We have to keep. waking him to give him more. We've tried a dummy but even asleep he spits it out. I suspect he may have my stomach problems anyway as he you try and give him a bit more his just sick. His jabs also seem to have an effect as just before both he started doing one 4 hour stint a night and went back to 2 hours max afterwards. Thanks though ladies. Feel a bit more positive again now

dont give up hun. I gave up after 2 weeks and I sooooooo regret that now. you've done amazing to get as far as you have. you will be glad you stuck it out xx

You have done so well to get this far.

Have you thought about expressing so that you can let it go a bit longer between feeds and maybe get some help with the feeds from your OH?

x

Actually you got a good point there Laura. If you have lots of milk going anyway you should be able to get a nice big bottle full and go for a sleep for an hour while Jamie has that courtesy of your OH or a helpful friend?

Thats a good idea. Thanks ladies. Had just been expressing milk and freezing it

when we had thrush i combined fed for 2 months - it was too painful to feed and i was SO tired. knowing that in the evening my husband was going to give elijah a bottle (just one a day) was fantastic - it meant i had 2-3 hours to either sleep or have a shower and some food, it made the world of difference to me.

i couldn't manage to express enough at the time (too busy feeding!) but it will be really good for you to get a little break

Id reccomend expressing a bit too for OH t help plus when you do come to wean if you wanna use a bottle will be easier if they are used to it. Im doing ok with bfing but still expressing 1 bottle a day for 'practice' for her. Also which dummies have you tried. Awen likes the MAM tiny ones for 0-2 months as they have tiny teats and she can keep em in. If shes feeding on me and slows to 5 sec pases between sucks she gets removed and given a dummy as my other LO used to use me as a dummy and its why i gave up with her so im not letting A do it. Despite what some HV say i still know when she genuinely wants to feed as she simply wont tolerate it and she treadles the air with her hands when she shungry rather than just being fussy. Good luck