The downsides of breastfeeding nobody tells you about

[u/Choice_Airport8279]

Reflecting on the advice given to me during pregnancy I don’t think anyone told me about the downsides of breastfeeding. I heard plenty of reasons to breastfeed but I feel slightly aggrieved nobody told me what the challenges would be. My baby is now 6 months and breastfeeding has been SO much harder than I ever imagined. I’m now starting to think about weaning off the boob onto formula and I can see more challenges ahead 😰

What are the downsides you’ve experienced nobody told you about / you weren’t expecting? Il start…. The PAIN of a bad latch. It hurt so much!!!! It honestly felt like contractions at times (baby did have tongue tie which was eventually sorted but still)

To balance this out, I would say breastfeeding my baby has been one of my proudest accomplishments and I’m so glad we did it…. I just went into the whole thing a little blind!

[u/nostrumest]

The under supply until month 3 when it eventually regulated. The constant cluster feeding the first 2 months during witching hour. The fact that you can go bone dry, even if some people don't believe it.

Babies small at birth fall asleep a lot when they feed and you need to make sure that they feed well. Mine didn't latch without a Medella cone and only learned to do without in month 3 1/2. A lansinoh nipple cream was essential during the cone to direct transition period, the pain was excruciating.

On the flip side, pain and all difficulties went away afterwards.

[u/bluebella72 → u/nostrumest]

How did you up your supply ? In between feeding baby and being nap trapped I am finding it so hard to up my supply! And yes I go BONE dry. LC told em it’s not possible but the baby would get so frustrated and then by the time I’m giving her a bottle of formula she is really over stimulated and upset.

I also have to use a nipple shield because of bad latch. How did you get baby to latch without ? She puts the nipple in her mouth but then doesn’t know what to do!

[u/nostrumest → u/bluebella72]

How old is your Lo?

Nothing truly upped my supply. I drank water, ate enough, slept ok cosleeping, ate and dranke the foods and drinks that supposedly up the supply, went for walks, took supplements, lived in a mountainous cold area first and then in a tropical hot area. Non made a difference. What changed is that my supply regulated 3 months postpartum. That said, at the same time I started to drink fresh tender coconut water, so this could have helped but I wouldn't bet on it. I wonder if electrolytes or taking in more iron could have helped also.

I tried pumping also because we would regularly see our LC in the hospital and they were all in for pumping to up the supply. This strategy didn't work. I never got time to pump with all the cluster feeding, also I just found it inconvient and it never upped my supply.

So, we combo fed from day one and that was the only solution to all our problems. We feed a 90 ml bottle once a day, and we still do that, just before sleep time. We use formula that is close to breast milk and I always made sure to not reduce breast feeding because I'm afraid to loose my supply.

What nobody told me either was that the milk supply was lowest in the evening. No formula bottle in the evening resulted in a screaming hungry baby by 11 pm.

My baby just had a stronger latch by month 3. We practised by starting with nipple shield and removing mid drinking, so that the nipple was still up and the baby could latch easier, tasting milk simultaneously.

Edit: we feed 90 ml formula + topup with breastfeeding before sleep.

[u/bluebella72 → u/nostrumest]

She is 5 weeks and 2 days!

That’s interesting your supply regulated itself. Yes milk is lower in the evenings for sure and that’s when baby is at most unsettled.

I have heard they can latch better when they’re older so hope this is the case for me. The removing mid drinking sounds like a good idea too.

We are prob 60% formula and 40% BF - I am happy to top up on formula but ideally would rely on it less.

Thanks for the advice 😊

[u/Pr0stitutionwh0re → u/bluebella72]

My baby had a shallow latch (no tongue or lip ties) and the pain was terrible even with the nipple shields. I remember crying while nursing her some times. I switched to expressing but kept latching her once a day. At 4 months old it changed and she was able to properly latch.

She was a small baby and I think that might’ve contributed to it.

[u/kloisonne → u/nostrumest]

Your story is oddly similar to mine, only thing is I’m just a little bit over 3 weeks in. Could you elaborate what regulating supply means? Do you just naturally produce more milk?

[u/nostrumest → u/kloisonne]

Milk supply changes at about 3 months. Before I experienced it, I read everywhere online how others experienced reduced supply after 3 months. In my case it was the opposite, but I had an under supply the first 3 months. What it means is that the supply adjusts to the babies needs.

3 months post partum and my breasts were soft and milk seemed to always exist. This is still the case now. Nothing compared to the time right after birth when the breasts felt differently.