How Long & What next?

First thing, don't make the decision at 3am!
Make sure you are getting lots of rest, eating well and drinking lots of water. My milk supply is really sensitive and if I skip a meal, exercise too much or don't drink enough water then I really notice it by the evening feeds.

Is he gaining weight?

I think most people know when they reach that point where they feel they have done their best and its either worked or it hasn't. I found it easeir to cope with when I set myself a goal- with DD1 it was, if I hadn't got it by 6 weeks then I was switching and with DD2 it was, if I got more than 2 bouts of Mastitis then I would switch.

i think also you need to give your body more than 2 weeks...and dont forget that expressing may not give you much but it doesnt mean you arent producing. some bodies just dont respond well to expressing. The best way to stimulate your milk production is to let your baby feed...oh and keep up your own fluids too.

I couldn't express first time around either but I definitely had enough milk, just wouldn't come out with a machine!!

Hugs to you. Hope it all looks better at the start of a new day. I am all for breastfeeding but you have to make the decision that is right for you in the end and if you feel you can't go on anymore then make the switch. It won't help your milk supply etc. if you are miserable and feel like you are failing. Of course breast milk is "better" but formula won't hurt Ollie either. Don't feel pressured one way or the other. Make the decision that is right FOR YOU AND OLLIE.

there is not right or wrong answer here, you just need to do what is best for you and bubs. If you have to switch to forumla you havent failed in anyway so dont feel guilty. Just read through some threads on here, you will see there are heaps of us who have gone down the formula road and all our babies are now healthy happy toddlers!

Eat protein with each meal (x3) and with every snack (x3). A doctor that I talked with said that you need 3 times as much protein when you're breastfeeding than an ordinary woman.

That said, if a lactation consultant or la leche person can't assist you, then switch to formula. Happy mum = happy bub.

Hi SimSam,
Firstly I think you are doing a great job.
Expressing after feeds may help increase your supply but latching bubs on more often is normally a better way. You also need to make sure you are getting enough rest, fluids and food. You need to eat far more whilst breastfeeding than you did when pregnant cos now you actually are eating for 2.
Is Ollie already having formula? I think from a previous post you said he was or had. So what I would suggest is expressing after your feeds during the day and just bfeeding him during the night so that you can get back to bed quicker and get some much needed rest. If need be top him up with formula.
Also don't stress about how much you express after a feed, if you express anything out it means you have produced more than he drank at that feed which is a good thing.
I would also look at getting some collection cups that you can wear that will collect the milk from the side that you are not feeding from, you can then freeze in ice cube trays or put in the fridge and then you will have ebm to top him up with at the feeds where you milk supply is lower.
The frequency of you expressing/feeding will make a difference too, so to get your supply up you could try expressing/feeding 2 hourly which is generally what babies have you doing when they growth spurt as the natural way of building up the supply.

Ok about how long before switching to formula.
I bfed for 3 months and I would say that half of that time was purely done because I felt I had too not because it was the best thing for me or Spencer. I had repeated breast infections and nothing I did seemed to stop them from re-occuring. I pretty much spent the whole 3 months in agony, I ended up not wanting to put Spencer anywhere near my boobs and for the last 5 weeks I expressed all his feeds and bottle fed him them. I felt guilty even for not latching him on, even though he was still getting breast milk. When I made the very difficult decision not to carry on breastfeeding after I got yet another infection I got very upset and quite depressed about it and felt like a complete failure. I still get upset about it now even though the rational part of me knows that is was the right thing to do, but I get upset less often, and Spencer is thriving and i'm no longer feeling sick all the time and am able to enjoy being a mum.

I think as someone else said you need to set yourself a deadline and if its still not working then stop and try to let yourself be ok about it.
I had said one more infection and I would stop but it was still hard, with number 2 me and DH have already agreed that I will stop if I have 2 infections.

Oh and one last thing, have you thought about feeding half and half rather than stopping altogher?

I struggled on for 10 or so weeks with the gremlins, have just bumped up a thread from back then where I got lots of support and encouragement and ideas.

I did mourn for the fact that I gave up breastfeeding before I really wanted to, but at the end of the day I had to do what worked for me and baby/ies. And I also decided that I wasn't going to be defensive about my decision, or feel the need to justify my decision - I chose to give MY babies formula, it was MY choice, and everyone else could go and get sodded.

A year down the track I do still have the odd regret, but I tell you what, there is only so much you can stand - I had the agony of mastitis, cracked nipples which ended up with a staph infection, issues with getting the girls to latch and ended up fully express feeding which was totally exhausting! Now I'm less exhausted and more pragmatic about it, and rest assured that putting this babe on formula doesn't mean you can't try b/feeding again next time round, I successfully fed Maya for 10 months, and plan to do the same again next time round.

Sounds like you have a fantastic DH and I think that is a very sensible approach to take. Good luck and remember you're doing a great job.

SimSam I think you are doing a fantastic job by persevering!! You are doing the best for Ollie by ensuring he is well fed, whether its EBM, boobie or formula it doesn't matter!

I know we all have ideals and breastfeeding is generally one of them, but honestly all my ideals went out the window in the first few days after Lauren was born, I could not breastfeed her for 6 days straight. I felt terrible and such a bad mother already, but she took the EBM and formula top ups and was happy so that was all that mattered!

Last night I gave up breastfeeding and expressed a bottle for Lauren as I was so frustrated with her fussing and messing about and I was exhausted.

Please know that you are NOT the only one feeling like this, although my problems are slightly different than yours, I am still having them!!

SimSam - I think you've got the right attitude there. When I had DD I BF, expressed and topped up and just got exhausted so gave up at six weeks and put her on the bottle full time. She thrived.

DS was slow to gain weight and the advise I got from the Family Centre was to BF, express and top up. I could see myself getting exhausted again so I persued with the breastfeeding but gave him one bottle before bed each night. He's continued to track along the 3rd percentile on the plunket charts but he's very alert so I'm not worried about his weight. Someones got to be little. Now he's just over four months old, we've both got the hang of it and I'm really pleased I went with my own gut feelings and persued.

Do what works for you and your baby.